Kuno Wittmer Retires from Professional Racing

Photo: Peter Burke/IMSA

Former IMSA GTLM champion Kuno Wittmer has announced his retirement from professional racing, as the 40-year-old Canadian has shifted his focus to a new career in the medical industry.

The ex-Dodge/SRT, BMW and McLaren factory driver, who won the 2014 GTLM title in a SRT Viper GTS-R, was most recently active in WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition last year with AWA in the LMP3 class.

Speaking with Sportscar365, Wittmer explained that he began to consider his future options about a year ago, shortly after parting ways with AWA mid-season.

“When I grew up and got into the sport, I always had a number in my head that I wanted to hit that 25-year mark in motorsport, then try something new,” he explained.

“You only have one life and I wanted to attack another career and do something different in life as well.

“Being super passionate about the sport, in the last year, I hit 40, I got two young boys at home and all that and I said, ‘This might be the time.’

“I wasn’t getting the seats or the rides that I was looking for again. I had achieved everything that I really wanted to achieve and was still in one piece.

“So it was time to turn to a new chapter.

“It’s a decision I took on my own with no influence. It wasn’t easy, but I’m coping with it pretty well.”

The Montreal native recently took up a new career as a clinical consultant in the orthopedic division of Stryker, a medical technology company.

“I got the training I needed and I’m now day-to-day consulting surgeons during surgeries on how to operate and what implants to use in shoulder and foot and ankle [procedures],” Wittmer said.

“It’s really cool stuff. I see a massive bridge from being a driver to being in the OR (operating room) because you have to be so on it as a rep.

“The surgeons look at you sometimes… and in a split second you have to make a decision.”

While having achieved numerous championships in Canada before making the move to U.S racing full-time in the late 2000s in what was Pirelli World Challenge, Wittmer said he’ll always remember the success from the factory SRT program.

“The cherry on top was definitely working with the gang at SRT Motorsports at the time and Bill Riley,” he said.

“That to me was the best team I ever worked with. I worked with amazing teams my entire life but for a highlight of my career, hats off to Bill and his establishment.

“We won the 2014 GTLM championship together and then about four months later when the [factory] program was axed, we won Daytona together as a team [in GTD].

“To me that was incredible. We kept in really great contact and even up until earlier this year, I was coaching some of his drivers at Daytona in the LMP3 car.

“He’s always taken care of me and I think he was not only a team boss that I worked for but one of the greatest friends I’ve had in this industry.”

Wittmer added: “I also have to thank some of the greatest people that have helped me out as well in my career, like my dad. He’s always been there since day one.

“We never came from a lot of wealth. It was always about sponsorship and bartering and exchanges. There were a lot of handshake deals that worked out and my dad was always there to support me and guide me.

“There’s been a lot of attrition over the last 25 years. Even the early years, in the mid-2000s, winning the Canadian championships, that’s what propelled me to getting rides with RealTime Racing in 2006 and 2007.

“That opened the door to me being in the States, which ultimately is where I made my career.

“To have also touched a few manufacturers like BMW, McLaren and Chrysler Corp. and to be part of their development process for their street car technologies, that goes a long way too.

“That was also very gratifying.”

While hanging up the helmet from professional full-time racing, Wittmer wouldn’t rule out one-off outings in the future but said he’s focused on his new chapter in his life.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John