Things cannot get much more difficult for 17-year-old Simon Reicher in the ADAC TCR Germany.  Last weekend, the series raced on the 3,629 meter long Nürburgring sprint course in the supporting program of the ADAC GT Masters – the event did not go according to plan for the young Austrian. The Certainty driver had great ambitions for this weekend, hoping to make up for several small mistakes from the prior race in Zandvoort, Netherlands. Simon Reicher describes his start into the weekend: “It was our first time at the Nürburgring. Despite good preparations, it was incredibly difficult for me to keep up with my competitors, particularly because this was my premiere race on this circuit. We just didn’t manage the setup we aimed for and that really showed in the qualifying.”

Although the weekend’s first practice session only serves as a leadoff reference point, no driver is happy with position 36. And when your team-mate – in Simon Reicher’s case, his team principal Dillon Koster – places ahead of you, then one’s own ego is slightly hurt. Even though the Austrian passed his team boss in the second session, position 27 is also not reflective of his goals. But what data should a team look back on, if it is racing a TCR vehicle like the Audi RS3 LMS Ultra for the first time on the Nürburgring? They have to start from scratch. And for this reason, Reicher’s Audi entered the third session, also known as the all-important qualifying session, continuing to struggle with the setup. Even starting in the second qualification group, trying to take advantage of slightly improved track conditions, did not help. The result: 31st position on the starting grid. “Throughout this year it’s been very difficult driving on tracks for the first time in a TCR car. This is challenging stuff”, reports the youngster. A mishap preparing for the first race did not make things easier Saturday morning. “After qualifying we changed the setup in the wrong direction and I subsequently had no chance to attack and move ahead. In fact, I had my hands full just trying keeping the Audi in the race”, he adds humorously. “On the bright side of things, we now know how the Audi reacts to the changes made.” During Sunday’s final race, Simon proved that he and his team had learned. The seventh grader charged through the pack and finished in 20th position. He presented his perspective on the weekend as such: “We managed the second race much better. My lap times were only a second away from the leaders. A shame we couldn’t deliver this performance from earlier on. But for me there simply is no other opportunity, than to complete my testing during the race weekend. On that note, I would like to see the ADAC declare the Thursdays before a race weekend as free testing days.”

Up next on the agenda is the sixth of seven events in the ADAC TCR Germany, which will take place at the Sachsenring race circuit. Here, the sympathetic sportsman will again face similarly challenging tasks to overcome. “Basically, we find ourselves in the suboptimal situation of not being able to go testing at the Sachsenring in advance. There are no official test days. Another point is that we have to get the Audi’s setup under control. That is the most important factor. The rest then depends on me – fast and clean driving.” The Sachsenring race weekend take place September 15-17 and will be broadcast on Sport1 TV as well as sport1.de.