Rahel Frey has dominated the opening weekend of the Audi Seyffarth R8 LMS Cup in Hockenheim.
Hockenheim this weekend wasn't all about WSeries.
In Saturday's fairly cold afternoon, Audi Seyffarth R8 LMS Cup kicked off the season at the Hockenheimring with a full Swiss first row: Rudolf Rhyn on the inside and the experienced and talented Rahel Frey on the outside.
The entry list included also German youtuber Felix von der Laden.
At the rolling start, Frey slightly hesitated and was past by Szczesniak at the first corner, but she immediately attacked back the Polish driver and regained her spot by turn 2.
The battle went on until turn 6, where Rahel finally cleared the opponent after an exciting side by side fight.
But we only had to wait a couple more corners to see more action from the Swiss girl, as Frey tried a very late move on the race leader at turn 8 but she could only complete the pass at the Motodrom section after another fierce battle.
Frey, who also serves as coach to most of the series drivers, gained a full second margin by lap 3 and then, after second placed Rhyn got a drive through penalty for a jump start, signed off and crossed the finish line with no pressure from Citignola (2nd) and Rogalski (3rd).
"It's always nice to win. The start was especially exciting, but i could have done better. I had some very fun battles and, overall, I think it was a good start of the season for the Audi Sport Seyffarth R8 LMS Cup" - commented a very relaxed Frey.
After claiming the pole position on Sunday morning, Rahel Frey had another uncertain start on race 2 and had to surrender two positions.
The former DTM driver managed to immediately move up to 2nd a few corners later, before the Safety Car came out for the stranded car of Wicht in the Motodrom.
As soon as the race resumed, Frey pressured Rogalski and ultimately forced her way back into the lead after yet another thrilling battle.
Rogalski attempted a counter-attack, but Frey defended well and, by 8th lap, she managed to gain over a second margin to breath.
Behind the leading duo, the Audi Seyffarth R8 LMS Cup provided plenty of action throughout the field.
From then on, it was all about managing the gap and keeping the competitors at safe distance for Frey, who took the chequered flag almost 3 seconds ahead of Robin Rogalski and Fabio Citignola.
"It was a thrilling race and the car was good." - she said, "I love battling and I feel very much comfortable with the Audi R8 LMS GT4, Overall, I had a good weekend".
Frey's experience shows and it's a pleasure to see her racecraft; something that also her competitors agree upon as many of them turned to her mentoring to improve their skills:
"With Rahel I didn't want to fight with the knife in my teeth. Instead, I just wanted to follow her and learn as much I as could. She's very fast and you can learn a lot from her driving style" - commented Rogalski.
Frey leaves Hockenheim with two wins, two fastest laps and a pole position.
Audi Seyffarth R8 LMS Cup will be back in Misano to support DTM.
In her words:
“Overall, I had a good weekend.”
Ph credits: Fabian Werner - motioncompany