100th GT World Challenge race weekend: a record for Christopher Haase

For former Audi works driver Christopher Haase, it was a special weekend in Catalonia, as he competed in his 100th race weekend in the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS – more than any other driver. The 39-year-old from Franconia can look back on many successes, having won the title in the Blancpain Endurance Series – as the series was known at the time – in 2012. In 2017, Haase won the 24-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps, the world’s biggest GT3 race. He contested each of his 100 race weekends in the series at the wheel of an Audi R8.

“100 events – that’s quite a remarkable figure. You can rack up 100 races quite quickly, but to reach 100 events, you really have to travel quite a few times. That’s why I’m actually quite proud of it. I started out in GT3 racing at a young age, when the whole GT3 scene was still in its infancy – just like my career – and the two have developed in tandem to get to where we are now. I’m still going strong, which is a testament to that. I don’t place much importance on statistics, but this does make me rather pleased. The fact that I’ve driven every single event in an Audi is another incredible story,” said Christopher Haase about his special milestone.

Haase lined up on the grid in Spain alongside Simon Reicher in an Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo II from Eastalent Racing.

Simon Reicher had to start Saturday’s race from 41st on the grid following a difficult qualifying session. During the formation lap, heavy rain set in at times, turning the track into a slippery mess. Thanks to a strong driving performance from both drivers, the Audi R8 was able to move up the field position by position. After an hour of racing, Christopher Haase crossed the finish line in 14th place – an impressive climb of 27 positions! An even better result might have been possible, had Haase not been hit and forced off the track by a BMW in the closing stages.

On Sunday, the Eastalent Racing Audi started from fifth on the grid but lost a few places straight away in the chaos of the start at the first corner. In addition, the team lost around ten seconds during the pit stop after another car prevented them from carrying out the pit stop procedure, causing Haase to drive past the pit stop position and forcing the mechanics to push the car back. The Haase/Reicher duo once again finished the race in 14th place.

“We look back on the weekend in Barcelona with mixed feelings. Our pace was good and the comeback in the first race was also extremely spectacular. Nevertheless, the thought remains in the back of our minds that more would have been possible in both races had we not been hit and forced off the track on Saturday and had we not lost a few places during the pit stop on Sunday,” said team boss Peter Reicher. “That also marked the end of our first Sprint Cup season. We’ve learnt a great deal this year, as the tyres and some of the circuits were new territory for us. However, we’ve been able to improve steadily, which puts me in a positive frame of mind. We want to round off our season with a highlight at Portimão.”