Racereport 22-24 July RedBull Ring
Friday
We had some trouble with the car which caused us to miss the planned testing on Thursday and also the first free practice on Friday. The car was ready for FP Trophy and FP2 so we could get some time and experience on the track with the car.
Qualifying 1
For Saturday qualifying and race my whole family and a lot friends came to cheer me on. This really gave me some extra boost and we qualified as P23. Result wise this was similar to past races but time wise I was a lot closer to the other drivers in front of me and especially the other Audi's. This was extra fun since the RedBull ring is not a track that is typically good for the Audi R8 las due to the long straights.
Race 1
It was really hot outside and the track was dry. I gained two positions already in the start and managed to push all the way up to P18. My driving felt really smooth and I felt comfortable on the track, in the middle of my stint I felt some pressure coming from the Phoenix Audi and a line of cars behind him but I managed to keep my phase and keep them all behind until drivers change. The driver change went really good and we only lost 0.8 seconds on the change (the change has to be minimum 65 min). Marco did a good stint and took the car all the way up to P15. Unfortunately our mechanics were standing to far out in the pitman causing a 30 sec penalty after the race, this moved us down to P19 for Race 1.Of course not what you wish for but all and all the car felt better than ever and the team is getting better and better. An extra thanks to my brother for helping with some settings and tips!
Qualifiying 2
Marco's qualifying, we had changed some settings in the car which caused it to behave differentaly than before. This made Marco feel a little uncomfortable in the car and we ended up in P29. After this we decided to reset the settings from Saturday to have a better feeling in race 2.
Race 2
Marco started race 2 and our race was over pretty early due to a collision after just a few laps. This collision caused damage to our car and when Marco had to go in for an extra pitstop we fell one lap behind and lost our chances to finish in a good position. When I got into the car I felt what Marco had described, that the car was not in a competitive shape and I did my best to drive it as good as possible with the power that the car had left. The Lamda sensor broke during my stint which caused loss of power in the car that was already a bit damaged.
All in all happy with my driving and my improving there. Looking forward to new chances on Nüburgring already next weekend! See you there!