| 21. Oktober 2020 | Zurück zur Artikelübersicht » |
Already long before last weekend (October 16-18) it was clear that things would be challenging for the Austrians in the super sports car league. The Red Bull Ring hosted the 200th anniversary race of the highly competitive GT3 series of the ADAC GT Masters. Team boss Uwe Geipel reports his crew did approach their goal of “learning to better understand the tire during qualifying” a bit: “We knew prior to this weekend not to expect any miracles in these temperatures and we improved our understanding of the interaction between our Audi R8 and the new Pirelli tires. However, we do need to question whether GT3 races even make sense on our chilly latitudes during this time of year. It may make sense for registered teams.”
Temperatures close to freezing created difficult testing conditions for the Austrians. It was important to get the four black Pirellis up to good temperatures. “Unfortunately, we understood this a little too late,” says Simon Reicher. He adds: “I mean, it was our goal and we managed to a certain extent. But way too late for me as a driver. We finally had a perfect set-up when we finished three tenths of a second behind the leader during Sunday morning’s qualifying. Additionally, I chose the wrong line during the race, which also cost us a lot of time. Overall, we learned a lot.”
Veteran driver Norbert Siedler saw the real challenge in the time of year: “The team gave it their all to provide us good tire temperatures already in the free practice sessions. This first worked out for us on Sunday morning, when we made a big leap in the right direction during qualifying. In the race, a slightly overzealous competitor ran into our rear right axle. I had to return to the pits to not lose the car. Nonetheless, it was super gathering some race experience with YACO Racing and Simon Reicher in the ADAC GT Masters after several test drives.”
After their guest entry in the popular super sports car league, the weekend’s takeaway is clear. “There won’t be any more guest entries in races this 2020 season. We learned important lessons this weekend with 24th place in the first race and a retirement in the second race,” summarizes Uwe Geipel.
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Der 24-jährige Simon Reicher ist im Motorsport kein Unbekannter. Seine Karriere begann im Alter von 8 Jahren. Klassisch – auf der Kartbahn. „Ich bin froh im Kartsport, der klassischen Schule des Motorsports, aufgewachsen zu sein.“ Und das mit Erfolg. 2014 gewann das österreichische Motorsport Talent die 43. Trofeo delle Industrie im italienischen Lonato. Nach seiner aktiven Zeit im Kartsport wechselte der Österreicher 2016 in den Automobil Rennsport. Dort gab er 2016 und 2017 sein Debüt mit dem niederländischen Certainty Racing Team in dem Renault Clio Cup Central Europe und in der TCR Germany. 2018 präsentierte sich er mit dem renommierten YACO Racing Team im Cockpit eines Audi RS 3 LMS bei den ADAC TCR Germany. |
