Christopher Brück looks back positively

Together with his two team mates Frank Kräling and Marc Gindorf, Christopher Brück had been the most successful SP7 team in 2017. VLN.de met the 33-years old driver from Cologne for an interview at the Kartcenter Cologne, his home when it comes to motorsport. Brück looks back onto his 2017 motorsport season.

Chris, what do you associate with this place?
I grew up here. When I was nine years old, my mother opened the kart track here in Rodenkirchen together with Günter Aberer. At this time, my career was still in an early stage. I drove endless laps here and won the 24 Hour Race a few times. It is indeed something like my second home.

How did you get to the Nordschleife?
I have been competing at the Nordschleife since eight or nine years. I went through the classical process, karting and single-seater series up to Formula 3000. I participated in the Touring Car Cup and in the Porsche Carrera Cup. And some day I had the opportunity to complete in GT3 and went to the Nordschleife where I have meanwhile been able to gain quite a lot of experience.

Do you meanwhile already feel a bit like you are at home at the Nordschleife?
For sure! Not to forget that the Nordschleife is not far away from Cologne. It is an easy journey to go there and each race is of course a home Grand Prix for me.

All together, the year 2017 was a good one for you, or?
2017 was a really successful year for me. At the beginning of the year, I took right away a podium position with the Bentley for the first time. Then, we scored a class win with the Bentley at the 24h Race and I finished third at the Portimao 24h Race with the Lamborghini Huracan GT3 of Konrad Motorsport. I was moreover involved in six of the seven class wins achieved in the GetSpeed-Porsche. Finally, we won the championship in this class.

The combination of Frank Kräling, Marc Gindorf and Chris Brück is, if we want to say it this way, extraordinary.
Why extraordinary?

A young professional driver – and that’s you – Marc as former DTM driver and the ambitious amateur driver Frank – homogenous sounds somehow different.
We have been driving in this line-up since four years. Any there is a number of driver crews of a similar configuration in the VLN. Frank and Marc have a lot of experience at the Nordschleife. We have developed a very good cooperation throughout the last years. Most times, I complete the fast qualifying lap and the first stint. Thereafter, my two team mates normally secure the win. We have developed a good friendship in the last years and it is great fun to compete with the two in a team.

Last year, over the winter, you changed to the team of GetSpeed. Do you feel comfortable in the team?
This is a really cool team, very professional. In no respect is GetSpeed inferior to the works’ teams, they are so well organised from top to bottom. Adam Osieka and his crew put a great importance on the details.

The class SP7 was a little weak in 2017, the numbers of competitors were not that high.
Yes, it is true that this was better in SP7 in the last years. That’s a bit of a pity. But we had always been in the top group, also when there were more competitors in our class. It is of course not cheap to compete in SP7, for sure, we come almost up to the level of racing in the GT3 category. I think that the GT4 market will increase in the near future, as will the Porsche Carrera Cup class.

Could you imagine competing in GT4?
I would above all very much like to participate in the 24 Hour Race with a works car again. Whatever is going to happen in the VLN thereafter – why not GT4? It would be a small step back in terms of performance. But I think that the class will have an interesting future. Many interesting crews in the area of the Pro-Am will appear, teams made up of professional and amateur drivers.

Would you at all be allowed to compete in the GT4 category? Considering that Platin level drivers are not admitted there. What kind of FIA ranking do you have?
For a long time, I had the Gold status but was classified back to Silver status – you must not forget that I am also already over 30 years old (laughing). That is an advantage for me. Silver level drivers on a high level are highly sought after.

What are the next steps now for you during winter?
I will probably compete in the Dubai and the Daytona 24 Hour Races. So the winter break will not be very long for me. I will definitely enjoy to have some more free time in November and December. In 2017, I spent more than 200 days in hotels. In addition to racing, I am also engaged in coaching and as instructor. That also takes a lot of time. Now there will be a few prizegiving ceremonies and the Christmas parties. Apart from this, I try to sort out my programme for next year.