The ADAC GT Masters made a stop last weekend (9th to 11th July) in the Netherlands. The event was eagerly awaited in advance by the Austrian YACO Racing Team. In summer, but not too hot temperatures, the international German GT Championship invited visitors to exciting racing action on the 4,259-meter-long dune circuit.

After the Austrians sorted out some problems at their home race at the Red Bull Ring four weeks earlier, Zandvoort was expected to bring the turning point. After a mixed 20th and 5th place in the first two practice sessions on Friday, the challenges appeared much greater during the first qualifying session on Saturday morning. No fewer than three red flags interrupted the session.

Simon Reicher said:
“Because of the red flags, I simply couldn’t use the peak performance of the tyres. Whenever I was about to bring them to operating temperature, another interruption cooled the tyres down again. In addition, there was a small technical defect in my brakes, so we had to be satisfied with 23rd place.”

The race on Saturday afternoon was no less challenging. Three penalties – for "forcing another car off the track", a premature driver change (the car did not come to a complete stop), and speeding in the penalty zone – resulted in a 22nd-place finish.

Sunday then belonged fully to the Austrians.
“The result on Sunday was okay. Norbert was able to make up a few places during his stint and our pit stop strategy was great. During the race, two competitors ahead of us retired. You always have to go to the end and see the black and white checkered flag. Overall, we are staying in the mix, but I’m not satisfied with the performance yet. We had to fight very hard, and things didn’t go as I had hoped. There’s still a lot of room for improvement. We’ll do everything we can to take the next step at the Nürburgring in four weeks and to be as well-prepared as possible,” Reicher analysed the Sunday race.

But the 21-year-old also found conciliatory words in light of the criticism:
“We didn’t get off to a good start this season. However, we’ve been able to improve from race weekend to race weekend. I think that’s great. A big thank you to my team – everyone is working hard for success. This time, tenth place was an excellent result for all of us.”

Peter Reicher (deputy team manager) summed it up as follows:
“After we were pushed back by the penalties on Saturday, the top-ten finish was balm for the soul. For us as a private team, this was a very strong achievement. Now it’s time to stick with it and take the next step forward.”

The fourth ADAC GT Masters event awaits the Austrians at the Nürburgring in four weeks.

Source and photos: www.kartnet.de / Michael Schulz

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