How McLaren driver Clemens Schmid is doing shortly before the DTM season opener, when a decision will be made on his deployment and why it didn’t look like an appendix at first
Will McLaren rookie team Dörr Motorsport have to do without regular driver Clemens Schmid for the DTM season opener at Oschersleben next weekend? The Austrian underwent an appendectomy last Friday and is on the road to recovery
So it currently looks good that Schmid will be able to ride. “I think so,” he says himself. “I actually feel pretty good otherwise, I only have very little pain. It still hurts a bit where the scar is above my belly button. I have a hematoma there.”
The final decision will be made on Friday. “I’ll try the first free practice session – and then I’ll go to the medical center to see if everything is still closed and how it feels,” says Schmid. “Maybe it also hurts while driving. Then we’ll know. “
No plan B: How the Dörr team is dealing with the situation
Does the team have a plan B if the 33-year-old is unable to ride? “We assume that Clemens will drive,” emphasized team manager Robin Dörr in an interview with Motorsport-Total.com. “He feels good and the doctors are happy with how the operation went.”
The check-up on Friday after the first practice session, which runs from 11:35 to 12:30, is “purely a routine check that he still has to undergo at the medical center. That’s why we haven’t thought about who could step in.”
Should a replacement “be necessary for any reason, we would call McLaren first,” Dörr clarifies. The doctors treating Schmid are also not putting any obstacles in the way. “If I say that I feel fit, then I should give it a go,” Schmid refers to the recommendation.
“They said they could rule out appendicitis “
At first it didn’t look like an appendicitis at the race track in Oschersleben. “I put on my racing suit on Thursday morning and then got a stomach ache,” says Schmid. “Then we drove all day and went to the medical center in Oschersleben. They said they couldn’t find out what it was, but they could rule out appendicitis.”
As the pain got worse and worse, Schmid reported to the emergency room of the hospital in Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz after leaving at 11 p.m., where the diagnosis was appendicitis after all. “They said it was inflamed, but not acute,” says Schmid. “I had to have another ultrasound on Friday morning – and then it went very quickly.”
After the operation on Friday afternoon, Schmid was discharged on Monday – and is now trying to get fit again as quickly as possible. “I can’t really do much,” he says, describing his current situation. “I should just walk slowly and lie down or sit most of the time. In any case, don’t put any weight on it and take it easy as much as possible. “
