Jeffrey Schmidt poised to take runner-up trophy
Jeffrey Schmidt suffered more bad luck in the Porsche Carrera Cup. Technical problems and a string of misfortunes at Oschersleben frustrated the Swiss youngster’s title challenge. Tenth place in Sunday’s race was a small consolation, adding six vital points to his championship tally. He is currently third in the standings, trailing the second-placed contestant by just two points.
Jeffrey, until the second race at Oschersleben, you were still in with a chance of winning the championship. How do you see the current situation?
It’s certainly a pity from my perspective that Philipp Eng has already wrapped up the title. Following the first race at Oschersleben, I was the last of his opponents who might have stopped him. But after the bad luck I experienced in the first race and being forced to retire, that was the end of the matter. He had a smooth passage through the season while we unfortunately were frequently struggling to overcome technical difficulties. I think that’s what made the difference in the end. Now I’m fully focused on the battle for the runner-up spot. I’ve been in the Top Three all season, so I’m aiming to finish as high up as I can. The runner-up trophy is now the target.
In the first race, you were on course for a points finish before you had to retire. What happened there?
After my two fastest laps in qualifying were disallowed for exceeding the track limits, I had to start the two races from P14 and P12. So not very promising grid positions. In the first race, I got off to a great start, overtook several cars and was already up to seventh going into the fourth lap. When the car in front was penalised, I was in line for a P6 finish. But all of a sudden on the sixth lap, the steering on my car broke. The hydraulic fluid came out, and I was unable to steer the car. So that was the end of my race. My team spent the rest of the evening dismantling the steering system and repairing it. A big thank-you to the guys at Lechner Racing for doing such a fantastic job!
You didn’t have a trouble-free time in the second race either, but you still managed to score points…
Yes, it was a case of damage limitation in the end. I started from twelfth on the grid and successfully defended my position. Although it was still wet off the racing line, I was able to overtake two other cars. I decided to take a risk and started another overtaking manoeuvre. Unfortunately, that went wrong and I lost several positions. From P13, I worked my way back up to tenth. A few laps before the end came the next stroke of bad luck. A loose stone smashed into my radiator and ripped a hole in it. Coolant sprayed out onto my left-hand tyres. It was even more slippery than oil, and it was extremely difficult to keep the car on the track. On all the right-handers, I had to fight the steering, but with great effort, I managed to cross the line in tenth place. Towards the end, the car was virtually undriveable, and I was lapping two seconds slower than at the start.
There are just two race weekends now before the end of the season – at the Nürburgring and at Hockenheim. What targets have you set yourself for the upcoming races?
I’m already looking forward to the next races in the Porsche Carrera Cup. The Nürburgring and Hockenheim are my favourite tracks. At the very least, I want to finish on the podium there. This year, we’ve repeatedly demonstrated that we have the necessary straight-line speed. But everything needs to be just right, otherwise you very quickly find yourself outside the correct window. I hope that this run of bad luck has now come to an end. We’ve certainly had enough of it in recent races. I’ve already made several podium appearances in the past at both the Nürburgring and Hockenheim. For that reason, I’m confident that we are capable of competing at the very front of the field.
