What a weekend for Simon Reicher! The 17-year-old from Kirchberg made a guest-appearance at Zandvoort last weekend, racing in the TCR Benelux series. The young man knows the 4,320 meter long track very well – his team certainty.nl is based there and he spent several weekends in Holland’s coastal region practicing and racing throughout the winter break. But no matter how much experience drivers have in Zandvoort, the Dutch track always seems to have a bag of tricks at hand. This weekend, however, was quite successful for the youngster. Unlike the ADAC TCR Germany, the TCR Benelux hosts a one-hour race on Saturday, where two drivers share their single-seater car, and two 20-minute, so-called Sprint Races, for each driver on Sunday. After the Audi RS3 LMS Ultra placed first in all free practice sessions on Friday, “old-hand” Jaap van Lagen and Simon Reicher managed fourth place in the qualification. A good starting point, but officials measured the Audi’s front axle sitting 1.1 cm under the minimum measurement. This meant that both drivers were disqualified – a last-place start was not what they expected. But this result by no means stopped Reicher and Lagen from delivering a sensational race in front of 50,000 spectators at Saturday’s Family Race Day. After 25 minutes into the first race, a ten-minute window opens up for teams to complete their driver change. At the half-time of Race 1, Dutch legend Lagen, who was currently in fourth position, pitted and handed the steering wheel to his much younger colleague Reicher. The Austrian soon advanced into third and brought home his first podium finish. “Unbelievable! Everything I learned from Jaap this weekend regarding the set-up and driving of the car cemented the foundation I developed over the last six months. I am super happy to have such a fantastic coach and partner! Huge thanks to Jaap van Lagen”, reported a fully emotional Simon Reicher.

During Sunday’s Sprint Races, each driver competes alone in two, 20-minute races. The best race lap from each competitor in Saturday’s race is used to determine the starting position for the first Sprint Race. Furthermore, the person who drove first in Saturday’s race, competes in Sprint Races 3 & 4. Therefore, Reicher, who was the second driver on Saturday, entered Sprint Races 1 & 2, starting in ninth position. He faced a challenging Race 1 and could not improve beyond ninth place. The second race was accompanied by some bad luck. Again starting in ninth position, Reicher just closely touched a wall during an attempt to overtake a competitor. Although there was no major damage, the wheel alignment had so drastically shifted that the youngster had to give up and park his car in the pits. His team completed the repairs in record time, allowing Jaap van Lagen to participate in his following two Sprint Races. The Dutchman performed outstandingly, winning both races in front of his home crowd.

“It is amazing how much I can learn from Jaap. I’m highly impressed and can’t wait for our next joint race”, reported the sympathetic young man Sunday evening. Next up on the agenda is Simon Reicher’s home-race in Spielberg. June 9-11, the Red Bull Ring in Austria will host the next ADAC TCR Germany event, which takes place in the supporting program of the ADAC GT Masters. The race weekend will be broadcast live on Sport 1.