Finishing second in the first race and third in the second race at the German circuit of Oschersleben has handed Niels Langeveld a fine start of the season in TCR Germany. With the first of seven racing weekends gone, the racing one driver is second in the championship and well underway towards his goal of taking the 2018 ADAC TCR Germany title. "Consistent performance is incredibly important in this strong championship, so I am very happy with having taken two podiums from seventh and fourth on the grid. I immediately showed that I’m one to watch", said a satisfied Langeveld.
Just before the start of qualifying, a sudden cloudburst caused the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben to be flooded. In first qualifying, Niels Langeveld set fourth fastest time on rain tyres in a field of 28 drivers, granting him a place in the second session in which the top-12 compete for the best starting positions. For the second session, the drivers were forced to make a difficult tyre choice. The track was still very wet so Langeveld opted for rain tyres, setting second fastest time, but with two minutes remaining slicks proved to be faster. As a result, the Dutchman dropped back to eighth on the grid for race 1 and third for race 2. When a competitor was disqualified Langeveld eventually lined up seventh for race 1 and fourth for race 2.
In the first race on Saturday, the team racing one driver made a fantastic start from seventh on the grid, going on to complete a very strong first lap. Taking fourth into the first turn, Langeveld was able to take advantage of two competitors colliding in front of him and duly took over third place while being able to follow the leading duo. Putting pressure on Harald Proczyk in front of him, he waited for a chance to take second. However, it did not come to that, as the leading Mike Halder was penalised for the first-corner touch, and that handed Langeveld second position. For a long time, the Audi driver was looking for a chance to attack Proczyk but that seemed impossible without taking unnecessary risks. Taking second place in the season opener, however, left Langeveld well satisfied.
In the second race on Sunday, Langeveld started fourth as a result of the top-ten’s 'reversed grid'. Again, the Audi RS3 LMS made a fabulous start. In the early stages, the racing one Audi took over third by pushing Luca Engstler into a mistake. However, a huge crash involving many TCR cars caused havoc on the track. The race director decided to stop the race in order for the track to be cleaned up, but this also meant that the race was shortened.
The race was restarted with just 13 minutes left on the clock. Race leader Antti Buri turned out to have made a false start in the initial phase and was penalized with a drive-through penalty. This put Langeveld in second. He was able to hang on to that position until the final two minutes when third-placed German Mike Halder saw a gap that wasn’t quite there, hitting Langeveld on the right which meant the Dutchman almost lost control of the Audi. With great precision, Langeveld managed to keep the Audi on track and could only prevent worse by making his car as wide as possible, but unfortunately he had lost second position in the process. Oddly enough, the stewards neglected to issue a penalty for Halder’s action and so Langeveld finished the second race in third.
As the race was shortened, only half points were handed out for this second race. A pity for Langeveld as it kept him from taking the lead in the ADAC TCR Germany standings.
The next races will take place on 27-29 April, at the Autodrom Most circuit in the Czech Republic. "I hope to be able to perform well at Most and score a lot of points again. In this championship I see six drivers competing for the title and I think the most consistent one will win it. I am very happy with the support of my team racing one and my coach/engineer Herman de Jager. Together we form an excellent team and that could be decisive this year", Langeveld concluded after his excellent start to the season.
Just before the start of qualifying, a sudden cloudburst caused the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben to be flooded. In first qualifying, Niels Langeveld set fourth fastest time on rain tyres in a field of 28 drivers, granting him a place in the second session in which the top-12 compete for the best starting positions. For the second session, the drivers were forced to make a difficult tyre choice. The track was still very wet so Langeveld opted for rain tyres, setting second fastest time, but with two minutes remaining slicks proved to be faster. As a result, the Dutchman dropped back to eighth on the grid for race 1 and third for race 2. When a competitor was disqualified Langeveld eventually lined up seventh for race 1 and fourth for race 2.
In the first race on Saturday, the team racing one driver made a fantastic start from seventh on the grid, going on to complete a very strong first lap. Taking fourth into the first turn, Langeveld was able to take advantage of two competitors colliding in front of him and duly took over third place while being able to follow the leading duo. Putting pressure on Harald Proczyk in front of him, he waited for a chance to take second. However, it did not come to that, as the leading Mike Halder was penalised for the first-corner touch, and that handed Langeveld second position. For a long time, the Audi driver was looking for a chance to attack Proczyk but that seemed impossible without taking unnecessary risks. Taking second place in the season opener, however, left Langeveld well satisfied.
In the second race on Sunday, Langeveld started fourth as a result of the top-ten’s 'reversed grid'. Again, the Audi RS3 LMS made a fabulous start. In the early stages, the racing one Audi took over third by pushing Luca Engstler into a mistake. However, a huge crash involving many TCR cars caused havoc on the track. The race director decided to stop the race in order for the track to be cleaned up, but this also meant that the race was shortened.
The race was restarted with just 13 minutes left on the clock. Race leader Antti Buri turned out to have made a false start in the initial phase and was penalized with a drive-through penalty. This put Langeveld in second. He was able to hang on to that position until the final two minutes when third-placed German Mike Halder saw a gap that wasn’t quite there, hitting Langeveld on the right which meant the Dutchman almost lost control of the Audi. With great precision, Langeveld managed to keep the Audi on track and could only prevent worse by making his car as wide as possible, but unfortunately he had lost second position in the process. Oddly enough, the stewards neglected to issue a penalty for Halder’s action and so Langeveld finished the second race in third.
As the race was shortened, only half points were handed out for this second race. A pity for Langeveld as it kept him from taking the lead in the ADAC TCR Germany standings.
The next races will take place on 27-29 April, at the Autodrom Most circuit in the Czech Republic. "I hope to be able to perform well at Most and score a lot of points again. In this championship I see six drivers competing for the title and I think the most consistent one will win it. I am very happy with the support of my team racing one and my coach/engineer Herman de Jager. Together we form an excellent team and that could be decisive this year", Langeveld concluded after his excellent start to the season.
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