Simon Reicher´s ultimate goal was to gain experience during his first 24 Hour Race in Dubai. Mission accomplished – the young Austrian was able to fly back home with important and new experiences in his luggage. However, things didn’t quite go the way Simon had imagined. After 17 hours and 40 minutes the race was over for him and his team colleagues Murad Sultanov, Klaus Koch und Martin Berry from Team Car Collection. At that moment they were in 15th place. What happened? Simon: “Sadly, my teammate was involved in an accident and after that the front part of the car was so badly damaged that we couldn’t continue to drive.“

That’s a hard pill to swallow for Simon who delivered a good performance in the Audi R8 LMS with the number 33. “During my last stint from 2am to shortly before 4 am, I had the same lap time as the leading pro car that also started for Team Car Collection. I managed to drive from 22th place to 15th place“, the Kirchberger reports. And that wasn’t Simon’s only comeback during the 24 Hour Race: After the car had temporarily lost many places due to a bent tie rod, Simon drove from 53th place to 32th place during his double stint. What an outstanding performance! Especially when you consider that he drove at night which originally wasn’t the plan. Another premiere for the 18-year-old Kirchberger: “I did drive at night in my Clio before but it’s a whole other level with the GT-3 car. The biggest difference is that you don’t have the light for that kind of speed in order to not dazzle the other drivers. You have to drive according to your feeling and you need to know your turn-in points. That takes practice. The bottom line is that you don’t see that badly but you have to be extra careful when you’re passing and pay attention to the other drivers and make sure that they see you as well.“

Despite the early end of the race Simon isn’t unsatisfied: “Nevertheless, it was a cool experience. I would do it again anytime. It was so much fun and I learnt incredibly much. I mean, it was my first 24 Hour Race. Next time I benefit from my experience because I know better what to expect – whether that’s a 24 Hour Race, or a 6 Hour Race, 8 Hour Race or 12 Hour Race. I really can’ t wait for the next race.“ The ninth grader of the Private Secondary School Felbertal will start at the 12 Hour Race in Mugello next, from March 29 to March 30.

By the way, Team Car Collection had every reason to be happy: Their driver quintet won the 24 Hour Race in Dubai. Dimitri Parhofer, Christopher Haase, Frederic Vervisch und Rik Breukers were the first to cross the finishing line with their Audi R8 LMS and the start number 88.