Niels Langeveld unable to maintain strong TCR Germany podium run at the Sachsenring
At the Sachsenring, Niels Langeveld was unable to maintain his strong run of podium finishes in ADAC TCR Germany. Qualifying was key at the German track where the Racing One driver missed out on the all-important second session by 66 thousandths of a second. In both races, Langeveld was forced to start from 18th position but was was again able to gain many places. However, the Dutchman could not be happy with ninth in the first and 13th in the second race. "A very disappointing weekend. I will do everything in my power to finish the season in a good way next week at the Hockenheimring," Langeveld said afterwards.
It was the first time in his racing career that Niels Langeveld visited the Sachsenring in the German state of Saxony. In 1927, the first race was organised on the old street circuit that is unused today, making the Sachsenring one of the oldest circuits in Germany. In 1995, a new circuit with 14 turns and a length of 3,671 km designed by the famous Hermann Tilke was opened and is known to be a fast and challenging track.
Langeveld first meters at the Sachsenring weren’t easy. "After heavy rainfall, the track was very wet in first free practice, but it dried up quickly. Every lap was different and we couldn't do anything to improve the set up of the Audi RS3 LMS," said the two-time TCR Germany race winner. However, to everyone's surprise, Langeveld set fifth time in first free practice. The second 30-minute free practice session proved too short for Langeveld, his coach/engineer Herman de Jager and his team Racing One for finding the right set-up for this circuit, which meant that Langeveld wasn't properly prepared for qualifying.
Langeveld nevertheless started his Group B session with optimism, but still failed to proceed to second qualifying by 0.066 seconds. In this second session, the top six of Group A and B battle for the very important top-ten starting positions in both races. Despite the small gap to the fastest cars, Langeveld was forced to start both races from 18th.
In the first race on Saturday, Langeveld had his usual excellent start. The Racing One Audi immediately passed six rivals to be 12th into the first turn. A strong first lap saw Langeveld pass three more cars and with another 20 laps to go a new stunt from the Dutchman seemed possible. The top-ten drivers, however, are all top-level racers and while Langeveld chased them down, it proved impossible to gain any more places. Even though he had won many positions, Langeveld was disappointed with the result.
His strong start in the first race gave Langeveld the confidence that a good result in the second race was possible. Again, his start was fantastic. He completed a strong opening lap in tenth and was in touch with the car in front. However, as he attacked he was hit on the right front wheel, disrupting the Audi's toe-in and leaving Langeveld unable to attack any further. In the end, the Racing One driver brought the Audi home in 13th position, its wheel broken completely. "This wasn’t my weekend. I wanted to be second in the championship but instead I dropped down to fourth," said Langeveld. "We will have to work on that next week."
The next TCR Germany races will be next weekend on the 23rd and 24th of September when the season finals are scheduled to run at the German Hockenheimring. There, Niels Langeveld will do his best to make his way back into the top three of the TCR Germany championship.
It was the first time in his racing career that Niels Langeveld visited the Sachsenring in the German state of Saxony. In 1927, the first race was organised on the old street circuit that is unused today, making the Sachsenring one of the oldest circuits in Germany. In 1995, a new circuit with 14 turns and a length of 3,671 km designed by the famous Hermann Tilke was opened and is known to be a fast and challenging track.
Langeveld first meters at the Sachsenring weren’t easy. "After heavy rainfall, the track was very wet in first free practice, but it dried up quickly. Every lap was different and we couldn't do anything to improve the set up of the Audi RS3 LMS," said the two-time TCR Germany race winner. However, to everyone's surprise, Langeveld set fifth time in first free practice. The second 30-minute free practice session proved too short for Langeveld, his coach/engineer Herman de Jager and his team Racing One for finding the right set-up for this circuit, which meant that Langeveld wasn't properly prepared for qualifying.
Langeveld nevertheless started his Group B session with optimism, but still failed to proceed to second qualifying by 0.066 seconds. In this second session, the top six of Group A and B battle for the very important top-ten starting positions in both races. Despite the small gap to the fastest cars, Langeveld was forced to start both races from 18th.
In the first race on Saturday, Langeveld had his usual excellent start. The Racing One Audi immediately passed six rivals to be 12th into the first turn. A strong first lap saw Langeveld pass three more cars and with another 20 laps to go a new stunt from the Dutchman seemed possible. The top-ten drivers, however, are all top-level racers and while Langeveld chased them down, it proved impossible to gain any more places. Even though he had won many positions, Langeveld was disappointed with the result.
His strong start in the first race gave Langeveld the confidence that a good result in the second race was possible. Again, his start was fantastic. He completed a strong opening lap in tenth and was in touch with the car in front. However, as he attacked he was hit on the right front wheel, disrupting the Audi's toe-in and leaving Langeveld unable to attack any further. In the end, the Racing One driver brought the Audi home in 13th position, its wheel broken completely. "This wasn’t my weekend. I wanted to be second in the championship but instead I dropped down to fourth," said Langeveld. "We will have to work on that next week."
The next TCR Germany races will be next weekend on the 23rd and 24th of September when the season finals are scheduled to run at the German Hockenheimring. There, Niels Langeveld will do his best to make his way back into the top three of the TCR Germany championship.
