Kaan Önder Ready for Second Race Weekend

Kaan Önder, the 18-year-old national driver who opened the Audi Sport TT Cup season at Hockenheim in April, has completed his preparations for the second round of the six-race series.

The second round of the season will be hosted by the Norisring in Germany. At 2.3km, the Norisring is the shortest track of the season and will be the first street circuit Kaan Önder competes on. The venue, which allows spectators to watch the racing up close, is one of the most popular on the DTM (German Touring Car Championship) calendar.

The races, which take place at 13:25 Turkish time on Saturday and 10:00 on Sunday, can be watched live at www.audimotorsport.com.

Speaking about the race, Kaan said: "It has been almost two months since the last race. It was a really long break, but I had the chance to work very intensively, both mentally and physically. Since the Hockenheim race we have been working on what we learned there. After all, the Audi Sport TT Cup is a brand-new racing car for us that we knew nothing about, and the Hockenheim race gave us a good foundation for the season. With what we learned at Hockenheim, we will be able to make set-up changes that suit my car and me better at the Norisring and in the remaining rounds. All our plans for the race weekend are ready. Overtaking at the Norisring is really, really difficult. There are bumps, and on this street circuit with just four corners, qualifying will be very important. We need to set good lap times in qualifying and start both races from the front rows. In my preparations I worked on the mental side with meditation and on the physical side with Thai boxing. In the meantime I have finished high school, and from September I will go to the UK to study Mechanical Engineering. Studying in the UK will make my training and racing programme easier, and I also think an engineering education will help my racing career."