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German driver Patrick Sing is a competitor in TCR Germany, but the Red Bull Ring event of the TCR Eastern Europe championship has lured him into trying this series to find out how he’ll hold up in the competition.
You are competing in TCR Germany, so what attracted you to TCR Eastern Europe?
I wanted to see how other racing series compared to TCR Germany. I like that TCR Eastern Europe has around seventeen cars or so because TCR Germany has less cars – something like thirteen. And I also like the Red Bull Ring, so I think it’s the best place to try this good, competitive series.
Is it going to be a one-off race weekend with TCR EE, or are you planning more?
Right now, it’s only this one weekend at Red Bull Ring because of the distance of other events – they are far away from us. However, we will see what next year brings.
The second event of TCR Germany took place at Red Bull Ring, then you are heading to this circuit again for TCR Eastern Europe. What are your expectations?
It will be interesting because I don’t know the opponents and [in TCR EE] you use different tyres. We race on Hankook tyres in Germany; here, you use Kumho tyres. So let’s see how I am able to drive with those tyres and how different it will be. I’m also curious about how competitive the other drivers are. There are a couple of good drivers and teams.
Do you think there will be a big difference between Hankook and Kumho in terms of car setup and driving style?
I will see. I have driven with tyres from different tyre manufacturers on my car. We raced on Yokohama last year; now we have Hankook. I have also started in two endurance races in Dubai and Abu Dhabi with Hankook. So I will see during the test day on Friday how the car setup works.
What do you think about your chances? The opening round at Hungaroring showed that Hyundais are pretty fast. Does your car have enough speed for a fast track like the Red Bull Ring?
It will be interesting because I think Cupra and Audi cars have the highest top speeds. However we had the best results there last year in TCR Germany. I’m looking forward to competing against others cars from TCR Eastern Europe.
So what results would allow you to leave the Red Bull Ring feeling satisfied?
My goal is to be competitive because I started in motorsport only three years ago, so the more time in the car, the better for me. I would be fine with Top 10 results, even better would be Top 5, so this is the aim.
The car is run by your own team RaceSing. How big is the team?
It’s a family team, which is nice and I like it. Two or three mechanics work on the car, also my brothers are there and an engineer from Hyundai, so basically the team consists of six people.
What is your racing history?
A friend of mine took me and a Mini Cooper to track days in Nordschleife three years ago and that’s how I started. I began with track days and the next step was a KTM X-Bow. Then, as I’m a Hyundai car dealer, the move to TCR with a Hyundai i30 was the next rational step. So I didn’t race karts or anything. I’m not a professional like the others.
And what about the future?
That’s an interesting question. Nobody really knows what to expect because even TCR is including hybrids and I don’t like those electric things very much. But as I’m connected with Hyundai, I think I will stick with TCR and I hope to compete in more races with my car.
