Young Driver Challenge: The youngest shines 🎥
STRONG JULIEN APOTHELOZ Julien Apothéloz came to Hockenheim as the third and final finalist in the 2018 Young Driver Challenge. The youngest of all youngsters amazed in his first touring car race. Julien Apothéloz is only 17, lives in Gockhausen ZH, goes to the 5th grade of the Realgymnasium Rämibühl in Zurich and has been racing karts since 2010 - and [...]
Julien Apothéloz is only 17, lives in Gockhausen ZH, goes to the 5th grade at Realgymnasium Rämibühl in Zurich, and has been racing karts since 2010 - and doing it pretty well. At the season finale of the OK Senior in Lignières on September 16, he stood on the podium in second place alongside the 2018 dominant champion Patrick Näscher.
Together with Leonardo Tinland and Francesco Ruga, the Zurich native qualified for this year's final of the "AutoScout24 Young Driver Challenge by SEAT". And so it was his turn last weekend in Hockenheim as the third and final finalist to make his touring car debut as part of the ADAC TCR Germany.
Constant increase
Because of his age, Apothéloz does not yet have a driving license. His experience with cars in the summer was limited to talent scouting on the Anneau du Rhin and the license course at test drives in Dijon.
The youngster impressively proved from the first lap at the Baden Motodrom that he has earned the International FIA C license without driving experience in road traffic and races.
From 25th place among 28 competitors in the first free practice session, he improved to P16 in the second and reduced the time gap to the top to just two seconds.
Then, of all things, it rained on Saturday morning during qualifying. The learning process started from scratch again. However, the youngster did brilliantly with 23rd time.
He described his impressions afterwards in the following interview:
https://www.facebook.com/YoungDriverChallengeCH/videos/539322869846355
Forward without error
Due to the penalty of a front runner to the rear, Apothéloz started in 22nd position in sunshine for his first car race, which he finished in a good seventeenth position.
On the other day, in the second race, which was marked by three safety car phases due to various accidents, he finished a sensational ninth, the best result of the six Young Drivers so far.
Julien probably benefited from several retirements, but he left nine ranked opponents behind him. The last one he caught in the last turn!
His racing intelligence, the overview and willingness to fight in the turmoil after each start or re-start, without committing driving errors or gross enemy contacts, is evidence of great talent.
Praise from all sides
No wonder, everyone showered him with praise, even from other teams. "He did very, very, very well," marveled team bosses Ronny and Ruedi Jost.
Julien himself was beaming like a cockchafer and could hardly believe what had happened, as he described it in the interview:
https://www.facebook.com/YoungDriverChallengeCH/videos/573843403051976
Something else interesting he said in conversation with AutoSprintCH.
Julien Apothéloz: "When I saw a gap, like in the finish bend, I jumped in, but without taking any big risks. Overtaking in the kart used to be my weakness. In the meantime, I've learned to drive a bit more on contact. And that has now helped me in the touring car as well."
Wait until November
A jury will now decide who will be the overall winner in 2018 and receive a sponsorship package worth 50,000 Swiss francs for the 2019 season. It must now assess the performances of the three young drivers.
The winner will be announced at Auto Zürich in November. Franscesco Ruga has good cards with his performance at the Sachsenring, where overtaking was more difficult. Julien Apothéloz, however, probably has the better cards after his performance - which trump card will win over the jury?
Good finish from Oliver Holdener
Oliver Holdener proved just how far this can go. Last year's overall winner qualified a great tenth in Hockenheim with the Cupra TCR from Wolf-Power Racing. This meant pole position for the second race, after he had finished the first race in fourteenth place.
Unfortunately, the man from Schwyz messed up the start, so that he was immediately put behind. However, in seventh place he equaled his best result so far.
For budget reasons, Holdener had to forgo participation in the previous events at Zandvoort and the Sachsenring. Otherwise, he scored points in each of his ten completed races and ranked 15th in the championship.
There's no question about it: this talent show undoubtedly served its purpose and long exceeded expectations.
