Long journey to the Emerald Isle
On Friday evening, 4 August, the team around Schmiddel drove from Dunkirk (France) to Dover (England) using the ferry. At 9 p.m., the ferry arrived in Dover and the team had a long night with 800km of route. The team arrived in Cairnryan (England) at 6 a.m. and went by ferry to Belfast (Norther Ireland). From there, they had still about 20km to Dundrod.
Track inspection and initial tests
Since the track of Ulster GP was completey unknown for Schmiddel and he wanted to get to know the track, he made as many kilometres as possible by car on Sunday. Sunday night, the team had a short trip to Dublin to pick up mechanist Thoralf Nestler from the airport.
The organiser provided first instructions on Tuesday. During the "newcomer driver briefing", we moved on the route by coach. An insider provided a lot of insights into the track and important tips that were very helpful for the first tests on the track.
First tests of Schmiddel at UlsterGP were encouranging.
The next morning, Schmiddel could finally give his best on the track. He was immediately comfortable and could improve from training to training. During the qualifying for Dundrod 150, he could ensure a decent rank 10.
The race
Thursday was started with the Dundrod 150 race. The race worked well for Schmiddel; he improved by 5 ranks and ended his debut at the high-speed track with a great rank 5. On Friday, the team chilled out and braces themselves since both main races were planned for Saturday.
Duels at the track.
Duels at the track.
The first super sport race did not proceed as planned. Schmiddel declared his ride was inattentive; this, he finished the first race on rank 34. The second race was significantly better; Schmiddel improved his lap times and was much more coconcentrated. At the end, he was the 21st driver who crossed the finish line. He was notably more satisfied with this great result.
Conclusion and prospect
An exciting week with many new impressions and experiences on the Emerald Isle lies behind the entire team. Everything is different compared to the IRRC races. There is no firm agenda, different asphalt and partially adverse weather conditions. We have to add the very fast track which can be driven just in gears 4 to 6, with many full throttle curves in gear 6, and a top speed of up to 275 km/h - It's called the world's fastest road race for a reason.
Next weekend (19 and 20 August 2017), Schmiddel will take place at the 4th race of the IRRC series at the "Schleizer Dreieck". Here again, he has to gain important points for the championship.
Your Laserscanning Europe Road Racing team
