Great start: pole and podium

German-Swiss Yannik Brandt experienced a fast start into the new season last weekend in Hockenheim. At his premiere at the Audi Sport TT Cup, the rookie drove to pole position and gathered his first leading kilometers during the following races as well. In the end he ended up on the winners’ podium on third place.

The touring car rookie was already very confident before the start of the season and highlighted this at the kick-off in Hockenheim: “I already felt comfortable in the car during the official test and now I’m looking forward to the first start.” During free training on Friday, the 16-year-old driver had another chance to get used to the track and found even more potential for improvement regarding qualifying. He was unstoppable then and secured pole position right away. “Wow, I didn’t expect this. I caught a perfect lap quite early on and therefore had the pole position. I’m going to start into the second race from third position, which is also a good starting point”, Yannik rejoiced.

Within the framework of the German Touring Car Masters (DTM) and the FIA Rallycross World Championship, Yannik perfectly started into the first race in front of filled-up spectator terraces. He extended his lead and seemed to be on the way towards a premiere victory. A safety-car phase diminished his advance though and Yannik came in third in the end. “Of course winning would have been a dream, but third place is also a great result. I didn’t think that I’d end up on the podium at my first touring car race and also would be the best rookie”, the youngster continued.

On Sunday the weather was a bit worrisome for the drivers of the Audi Sport TT Cup then. The entire field started with rain tires on the half-wet track. The track then dried quickly and demanded a lot from the tires. “It felt like I was driving on soft soap. The tires got way too hot in the end”, Yannik explained. At first he fought for second place but then fell back to eighth position until the end of the race.

At the finish line the joy about his successful touring car debut prevailed though: “I’m very happy. The whole weekend was a lot of fun. I’d love to travel to the Nürburgring right now and continue there. A big thank you to my engineer Bartek as well as the complete Audi Sport TT Cup team”, Yannik said in the end.

In three weeks (May 25^th – 28^th) the Audi Sport TT Cup is going to continue. Then, the brand cup is going to take place within the framework of the 24h-race on the Nürburgring. Currently on fourth place, Yannik still has all chances to fight for the title.