Hinwil, 17 April 2024 – KICK F1 Sim Racing Team returned on track for the 2023-24 F1 Sim Racing World Championship, as action resumed following a five-months break for Event 2.
Held between 10-12 April in Stockholm, Sweden, Event 2 had KICK F1 Sim Racing Team drivers, Thomas Ronhaar and Brendon Leigh, lining up on the grid for the six races, with newcomer Xander van Dijken supporting the team. Moving through a set of historic as well as more recent circuits, such as Jeddah, Spielberg, Silverstone, Spa-Francorchamps, Zandvoort and Austin, the second championship stage, another LAN event, saw the team enduring highs and lows across three intense days of racing.
Following a strong start in the first two races, where he finished on the second step of the podium twice, Thomas struggled through the remainder of the event, although still managing to bring home a few important points. There wasn’t better luck for Brendon, whose performance was affected by hardware technical issues. The implementation of a new wheel system after Qualifying on Day 2 eventually made the difference, allowing the experienced sim racer to change the course of the weekend and even scoring a third place in the final race of the event.
It’s been overall a tough event of learnings for the team, who couldn’t express its full potential as its performance was hindered by several factors. Now, with a couple of weeks ahead of the third and final Event of the 2023-24 F1 Sim Racing World Championship, all sights are set on making further improvements – as the seasonal goal remains that of the Teams’ Championship.
Thomas Ronhaar
KICK F1 Sim Racing Team C44
Round 2 / Jeddah Corniche Circuit: P2
Round 3 / Red Bull Ring: P2
Round 4 / Silverstone Circuit: P8
Round 5 / Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps: P10
Round 6 / Circuit Zandvoort: P11
Round 7 / Circuit of the Americas: P19
“It’s been a second event characterized by several ups and downs, with a number of things that we can and need to improve as a team. Following a strong start to the season in the first round, back in November, I collected a good amount of points in the first two races of this event, and then unfortunately only scored four across the four remaining races. As a positive for the team, Brendon still managed to bring home some decent points, which still allowed us to remain in the fight for the Teams’ Championship. I am overall not quite satisfied with how things have gone over these days, and I’m determined to work hard and come back stronger for Event 3 – and the five remaining races of the championship.”
Brendon Leigh
KICK F1 Sim Racing Team C44
Round 2 / Jeddah Corniche Circuit: P16
Round 3 / Red Bull Ring: P12
Round 4 / Silverstone Circuit: P5
Round 5 / Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps: P7
Round 6 / Circuit Zandvoort: P10
Round 7 / Circuit of the Americas: P3
“Event 2 hasn’t unfortunately gone according to plan. Still, as a positive, we were finally able to overcome the technical gremlins that had hampered the early phase of the season. Currently, we are on a four points-finishing streak, and will head into Event 3 on the back of a podium – a quite decent place to be, as we remain committed to conquering the Team’s Championship. I believe there is still some extra lap time we can find, in order to better qualify, and no stone will be left unturned as we aim to improve our performance for the final stage of the season.”
About Sauber Group of Companies:
The Sauber Group of Companies is composed of two operational entities: Sauber Motorsport AG, which operates and manages its Formula OneTM team; and Sauber Technologies AG, which focuses on third-party business in the areas of advanced engineering, prototype development and additive manufacturing, in addition to full and model-scale testing in the factory’s state-of-the-art wind tunnel and ground-breaking innovation in the field of aerodynamics. The companies collaborate closely and share know-how to apply the expertise of more than 550 dedicated individuals at the headquarter in Hinwil, Switzerland, to all internal and external projects.
The Sauber Group puts sustainability at the heart of its mission; its business, operating under the ISO 14001 environmental management standard, has been carbon neutral since 2011 and the company has achieved the Three-Star level in the FIA Environmental Accreditation Framework.
Since its founding in 1970, the innovative Swiss company has been setting standards in the design, development and construction of race cars for various championship series, such as Formula One, DTM, and WEC. Following its own Formula One debut in 1993, Sauber Motorsport AG has established one of the few traditional and privately held teams in the sport. A member of the exclusive club of teams which competed in more than 500 F1 races, it celebrated 30 years in the sport in 2022 and continues to go from strength to strength on and off the track.
