Unbeatable: Jeffrey Schmidt secures another double win
Connect Four. Connect four and win! Jeffrey Schmidt is on a roll at the moment. The Swiss driver notched up victories three and four in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East at the Reem International Circuit in Saudi Arabia over the weekend. The 21-year-old had previously secured a double win at the season opener in Bahrain and remains undefeated after four rounds. The picture in the overall standings after the first two meetings of the season is also very clear thanks to his maximum points haul. Schmidt has a comfortable 14-point lead after four of twelve races.
The Al Nabooda Racing driver made a perfect start to the race weekend at the Reem International Circuit. He secured pole position with a lead of 0.482 seconds in qualifying for the first race. Schmidt did not let anything stand in his way in the race either. He went into P1 immediately after the start on the most demanding track in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East and maintained it over the 17 laps of the race. The Swiss driver was 0.893 seconds up on team-mate Zaid Ashkanani at the finish. “The track was very slippery due to the sand, loads of it, and conditions were tough. I had to really concentrate hard on every lap, so as not to make any mistakes,” said Schmidt.
His team-mate was again his closest rival in qualifying for Race Two on Sunday. In the end, Schmidt won through against Ashkanani with a time of 1:15.706 minutes and also started the second race from pole position. While drivers jockeyed fiercely for position behind him, Schmidt kept the lead to secure his fourth victory in the fourth race after 17 laps.
“The race was really challenging, and its outcome was again determined by sand. The first few laps were tricky, since I was under pressure from behind and couldn’t afford to make a mistake under any circumstances,” said Schmidt. “The weekend could hardly have gone better with two pole positions and two wins in all. I made it my goal from the outset to clinch the title in the drivers’ and team rankings, so taking four wins from four races is just perfect.” After racking up four wins and seven podiums in eight races, his team, Al Nabooda Racing, are also well out in front in the team standings with 182 points.
After a perfect start to the season, Schmidt will now take a short Christmas break, before the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East heads to the Formula 1 circuit in Abu Dhabi on January 22nd. Two race weekends at the Dubai Autodrome are then scheduled for January 29th and February 19th, 2016. The season grand finale will take place in Bahrain on the weekend of March 4th/5th, 2016.
