Adrenalin-fix: 3-time World Champion Fabian Dörfler on his 'other' need for speed; racing cars.

Nick Harding | @nickhdg | Sportscene - Outside of training Germany's Fabian Dörfler is not only a trojan name in canoe slalom, he is an avid racing driver progressing quickly through the ranks.

Our athletes are gifted, driven, disciplined individuals who more often than not excel in many paddle sports or many canoe disciplines at the same time; Jess Fox racing C1 and K1 slalom, Sam Sutton rafting and extreme kayaking, Luuka Jones rafting and slalom.

Others find their calling by changing sport entirely never looking back; Marlène Devillez leaving slalom for freestyle kayak, Patrick Mahoney competing in para-rowing for GB then switching to paracanoe, not forgetting many a track-and-field athlete who have had a go at bobsleigh trials!

Then there's the rarest breed of them all; multiple-sport athletes who, to a high standard, compete in several sports which are polar opposites simultaneously – modern pentathletes, winter biathletes, triathletes, heptathletes, decathletes and Iron Man competitors alike. Fabian's focus is of course canoe slalom, but he has dreams in motorsport. 

Career Highlights in K1M:

3 x World Champion (individual: 2005, team: 2007, 2010)
2 x World Cup Series Winner (2005, 2007)
1 x European Champion (2006)
2 x World Cup Golds (Cardiff 2013 and Augsburg 2005)

Plus, 1 World Championship silver, 3 World Cup silvers and 2 bronzes, 1 World Cup Series Silver and 1 bronze, 3 European Championship silvers and 2 bronzes.

Becoming world champion is something very special. It's more of a fortunate coincidence if you look at how close races are decided sometimes.

He feels there are many similarities between kayaking and motor racing: “The kind of focus and delivering in the race are similar, generally both kayaking and car-racing mean picking the fastest line that you dare to take and then commit to it. I have to admit though that my skills in car-racing still have a lot of room for improvement!”

Fabian races a Renault Clio with fellow canoeist Stefan Pfannmöller – another celebrated name in German canoeing; Stefan was the C1M Olympic bronze medallist at Athens 2004, C1M Team World Champion in 2006 and double European Champion (C1M 2005, C1M team 2006). The duo are a dynamic and evolving team; they are both starting out in the driving world, pushing and motivating each other.

“A year ago we decided to take the 'international Grade C licence' and we started looking for races to do. The biggest amateur racing scene is at the legendary 20 km northern loop of the Nürburgring. For the races we do, Rundstrecken Challenge Nürburgring RCN, we rent a 'Renault Clio Cup'. It's small, but it's a proper race car. I think it's a good choice to begin with. The races have a compulsory pit stop halfway so we can swap and share the driving. Renting the car includes full pit stop service as well as servicing the car between races and an insurance in case of a major crash. Our team, Simfy Raceunion Teichmann Racing, participates with different cars in way bigger events such as the 24 hour race as well.”

It's a juggling act for Fabian to balance kayaking and driving, something that many of our multi-class athletes or those with families and day jobs can identify with. For Fabian, kayaking comes first though, especially in the wake of Rio 2016 – Fabian has never competed at the Olympic Games, he still has a dream of doing so.

“I am still an amateur in car racing; my training and competition schedule has to be adapted to paddling, the army and uni first. Moreover I have to look after keeping my expenses within certain limits. Training and racing the Clio is not cheap and we are permanently looking for possible sponsors. While we're using the Clio exclusively at the [Nürburg]Ring were also taking our own cars to trackdays on different race tracks. In 2013 we had 5 days with the Clio and about 7 more days with private cars. I have to mention though that my car had been stolen in the main season this year and had to take the bike for 3 months in summer!”

Sadly, it is not unheard of that canoe athletes have their vehicles or property stolen; GB paracanoeist Patrick Mahoney had his van taken from the Royal Canoe Club car park whilst he trained a few years back and famously in April 2013 Australian K2 sprinter Steven Bird had his training kayak swiped from his roof rack, the car was parked outside his house overnight. 

Back to Fabian, his winter training is temporarily on hold where he gets over a back injury (we wish you a speedy recovery) – this gave him time to chat to Sportscene about his racing roots. Fabian's passion for car-racing came from a boyish infatuation growing up in Bayreuth, four hours drive from Nürburg.

“I've always been enthusiastic about fast cars and go karting. Once I took part in a casting show for becoming a race driver but I didn't make it very far. I think I was not too bad either but just not good enough at that special day so I decided to practice more and to take my own car to track-days. Although my car-racing career is still very young, there have been some very exciting moments of course, like some smaller crashes or just driving some very special, expensive cars. I don't have a particular idol neither in motorsport nor in kayaking, but of course I keep getting a lot of motivation from the competition around me - whoever that is.”

Finally when asked about how he drives on normal roads he chuckled; “Of course I take advantage of the German Autobahn when travelling and a power slide every now and then is good fun! But in public I drive rather normally, especially in urban areas with pedestrians around where road safety is more important than arriving one minute earlier.”