Kris Richard: An angry end to the TCR season
EXCLUSION IN SPAIN A penalty imposed on Kris Richard at the TCR Europe finale in Barcelona led to a scandal. The driver from Thun was excluded from the entire event. In free practice for the final round of the TCR Europe series in Barcelona, things still looked promising for Kris Richard with third place in the field of 32 drivers from 19 nations. [...]
In free practice for the final round of the TCR Europe series in Barcelona, things still looked promising for Kris Richard with third place in the field of 32 drivers from 19 nations. The driver from Thun was also happy with seventh place in qualifying. After that, however, the situation escalated.
Because Richard is said to have shortened between turns 1 and 2, the stewards moved him from 7th to 10th on the grid before the first race. Because this would have meant pole position for the second race due to the reversed starting order of the top 10 from qualifying, the Hyundai driver from the Target Competition team also received a further penalty, as he should have lined up eleventh.
Not comprehensible for the accused
Too much of a bad thing for the beleaguered Swiss driver, after he had already felt unfairly treated a few weeks earlier with the disallowance of his victory in Spa (a one-second time penalty meant only second place).
Kris Richard: "This is absolutely incomprehensible. I presented a video to the stewards, accompanied by my team, which clearly showed that I drove through the corresponding corner passage within the tolerance, as did some others who were not penalized. I could have lived with three penalty places. The deletion of the pole for Sunday was too much."
Facebook entry with consequences
Unfortunately, the otherwise level-headed Bernese driver then got carried away with a comment on Facebook, which the stewards concerned took as an insult. As a result, Kris Richard had to appear before the race stewards again on Sunday morning. They immediately excluded him from the entire event.
Kris Richard: "The race stewards ruined the whole weekend for me. That really hurts when you think how much it all cost - and what could have been possible."
No more desire for TCR
This disqualification had no consequences for him in the drivers' standings. The 23-year-old from Thun remained in seventh place in the championship.
Officially, Richard has no race wins to his name. However, he is the only driver who has started every race and seen the chequered flag in every race. He finished eight in the points and two on the podium.
For Richard, the subject of TCR is now out of the question. He sees his future in GT3 racing (after good performances in the VLN) or in a GT one-make cup, for example with Porsche.
Spaniard Mikel Azcona in a Cupra TCR was celebrated by the home crowd as the 2018 TCR Europe champion. The runner-up is Frenchman Jean-Karl Vernay in an Audi RS3 LMS TCR.
