Magny-Cours/France: After their first test in the „Formula 1 of GT3 racing“ a few weeks ago at the Nürburgring, the Austrian GT3 team, Eastalent Racing, faced their second major challenge of the season last weekend (August 23–25). The team, led by team manager Peter Reicher, competed in the sprint series of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS. The only small requirement from the team manager was: „Please, let’s finish in the top 20.“ To give you a hint: the team overachieved on this goal.

A small sensation was already brewing during the free practice sessions. The Audi R8 LMS evo II was consistently among the top teams. When Christopher Haase placed the Audi in 4th position during the first qualifying session, it became clear: The Austrians intend to make their mark in the races. With a 10th position finish in the first race and 9th place in the second race, the fairy tale of Magny-Cours was complete.

Team manager Peter Reicher commented: „Fourth place in qualifying, tenth and ninth place in the two races – it feels like a big fairy tale. When you suddenly realize that you can compete in the top league of GT3 racing with the best drivers in the world – it’s hard to find the right words. Maybe it can be described like this: Imagine throwing a goldfish into a tank full of piranhas. At the end of the day, I have to note that the team has once again improved significantly. On race Sunday, our pit stop was tenth fastest of all teams. You have to consider that we’ve only been practicing pit stops for two to three months. Other teams have years of experience. The quality and commitment of our mechanics is world-class. And when I say world-class, I also have to mention our engineers, who made this result possible. Last but not least, our drivers delivered this great result on the track. Both Christopher and Simon did a world-class job. My big thanks go to Christopher Haase. He’s bringing the team into the top league of GT3 racing. Without him, this wouldn’t be possible. I really appreciate the collaboration between Christopher and Simon. But none of this would be possible without our little meeting point, the catering tent. Our Renate keeps the team together with her excellent cooking. She plays a big part in ensuring everyone on the team feels comfortable.”

Simon Reicher shared his perspective on the weekend: „We had our first experiences in the Endurance Series of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS. There, we already realized that the stakes are incredibly high. As a result, my expectations were pretty modest. The Sprint Series feels even tougher than the Endurance Series. In the sprints, everything is extremely tight. There’s no room for ‚let’s take it easy‘. Even though we had a few small issues during free practice, Christopher put in a world-class qualifying session. We were all left breathless with fourth position. It was incredible. I struggled in the race. I just couldn’t find my rhythm and finished in tenth place. In my qualifying session on Sunday morning, the goal was to be in the top 20, and with 17th place, we achieved that. The qualifying was extremely challenging – three red flags, many yellow flags, everything was extremely tight. Plus, ten minutes of qualifying time don’t give you much room to maneuver. We finished the race in ninth. If we weren’t guest starters, we would have finished in the points twice. What a fantastic debut in the Sprint Series of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS. The entire team, every single one of us, can be proud of each other’s performance. We’ve more than exceeded our expectations.“

Because of this outstanding debut, Peter Reicher made the following statement: „Even though it doesn’t quite fit our current staffing situation, I’ve decided to compete in the final event of the Sprint Series of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS in Barcelona.“ The race will take place October 11–13.