A sprint to the top – Porteiro well-prepared for Spanish home event.

Munich, 15th May 2008. The 2008 FIA World Touring Car Championship
heralds a new era for Félix Porteiro (ES). No longer the
“greenhorn” in the BMW national team line-up, the Spaniard is thus
increasingly bearing the burden of expectation. The reason is simple:
During his debut 2007 season the BMW Team Italy-Spain driver was able
to deliver good results right from the start. His hour arrived
spectacularly in Brno, where he took pole position for the first race
and promptly converted it into victory. During the season Porteiro not
only earned a reputation as a fast, young charger, but was also able to
impress his fellow BMW drivers with a further attribute. "As a
result of my fitness regime, they call me Rambo," states the
racing driver from Castellón. "The nickname was coined
during our 2007 BMW fitness week. There we completed various tests,
including pull-ups. My colleagues were battling at the 25-mark, by
which time I had pulled well over 50. I also had longer hair back then,
so I guess you could say I resembled Sylvester Stallone slightly."
It was not coincidental that Porteiro proved fastest during a unique
challenge held at the same training course: the BMW drivers were
required to run up the 22 floors of BMW’s headquarters building in
Munich. Porteiro reached the top first. The former GP2 driver places a
high priority on fitness. “Obviously in touring cars the loads on neck
muscles are not as high as in Formula One,” he explains, "however,
you still need to be extremely fit to withstand the high cockpit
temperatures in touring cars. Therefore I practice a lot of sport, with
running and cycling being on my programme. Karting is also demanding,
and helps keep me fit. I spend a lot of time in the sauna to help me
acclimatise to heat." At first glance the physical demands placed
on WTCC drivers appear comparatively low. They compete in two sprint
races of approximately 50 kilometres each. However, according to
Porteiro the drivers cannot afford to neglect their physical fitness.
In order to be able to go on maximum attack down to the last lap he
believes, “you have to have utmost confidence in your own strength.”
Porteiro surely can. Porteiro’s fitness tip: “I believe jogging offers
the best means of staying in shape. In order to achieve the same level
of fitness through cycling clearly requires more time. To run for 45
minutes three times per week does the body an enormous amount of good.
And the best part about jogging is that you can practice it whilst
travelling. That is not only important for racing drivers like me, but
also for everyone else who has a tough job.” Rights-free pictures of
Félix Porteiro in the gym are available in the BMW Motorsport
PressClub at www.press.bmw-motorsport.com. Press Contact: Ingo
Lehbrink, Phone: +49 (0) 176 20340224, Email: ingo.lehbrink@bmw.de Heike
Bartsch, Phone: +49 (0) 172 8485998, Email: heike.bartsch@bmw.de Florian
Haasper, Phone: +49 (0) 177 5637923, Email: f.haasper@sport-media-service.de