Niederhauser: Hunt for two GT titles 🎥
WINS IN GT3 AND GT4 On the first weekend in May, Patric Niederhauser won the GT4 in England and last Saturday in Most (CZ) in the ADAC GT Masters, which the Bernese now leads with his South African partner. On May 4/5, Patric Niederhauser and his Austrian teammate Reinhard Kofler pushed the second event of the GT4 European [...]
On May 4/5, Patric Niederhauser and his Austrian teammate Reinhard Kofler made their mark on the second event of the GT4 European Series. Driving True Racing's KTM X-Bow GT4, the duo won the first race at the former Brands Hatch GP circuit and, with a sensational recovery in the second race, moved up from 15th place to the podium. Without a ten-place penalty on the grid for the second race, the one-two finish would probably have been possible.
First pole position and first victory in the ADAC GT Masters
It got even better. Last Saturday, the man from Bern secured pole position for himself and the new HCB-Rutronik Racing team in the ADAC GT Masters in Most, Czech Republic, his first in the so-called league of super sports cars. At the start of the first race, Niederhauser defended the lead and steadily pulled away. After the driver change, Kelvin van der Linde brought the Audi R8 LMS home in first position.
In just 100 seconds, the following video shows the highlights of the race won by Niederhauser/Van der Linde from pole position:
For Niederhauser, it was his first victory in the ADAC GT Masters, but not his first in Most. In 2018, he celebrated two highly emotional victories in a guest start in the GT4 Central European Cup together with his girlfriend Marylin on a KTM X Bow.
Redemption after hard years
Despite 30 kilograms of success ballast, the South African qualified the GT3 Audi for grid position 8 on Sunday morning, which Niederhauser brought home in fourth place after good preparatory work by his partner. With 71 points, the duo leads the drivers' standings after four races of the 2019 season. They have a 17-point lead over the runners-up ahead of the third stop of the season on the Whitsun weekend in Spielberg.
No wonder, Niederhauser was almost speechless after this successful weekend.
Patric Niederhauser: "It's great to be with this new team from the start. I felt comfortable from the very first test and knew that the team would deliver top performance. It's great that we've made our mark so early on. For me personally, though, it's also a redemption after hard years in motorsport."
Do not always risk everything
Although the former GP3 winning driver is now ahead in the championship, he doesn't give it too much weight yet.
Patric Niederhauser: "We have to get the maximum out of every race, drive intelligently, not always risk everything so that we are in the title fight at the end of the season. We used the momentum on Saturday and took the win. We certainly wouldn't have taken a risk for that, because it's better to take a podium than risk a retirement."
Almost like home
What are the duo's plans for the next race at the Red Bull Ring?
Patric Niederhauser: "I like the track a lot. The surroundings remind me of Switzerland and that's why I feel at home. Unfortunately, the track doesn't suit the Audi that well, but we'll give everything. The top 10 should definitely be possible. The goal is to collect a lot of points and defend the lead in the standings if possible."
