LM24: Wurz sees 'survival of the fittest' ahead

Alex Wurz must be the least "retired" driver on the planet. He might have officially retired from racing cars for a living at the end of the 2015 World Endurance Championship season, but Wurz definitely hasn't retired from everything that comes with it, including driving.

After making his Le Mans debut in 1996 – a race he won on his first attempt with Davy Jones and Manuel Reuter – Wurz's distinctive helmet will be missing from the cockpit of a Toyota TS050 LMP1 Hybrid once official practice gets under way, but he remains active within program as a test driver and significant influence behind the scenes.

With the busy schedule two-time Le Mans winner keeps, it's hard to tell that the friendly Austrian is no longer expected to strap into a Toyota and battle Audis and Porsches, but he says returning to Le Mans without the need to race has been surprisingly normal.

"For me it's not too much different, as I still do some testing for the team; naturally I want to stay fit, so I do a lot of training, but definitely there is a major difference now," the 42-year-old told RACER. "Normally, every second of the 364 days leading up to the start your mind asks, 'Is this good for Le Mans, will this influence the Le Mans race?' So [now] I feel less guilty when I have some chocolate, or when I skip a training session."

Wurz wouldn't be drawn on any predictions for the overall win, but with reliability issues plaguing some LMP1 teams more than others, he does expect the outcome to be determined by the Audi, Porsche, or Toyota that spends the least amount of time being repaired.

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"It will be a survival of the fittest," he said. "By that I mean, the race will be won by the least downtime between cars. We've seen at the test sessions, and the two [pre-Le Mans] WEC races that every [one] of the three manufacturers showed technical issues, reliability problems, or driver errors.

"All three manufacturer teams have a very good level of experience and technical capability; we're witnessing very exciting times in sports car racing. ‎All three teams put a large effort into performance, so they are all pushing it far with technology. That's the name of the current game. But the mighty race and the 24-hour battle will show their weakness, so let the race answer that question, not me."

Compared to some drivers who retire and walk away from the sport altogether, Wurz's business interests are found within racing. As the head of the Formula 1 Grand Prix Driver's Association, the owner of a fitness and training company, and an ongoing member of the Toyota P1 effort, stepping out of his race seat is about the only aspect of his life that's different since the end of 2015.

"I am still fully integrated in the team, I work as sporting advisor‎, work between team management and drivers, and further, I still do testing for Toyota," Wurz said "I've done quite a few endurance sessions and also done the recent Le Mans test day for further test and evaluation runs, so in fact, my life has not changed much. It's still performance-oriented, which it will always be."