Double victory on Middle East debut
A perfect debut for Jeffrey Schmidt: The Swiss youngster recorded a brace of victories at the season opener of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East in Bahrain. Competing on the same weekend and at the same venue as the FIA World Endurance Championship, Schmidt prevailed over a strong international field in his first two outings in the Porsche brand trophy series. “I’m very happy about this result,” said the 21-year-old. “Things could not have gone better for me this weekend. The team has worked really hard, and to be leading the championship at this stage is a well-deserved reward.”
Schmidt is contesting the current championship as a member of the Al Nabooda Racing team. Al Nabooda is not only the largest Porsche dealership in the world but also the most successful outfit in the history of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East. On the first of a total of six race weekends during the northern winter, Schmidt gave his team a perfect start. In both races on the Formula 1 track, he won by a wide margin in his 460bhp Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car.
Starting from second on the grid in Race 1, Schmidt took an early lead. He then controlled the race and was able to steadily pull out a gap. At the chequered flag, Schmidt was 3.449 seconds ahead of second-placed Ryan Cullen from Ireland. “Everything went as planned,” said Schmidt after his race debut in this seventh running of the Porsche series. “I got off to a good start and took the lead on the first corner. I came under some early pressure from behind, but from the second lap onwards, I controlled the pace and drove my own race out at the front.”
Sunday’s large crowd saw Schmidt start from pole position. The Al Nabooda Racing driver successfully defended first position and proceeded to build up a lead over his pursuers. Three laps from the end, the safety car bunched up the field again. Schmidt kept his cool at the restart, once again opening up a gap and finishing 4.513 ahead of Ryan Cullen. Schmidt’s team-mate Zaid Ashkanani took third place on the podium. “At the beginning, I managed to extend my lead and pull out a gap on Cullen,” said Schmidt. “Then the safety car nullified the margin I had built up. The restart wasn’t easy, but ultimately I secured the victory.”
After a successful season opener at the Bahrain International Circuit, Schmidt will be back in action in early December. On the weekend of 4th/5th December, the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East will be hosted by the Reem International Circuit in Saudi Arabia. From 22nd January to 19th February 2016, three race weekends are scheduled for the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi (once) and the Dubai Autodrome (twice). The grand finale to the season takes place on 4th/5th March 2016 in Bahrain.
This is Schmidt’s first full campaign as a driver in the Middle East, although he does have some experience of the competition from his deployment as a driver coach and reference driver last winter in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East. The one-make cup, which enjoys support from the manufacturer itself, has also been organised by Austria’s Walter Lechner over a number of years. Schmidt had considerable success during the 2015 season as a member of Lechner’s squad in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup (support series to Formula 1) as well as in the German Porsche Carrera Cup.
