Motorsport: World championship points for Kris Richard
MOTORSPORT On his second race weekend in the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC), Kris Richard scored ten championship points at the season finale in Qatar. A conciliatory conclusion after a mixed year with Honda in the ADAC TCR Germany. Kris Richard was one of the fastest drivers in the German TCR championship in a Honda Civic Type R TCR. But a lack of racing luck, technical problems and [...]
Kris Richard was one of the fastest drivers in the German TCR Championship in a Honda Civic Type R TCR. However, a lack of racing luck, technical problems and his own mistakes thwarted more than a single podium finish. After winning the European Cup in 2016, the 23-year-old from Bern had hoped for more.
At the end of the season, he was able to show what he is capable of at a higher level in the WTCC. In his second outing with the Chevrolet Cruze TC1 from Campos Racing, Kris Richard was significantly faster than his experienced team-mate Tom Coronel.
In qualifying, the first Swiss WTCC driver in five years achieved the eighth-best time out of 16 drivers. This earned him third place on the grid for the first race.
"Unfortunately, I messed up my first start on a dry track after it had been wet throughout in Japan. The revs of the 1600cc turbo engine plummeted. By the time I got up to speed, the whole procession was over...", he explains his disappointing 12th place in the first race.
In the second race under floodlights, Richard got off the mark better and moved slightly ahead in the scramble at the start. With a great overtaking maneuver, he passed the multi-champion Yvan Muller in a Volvo 60 Polestar to take 6th place and stayed ahead of him until the finish.
This earned Kris Richard ten championship points, the first for a Swiss driver since Alain Menu in 2012, as well as third place in the Trophy classification for private drivers. "That went really well, and I also did well in terms of lap times. I would like to thank all my sponsors for making this second start possible at short notice!"
World champion was the Swede Thed Björk in a Volvo S60 Polestar. In only its second year, Cyan Polestar Racing also won the title fight against Honda among the teams and brands. From 2108, the WTCC will become the WTCR with more cost-effective two-liter turbo touring cars that have been used globally since 2015 in accordance with TCR regulations.
