24H Dubai: Praise for Miklas Born
GOOD STANDING One is used to victories and podiums from Yannick Mettler. But the TCR podium at the 24 Hours of Dubai with Autorama Motorsport was also well deserved by newcomer Miklas Born. Although the classification was not completely regular and fair for everyone, as only seven of the 24 race hours were completed on January 10/11 until the final stop [...]
The classification was not completely regular and fair for everyone, as only seven of the 24 race hours had been completed on January 10/11 before the final abandonment due to the water masses at the Dubai Autodrome. A number of teams from all categories had adopted the strategy of first letting the bronze and silver drivers take the wheel before the semis and pros took over in the darkness for the first time. They were then left looking down the tube.
The youngest of all
In the case of car number #112 from Autorama Motorsport by Wolf-Power Racing, however, third place in the TCR class was absolutely deserved. After the training accidents of the two VW Golf GTI TCR, the podium was a conciliatory conclusion, even if the repeat of last year's victory did not succeed. And during the most delicate phase, Miklas Born, the youngest and most inexperienced, was at the wheel.
The Basel native, who is just 17 years old, competed in his first ever international car race for the Zurich team. To prepare, he took part in a 6-hour race three days earlier in Dubai with a German TCR team, which ended with a fourth-place finish in the division, just eight seconds behind a McLaren GT4. These kilometers were all the more important because Born missed a lot of practice time afterwards due to the accident involving his 24-hour Autorama car.
Coach and teammate
With Yannick Mettler as his coach, the previous kart driver prepared for the adventure in the months beforehand with a short test drive on the Anneau du Rhin and on the simulator at the Racing Fuel Academy in Horgen. The Lucerne native, who started as the team's spearhead on both touring cars, was also one of his four partners.
Yannick Mettler: "I prepared Miklas for all kinds of situations. That was half the battle. Because in the race, he implemented everything with aplomb. He already shows a lot of maturity and self-confidence for his age."
Prepared for difficult conditions
It was also wise and courageous of the team management to let Born do further laps in the warm-up in drizzle. He promptly found similar conditions in the race.
Miklas Born: "In the warm-up I wanted to drive with slicks pretty soon to know at what point they are faster than rain tires. My only stint in the race was then pretty chaotic. After about five laps it started to rain. I could only see the drops on the windshield and really couldn't judge at all how slippery it was. So my experience from the warm-up was an advantage. With slicks in the rain and in the dark and a horde of GT3 cars showing no consideration for slower cars, the conditions couldn't have been much more difficult."
First talent and test passed
The youngster mastered the conditions brilliantly, spared his team an additional tire stop and moved up to second position. Because the strategy was not geared towards a stop, "only" third place resulted in the end.
With two trophies under their arms, for P3 in the overall 24H TCE Series touring car standings and in the TCR class, both Swiss and their three partners from Italy and Austria were able to head home.
Miklas Born: "My goal was to learn a lot and not break anything. Of course it's great to be on the podium right away at the first race weekend. I was able to show what I can do and I'm really looking forward to my future with Autorama. Without my team, my father and my sponsors, none of this would have been possible."
European launch end of March
The team manager is also looking forward to further races with the young newcomer.
Stefan Tanner: "He did a sensational job. I've seen many young drivers before, but none who were already so hardened and made such clear statements. We trusted Miklas, and he made no mistakes. It's going to be an exciting season."
The next race is the Monza 12 Hours on March 27/28, which also marks the start of the 24H Series Europe.
