Misfortune, mishaps and mistakes after best time in practice at Norisring
Jeffrey Schmidt lined up with the Porsche Carrera Cup at the Norisring this weekend. The 22-year-old impressed by securing fastest time in free practice and by finishing in the Top Three in qualifying. But the Lechner Huber Racing driver was stopped by a punctured tyre in the first race after a thrilling battle for position. The Swiss driver took fifth place in Race 2 despite more problems. A disappointing weekend for the otherwise successful driver, who has set his sights on winning the championship this season.
Jeffrey, the weekend began well for you. You finished in the Top Three in both qualifying sessions.
It was incredibly close in the qualis. In taking second and third place on the grid, I only just missed pole by 0.162 and 0.244 seconds. I have to admit that I quite fancied my chances of securing the top spot on the grid after posting fastest time in practice, so it was a bit of a shame. However, a great deal was still possible from where I was starting. It made us feel very positive and gave us hope that a great weekend was in prospect.
But the first race did not go as planned.
No, unfortunately. I started from second place on the grid and ran wide briefly while overtaking shortly afterwards. My car grazed the wall slightly. I thought it wasn’t too bad at first. However, I had creased one of the wings so much that it was pressing into the tyre – two laps later, it was a total mess. I wanted to quickly return to the pits, but unfortunately, a part of the tyre had got caught up in the suspension, and it was no longer possible to continue. I watched other competitors, who kissed the wall just like me three or four times during the race, and nothing happened to them. It’s particularly apt in my case, when you’re unlucky, misfortune will add to your misery.
That then strengthened your resolve in Race 2, no doubt?
Yes, of course! I thought to myself, I’ve now got to mount an all-out attack! I was also taking more risks in all probability. I started from third place on the grid and lost a few places for a time, but I still wanted to quickly attack again and push forwards. Unfortunately, the gap on the leaders was already very large by that time, and to make matters worse, I’d flat-spotted my tyres on both sides in the jockeying for position at the start. Racing for 35 laps like that at the Norisring wasn’t exactly easy. To sum things up then, the whole race was actually already over after the first few turns, so P5 was damage limitation. How extremely unfortunate, because so much more was possible this weekend.
Your next outing will be in this weekend’s Porsche Supercup in Austria. How will you prepare for the race?
I’m going to relax for a couple of days to clear my head before focusing fully on the Supercup where I’m currently third in the standings with only a ten-point deficit on second place – a lot can still be accomplished this season, especially since the circuits where I’ve already been successful in the past are all now on the schedule.
How do you expect the race weekend at the Red Bull Ring to go?
I first raced in Spielberg two years ago. I must admit, I’ve suffered highs and lows so far there. While my debut race went really well with second place, a technical problem cost me a podium in 2015. So, since I’ve had one good year and one bad one, 2016 should go really well for me again!
