Finally, a dream came true for Simon Reicher! The Austrian participated in an ADAC GT Masters race for the first time last weekend. Together with this teammate of T3 Motorsport, Maximilian Paul, he collected first race experiences in the league of super sports cars in Oschersleben – on the 3,667-kilometer long route.

The two could celebrate the first success with an 11th place in the first qualifying on Saturday when Maximilian was driving. During the first race, they had technical difficulties at the pitstop which has upset the plans of the two 19-year-old. “Sadly, we were having problems with our measuring system. That’s why I didn’t know our standing time and we lost six seconds because of it. Of course, there were also cars overtaking us. We also had problems with our tire management towards the end of the race“, Simon explains. He crossed the finish line on position 23.

The second race started with a different challenge: It was raining. So the two team colleagues of T3 Motorsport had to drive in the rain for the first time, which was certainly not an easy task. “That’s the reason why we started from 26th place.  Sadly, we got knocked out in the first round because our right tire on the back had blown up. We were lucky that no-one was hurt and the car is still in one piece“, the Kirchberger reports. The ninth grader of the Private Secondary School Felbertal isn’t low-spirited because of the incident: “You can’t change it. That’s just part of the process. We need to make these experiences and I’m sure we will learn out of them.“ Given all the obstacles, T3 Motorsport still impressed with a good start. Over 25.000 spectators were part of a great season opener and therefore absolutely thrilled.

Simon collected his first race experience this season in an Audi R8 LMS in the Creventic-Serie. Have those two series been a similar experience for the talented young driver? “No, the ADAC GT Masters are a completely different experience than a 24-hour race. There’s a different drivers-quality with professional pilots only. You drive against the best of the best of GT3 sports. It’s also a sprint race where you need to give everything you got from the beginning“, the Austrian enthuses. Moreover, it would be a whole different challenge to drive in the league of super sports cars. „It’s a completely different feeling.  The level of professionalism and the level of driver skills are outstanding. That’s unbelievable“, the T3 Motorsport pilot praises. Not only the two T3 Motorsport driver as beginners would have their problems with that. Even the experienced professionals had to fight with it, which would be something that really impresses him. 

The young Kirchberger still cannot believe that his dream came true. “Pinch me! To be able to finally be part of the ADAC GT Masters is beyond description. It’s really a dream come true“, Simon reveals. Obviously, they still had to learn a lot as a team but it would have still been a first race weekend with many important experiences. 

The next race will take place from May 17 to May 19 in Most, Czech Republic. “I cannot wait to start there. I am optimistic that we make progress until then“, Simon says excitedly.