Engineers rarely check their weather apps as frequently as they did last weekend (13–15 September) at the Red Bull Ring. The forecast for the sixth round of the International GT Open was anything but promising. A severe weather warning was issued across Austria—snow, heavy rain, and storms were predicted, and temperatures barely exceeded six degrees. But the conditions turned out to be less extreme than feared.

Rain dominated both free practice sessions on Friday. Nevertheless, drivers Simon Reicher and Christopher Haase managed to handle the adverse weather impressively. The Eastalent Audi R8 LMS evo II, bearing start number 1, achieved second and first place in the two sessions.

Well-prepared, the team moved into Saturday’s qualifying and race—this time without precipitation. Simon Reicher had to adjust quickly from wet to dry conditions, ultimately qualifying in 12th place.

In the opening laps of the race, Simon Reicher was already engaged in intense duels. At the end of his stint, he handed the Eastalent Audi over to teammate Christopher Haase in 17th position. The driver change was executed efficiently. However, due to their second and first-place finishes in Paul Ricard, the team incurred a 15-second time penalty during the pit stop.

“You can’t compensate for 15 seconds. That’s damn hard,” said team manager Peter Reicher. Ultimately, Christopher Haase brought the Eastalent Audi home in 9th place.

It had rained all night, and on Sunday morning, Christopher Haase was up for qualifying. After three red flags in pouring rain, he secured P3. In dry conditions at race start, he immediately pressured the competition and overtook the runner-up in the first corner. He then led the remainder of his stint. A brilliant pit stop strategy propelled the Audi into first place. The rest of the race was executed cleanly, securing victory for the Kirchberg-based Eastalent Racing Team.

“We had to start our home race here at the Red Bull Ring with a 15-second handicap. Our second and first place finishes in Paul Ricard brought us this penalty. The conditions didn’t make things any easier. Thanks to our ninth place on Saturday, we were able to reduce the penalty by 10 seconds. Still, we had 5 seconds left to serve on Sunday. On Saturday, we were lucky that our competitors didn’t fully capitalize and only scored a few points in the championship themselves. Christopher’s qualifying in third place under such tough conditions was world-class. I have the utmost respect for our engineers Gunnar and Christian. They planned the pit stop so perfectly that we surprised our rivals. Simon then brought the car home flawlessly. Winning our home race here at the Red Bull Ring makes me incredibly proud. My parents’ house is just 15 minutes from here. I was allowed to stand on the podium with my father. With my son Simon, my father, and myself, three generations of Reichers were on the podium. Emotionally, it’s indescribable,” said team manager Peter Reicher of a very emotional weekend.

“I never look at the weather forecast before a race weekend. It shouldn’t be our mindset to hope for dry, wet, or specific conditions. We have to perform and stay competitive no matter what. Still, the weather was extremely challenging—wet, soaking wet, semi-dry, and dry—it was all there. To be honest, we never felt completely dialled in. Despite that, we did a great job and even managed to counter the 15-second penalty. Today’s win at the Red Bull Ring is something really special. I never would’ve dreamed it. Now there are two race weekends left in the championship—Barcelona and Monza. We need to stay cool and keep our focus. The new 15-second penalty for Barcelona won’t make things easier,” said Simon Reicher.

“After 14 years as an Audi factory driver, to finally win with an Audi at the Red Bull Ring—I can hardly believe it. What a strong performance from the entire team. We’ve rewritten Audi history with Eastalent Racing—an Austrian team winning in Austria. It feels like a little fairy tale. I think we almost always nailed the setup of our Audi R8 LMS evo II in these weather conditions. My qualifying performance was good, but unfortunately not perfect. We’ll have to reflect on that back home—we missed some steps we later implemented. Still, a P3 in qualifying is a high level. I’m more than satisfied and want to thank Eastalent Racing for a fantastic race weekend,” said Audi factory driver Christopher Haase.

Now, as championship leaders, the Kirchberg-based Eastalent Racing Team heads to the penultimate round of the 2024 season in Barcelona, from 27 to 29 September.

Text: www.kartpress.de / Michael Schulz
Photo: www.kartnet.de / Michael Schulz

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