Motorsport: Rolf Reding on TCR test drive
MOTORSPORT As the winner of the new Swiss Hill Climb Championship Junior, Rolf Reding was allowed to complete a test day with a Seat Leon TCR. As with his four victories on the mountain, the man from Schwyz impressed. As promised, the overall winner in the 2017 Swiss Hill Climb Championship Junior was treated to a test drive in a TCR touring car. Last Sunday was the day: Rolf [...]
As promised, the overall winner in the 2017 Swiss Hill Climb Junior Championship was given a test drive in a TCR touring car. Last Sunday was the day: Rolf Reding was allowed to drive a Seat Leon TCR on the Circuit de Dijon-Prenois.
This was the car used for the three finalists of the Young Driver Challenge from Topcar Sport in Uetendorf. As they had also trained on the former GP circuit in Burgundy before their racing commitments, this provided a good reference.
The 24-year-old from Schwyz was allowed to complete three sessions of 45 minutes each plus a few laps in the best possible external conditions. There's no question that he did just as well as he did at the wheel of the Swiss Race Academy's Toyota GT86.
Since Reding already helped out in his spare time with a team that fields a TCR car in endurance races, he knew roughly what to expect from the technical side. He didn't have a hard time driving himself either, even though he switched from the standard rear-wheel drive car to a 350 hp front-wheel drive race touring car.
After the first run to get used to the track and the car, data analysis helped him further. TCR Germany driver Ronny Jost and his father Ruedi, who run Topcar Sport, gave him the right tips, which Reding knew how to implement.
"It was mega fun," said this year's youngest Swiss mountain champion enthusiastically. He was also satisfied with himself: "In the end, I drove consistent lap times that were in the Young Driver range. I was also only three tenths above Fredy Barth's reference time. I certainly wasn't on the wrong track..."
Of course, a successful test day like this whets the appetite for more. But where his future career will take him is still completely open.
Rolf Reding's next big appearance will be on November 24 at the Dîner des Champions at the Bellevue Palace in Bern. There, in the presence of racing celebrities and the media, Auto Sport Schweiz will honor all the 2017 Swiss champions and cup winners, as well as the runners-up in each case. This stage will also be a new experience for him...
