Kris Richard: mixed WTCR debut
NO CHANCE OF POINTS Kris Richard had expected more from his first start in the worldwide championship for TCR touring cars (WTCR) at the Nürburgring. Nevertheless, the man from Berne classified himself well in the competitive midfield with the Honda Civic. After two free practice sessions in drizzle in the morning and dry qualifying in the early afternoon, the first of the [...]
After two free practice sessions in drizzle in the morning and dry qualifying in the early afternoon, the first of the three races on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife already took place on Thursday evening.
Kris Richard qualified with the Honda Civic Type R TCR from KCMG in 21st place out of 27 drivers. Even with that, the ambitious Bernese was not satisfied.
Kris Richard: "I can't believe that I'm 9.5 seconds slower than the top. Driver-wise it makes up maybe two seconds, also the extra ballast of 20 kg for me as a guest driver plays a little bit. The rest I can not explain other than that the engine has too little steam. I can see that from the top speed on the long straight. After all, I've already won on this track with a Honda in the ETCC."
17th place among 27 drivers
After a good start to the first race over three laps on the 25.378 km Nordschleife, Richard immediately felt that he could not keep up with the front field.
Taking into account that three competitors who had started before him were eliminated, the 17th place among 22 classified with a gap of 32.4 seconds to the winners was not a big progress.
Four days earlier at the TCR Europe opener in Le Castellet, the driver from Berne had been battling for fourth place in a Hyundai with two-time TCR Germany champion Josh Files before being torpedoed by his own teammate and set back. So Richard also knows from there what he can be capable of.
His conclusion was correspondingly sober, although he does not question the qualities of the Honda and the team itself.
Kris Richard: "I felt right away that I lacked a bit of power in acceleration. So I made the best of it. It was certainly not just down to me that I was so far behind. I hope the team will figure something out by the second qualifying session and the next races. I didn't invest so much money from my loyal sponsors and patrons for such a result."
Double victory for Yvan Muller Racing on Hyundai
Victory went to Yvan Muller ahead of Thed Björk and Rob Huff, who were separated by only 853 thousandths. All three have already been World Touring Car Champions in the FIA WTCC.
Muller and Björk drive Hyundai i30 N TCR cars from Yvan Muller Racing, Huff a VW Golf GTI TCR from Sébastien Loeb Racing. Championship leader Gabriele Tarquini threw his Hyundai violently into the guardrails at the end of the first lap.
Races 2 and 3 will take place on Saturday at 11 a.m. and 12.20 p.m. respectively for a further three laps each. Both will be broadcast live by Eurosport 1.
This will be followed by the line-up for the 24-hour race with a start at 3:30 pm.
