Nürburgring/Rhineland-Palatinate: 50 GT3 cars with a total of 150 drivers, all representing the crème de la crème of Grand Touring drivers, took to the track last weekend from July 26th to 28th as part of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS at the Nürburgring. Among them was the Austrian team Eastalent Racing led and owned by Peter Reicher. „In my opinion, the Eastalent Racing team is ready to take the next step. If I’m wrong, we need to keep working. If not, I will seriously consider competing in the GT World Challenge in the 2025 season. It’s important to know where you stand and to test your limits,“ explained Peter Reicher. He added, „We were able to choose the number 84, a number connected to the age of my father and Simon’s grandfather. It will surely bring us luck.“

While the weather was kind to the team during setup on Thursday, the typical Eifel weather took over from Friday morning through Saturday night: gray, low-hanging clouds and a lot of rain. The regulations of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS foresee three drivers per car. Representing the Eastalent crew were the Pole Karol Basz, the Spaniard Albert Costa Balboa, and the Austrian Simon Reicher. Each of the three drivers drives their own qualifying session. Each of their best lap times are then added together and divided by three. The result determines the starting position for the three-hour endurance race. On Sunday morning, the sun came out just in time for the three qualifying sessions, allowing all drivers to complete their sessions in dry conditions. However, with 50 GT3 cars sharing the Nürburgring Grand Prix circuit, there was little room for all the cars. The lucky ones are those who can find a free gap without incidents. Unfortunately, none of the three Eastalent Racing drivers had this luck. The trio qualified in 25^th position on the grid. „It’s a pity; there was more potential, but that’s racing. A bit of luck is part of it,“ team manager Peter Reicher analyzed the qualifying session.

The race on Sunday afternoon was rather mixed. Simon Reicher started the race great. In the opening laps, he stayed out of all battles and positioned the Audi R8 LMS evo II in 21^st position. In the past, the team had been strong during pit stops, often gaining places. However, neither the change from Reicher to Karol Basz nor the change from Basz to Albert Costa Balboa provided any advantages. All three drivers managed to consistently drive solid lap times. Albert Costa Balboa crossed the finish line in 26^th position.

Peter Reicher reported on the team’s test run at the Nürburgring: „I realized that we can keep up in this series and not just trail behind the field. Overall, we still need to improve a few small things. We received a 15-second penalty during the first pit stop because we were two seconds too fast. Overall, we could have achieved our goal of finishing in the top 20. We made a good first impression. We’ll have to wait and see what comes next. Regardless, it’s an incredibly strong racing series with highly talented drivers behind the wheels.“

„The weekend started very well in free practice. We showed that we can keep up with the speed. However, bringing this together in qualifying and the race is a whole different ball game in the GT World Challenge. We had a lot to learn during the race and mostly ourselves to beat. I think a finish around 18^th to 20^th would have been achievable and that would have met our own expectations. For that to happen, a few more factors would have had to come together better. For our first time in the Formula 1 of GT3 sports, we can all be extremely proud of ourselves. Now we have some homework to complete,“ explained Simon Reicher after the finish.

After a short summer break, the Austrians‘ home race Red Bull Ring is up next. The GT Open takes place September 13–15.