Wolfgang Reip reveals the disability that forced him to quit his career

In the mid-2010s, Wolfgang Reip's name appeared in the GT3 references column. The Belgian, detected thanks to the GT Academy operation set up by Nissan and Nismo from the video game Gran Turismo on PlayStation 3, had very quickly climbed the ranks of theEndurance GT, until being crowned in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup alongside Alex Buncombe and Katsumasa Chiyo in 2015.

But since the end of his program with M-Sport Bentley at the end of 2016, the native of Etterbeek in the suburbs of Brussels disappeared from the radar screens, apart from a few stints in GT Open and Fun Cup. It was not the talent of this ex-simracer that was the cause, but serious hearing problems.

It was via his Facebook profile that Wolfgang Reip decided to reveal his disability. A courageous decision, since thesevere hyperacusis remains an extremely minority subject in the field of public health.

“It only took one day of testing car where I hadn't put my earplugs in because we didn't have the radio that day, and I therefore thought I didn't need them, (see how I had no awareness of their protective role and not just earphone… and no awareness of the danger). So I took more than 115db or even 120db in my ears with the noise of the wind (in addition with a very long part at full blast, it was an oval) for several hours and the same evening, when returning to the hotel, my ears were ringing very loudly, whistling... I had never had that in my life. I figured it would go away overnight, like many after a nightclub, but that wasn't the case.

In the days that followed the buzzing disappeared, I kept a very high-pitched whistling sound on the left and a blowing sound on the right. But it was light and I quickly got used to it. 2/3 weeks later I started to have the first symptoms of hyperacusis, I noticed it for the first time at lunch time, in the restaurant, I had difficulty supporting the noise of cutlery, the children screaming, and these symptoms got worse, I had no idea what was happening. I was extremely afraid for my career, I still had so many dreams. The ENTs were powerless. The “annoyances” quickly turned into burning ears, for example after the plane, after driving, at a restaurant, at the cinema etc…

From that moment on I started to protect my ears as soon as a session went green when I was on a circuit, systematically, at all races and test sessions. But also in the evening, at the cinema, on a plane, in a car on the highway and I hardly listened to music at first etc. And I had a second chance, after about a year and a half, things were better, I I wasn't cured, but it was much better, despite my career. I could live relatively normally, with protection in noisy places.

Regaining confidence, I went out a little more in the evening, and despite the traffic jams, I felt that I was having relapses in the following days, but it always ended up passing. However, over the years, with each new “exaggeration” things got a little worse. In 2017 when the deal was signed to do the 24 Hours of Zolder in Norma with an option for more if it happened, I had to withdraw. Indeed, during my first day of testing which went very well sportingly, I very quickly understood that it was not going to be possible, the car was much too noisy in addition to the wind (open car). After this day, I felt a big relapse, impossible to imagine doing the 24 hours, it would have been auditory suicide.

During my last races, the engineers and mechanics must remember that I was constantly asking to lower the volume of the radio which was often extremely loud so that it was clearly audible over the noises of the car, but it was tearing my ears . And then for some reason not clearly defined, From the start of 2020, it was a descent into hell.

The life of the former winner of the Bathurst 12 Hours (in 2015) is extremely difficult. " Bulk, I must remain silent, I can no longer put sound on electronic devices, no more evenings with friends, the city, no music, walking quietly without traffic, showering without noise-canceling headphones, speaking in a normal voice (forced to whisper) etc.

I'm already happy to be independent and to be able to go shopping at the store with earplugs and noise-canceling headphones. Added to that I have tinnitus now very powerful, at frequencies you want here. A permanent personalized concert.

The sense of hearing is not designed for modern life. Evolution did not foresee that we were going to put headphones in our ears, be able to amplify sound and invent all kinds of machines that make more noise than each other. Biologically speaking, we are made to hear the sounds of nature, quite a difference all the same…. So in theory, these pathologies should not occur. It's not that we're bad, it's that we have completely neglected our biological limits.

The human ear deteriorates either because of a sudden very loud sound, or through prolonged exposure to loud sounds. For me it was a mix of both.

From more than 8 hours of exposure per 24 hours at a volume of 80 decibels, we damage our ears, then we divide the maximum time before damage by two every 3 decibels, the scale being logarithmic, every 3 decibels the power is doubled, so 83 db, more than 4 hours, 86 db, more than 2 hours, at 101 db, you irreversibly damage your ears after 3 minutes. Yes, and we are there very quickly, a noisy restaurant is 90 db, nightclub often above 100…

The sound of the wind in a helmet is just mind-blowing, all motorcyclists must wear earplugs, and even more so drivers of open but closed cars too. At 100 kmh the noise measured for the best motorcycle helmets is 100 db! So imagine at 200 kmh…. or even 300, it’s an immediate shame.

Get into the habit of measuring the sound environment with your phone, protect your ears as soon as it exceeds 90db, you will at best avoid hearing loss, at worst what I have. And systematically protect yourself while riding a motorcycle, karting 2-stroke, in clubs, in bars with loud music, on circuits,…”

Wolfgang Reip tries through this testimony to raise public awareness about this disease. “ If my example can just encourage one more person to protect their ears, it's mission accomplished. “