Le Castellet/Southern France: The International GT Open ushered in the second half of the season in Le Castellet, southern France, last weekend (July 19-21). Eastalent Racing, the reigning champions from Austria, traveled to the southern French Provence as fifth in the overall standings. Accompanied by summer temperatures, the team led by owner Peter Reicher showed their ambitions at Circuit Paul Ricard right off the bat during the first free practice session. The Audi R8 LMS evo II with the number one was recorded on the „tableau de bord“ in first place.

Simon Reicher qualified for Saturday’s race in tenth place and laid the foundation for a perfect first half of the race. The team completed a tactically perfect pit stop strategy and Christopher Haase drove a great second half of the race. Simon Reicher and Christopher Haase took home the win in Saturday’s race.

After this successful start into the weekend, the team had their eyes set on pole position for the second qualifying session on Sunday morning. Ultimately, the weather thwarted their plans. Rain prevented an improvement on the timing board. However, second position with a very small gap of 0.059 seconds to the leader was a great starting position for the race on Sunday afternoon. Just before the start, rain began to pour. Heavy rain and a storm swept over Le Castellet. The race started behind the safety car. Once the safety car pulled into the pits, Christopher Haase took over the lead. The plan was to hand over the lead to Simon Reicher with a comfortable lead midway through the race. However, the stormy weather left the race management with no choice but to pause the race in the pit lane, nullifying the team’s lead. Ten minutes after the restart, Christopher Haase handed the wheel to Simon Reicher. Simon defended first place until shortly before the race ended. As the rain increased, he had to let his competitor pass. Overall, the entire team delivered a very strong performance.

Peter Reicher commented: „At the end of the day, I am very proud of our team. Everyone showed a strong performance once again. The best part is that as the reigning champions, we are leading the championship again, just in time ahead of our home race at the Red Bull Ring. We couldn’t provide our fans a better gift. That means a lot to me.“

„A nearly perfect race weekend. The free practice sessions already showed that our setup philosophy was correct. From there on, we were able to focus on details, which worked out really well. With Simon’s strong qualifying, we made all the right strategic decisions in the race. Our performance was already very strong. It would have been impossible to beat us at that point. We enjoyed a wonderful victory. Sunday went similarly well, even though my qualifying wasn’t perfect. Still, we were on the front row. Sunday’s weather was quite German – it rained and stormed. Nevertheless, we managed to adapt the Audi R8 LMS evo II almost perfectly to the conditions. Second position in the final race and two podium finishes made this an almost perfect weekend for us. What a comeback in the championship. We fought back to take the lead. I can only thank the team. They delivered an extraordinary performance,“ summarized Audi Sport driver Christopher Haase.

“ I struggled to find my rhythm at the beginning of the weekend, even though the car’s balance was fantastic. It was much easier for Christopher. The hot temperatures on Saturday played into our hands. We know that tires and car fit perfectly together in those conditions. And our pit stops were sensational. An almost perfect weekend. On Sunday, with rain and an additional 10-second penalty (handicap from the previous day’s win), we never thought of a podium finish. It’s not like our competitors are sleeping either, so it was a tough nut to crack. Many safety phases, a fantastic first stint from Christopher, heavy rain, everything got mixed up, and suddenly we were back in striking distance. In my stint, the car ran great. Slightly drying conditions suited my tire pressure perfectly until it started raining harder again in the last two laps. The aquaplaning became more intense, and I had to let my competitor pass. Our tire pressure strategy was different. Despite the handicap, finishing in second place is a great result for us,“ reported Simon Reicher.

Next, the entire team heads to the Formula 1 of GT3 motorsports, the „Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS“ at the Nürburgring. Peter Reicher says: „The strong performances within the team have motivated me to try this event and see where we stand. Are we ready to take the next step? Simply participating to fill the starting grid is not our goal. If we can compete for tenth place in the Formula 1 of GT3 sports, it would be a great success for our team. We will take the second test in mid-August in the sprint race of the GT World Challenge at Magny Cours. If the two tests go positively for us, I will seriously consider entering the series next year.“

The Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS will take place from July 26-28 in the German Eifel.