Jeffrey Schmidt takes championship lead at Nordschleife
Jeffrey, you have taken the lead in the championship with sixth place in the race at the Nürburgring-Nordschleife. Feels good, right?
Of course, it’s really special to see P1 next to your name – a good start to the season, which gives me a lot of confidence. It’s all the more wonderful to leave the legendary Nordschleife with the championship lead. I must say, though, that I see sixth place in the race more as damage limitation. I had expected a much better result at the Nürburgring. Unfortunately, ninth position on the grid was not the best, but I overtook a few cars during the race and secured important points towards the championship.
Why were you unable to achieve a better result in qualifying?
It was really annoying. I had a contact with another car on the way to finishing my first lap and the steering on my Porsche took a knock. Luckily, I was able to continue, but the damage had a negative impact on my speed. The steering wheel was a bit wonky, making it incredibly difficult to drive around all the challenging turns on the Nordschleife. That cost me time, unfortunately. The deficit on my team mate Michael Ammermüller in third place was less than two seconds. I’m sure I would have been just as quick but for the damage.
You mentioned the turns just now. There are more than 80 of them at the Nürburgring – how did you tackle this particular challenge?
You drive around turns on the Nordschleife that are unlike those at any other circuit in the world. No one these days would be daft enough to build such a track, but that’s what makes it so unique for us racing drivers. To race through the forest without any proper run-off areas while keeping close to the crash barriers for almost 25 kilometres – there’s no greater challenge for a racing driver. The fast turns are really something, because our cars don’t have many aerodynamic features. Everything has to be right when you’re flying through the turns at 230 km/h – the turn-in points, grip and the interaction between brakes and throttle.
The Nordschleife is the most dangerous racetrack in the world. Did that affect your approach?
There’s no question of easing off the gas, Nordschleife or not! You won’t make the Top Ten if you don’t give 100 percent in the car all of the time in the Porsche Carrera Cup, and I was on the limit both in the race and in qualifying. It’s incredibly important here to have absolute confidence in the car. The guys at Lechner Racing have done a great job and given me a Porsche with perfect set up.
The legendary 24-hour race at the Nürburgring hosts the Porsche Carrera Cup. What was it like for you to drive in front of around 200,000 spectators over the weekend?
The atmosphere was fantastic. Driving in such a stunning setting gives you as a driver an extra boost. It was great to meet so many fans in the paddock and see how interested they are in us. I got a real feel for the atmosphere around the track on the installation lap before the race started. I could see the spectators waving and clapping. Those impressions will stay with me for a long time. During the race, I was fully focused and only saw what was happening on track.
And there’s more happening soon. You’ll be lining up in Monaco with the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup next weekend.
I’m heading directly from the Nordschleife to Monaco – so I’ll be driving on the two of the world’s most extreme racetracks within a very short time. The two circuits can stand comparison. The Monaco track is also a roller coaster but has even fewer run-off areas. The Formula 1 race in Monaco always fascinated me when I was small. Every racing driver dreams of lining up there along with Formula 1. There are very few opportunities for overtaking, which makes qualifying all the more important.
