Having made the switch to Target Competition for the forthcoming 2017 ADAC TCR Germany Series, German driver Tim Zimmermann is looking to make an impact in only his second year in touring cars.
The 20-year-old has quickly found his footing in the Italian outfit, who took the team championship last year, with Britain’s Josh Files taking the drivers’ title at the final round, ahead of Harald Proczyk and Steve Kirsch.
After two pre-season tests in the new Audi RS3 LMS at both Adria Raceway and Barcelona over the past two months, he is feeling a lot more comfortable ahead of the season opener at Motorsport Arena Oschersleben in the last weekend of April.
“I’m in good hands, and I am in touch with the team every other day, providing a lot of significant data, as a driver,” explained the Langenargen-based driver, who is one of four that will race for Target with the new RS3.
“It’s not the car’s fault if things don’t go well, but it’s down to the driver and team. If this is connected, then both lap time and success depend on it.”
Zimmermann has just started a four-semester marketing course as of October last year, having already qualified as an agent in the same field, which sees him spend three evenings a week dedicated to his studies, before concentrating on racing and sponsors.
“In addition to the race weekends, there will be enough time,” he said, stating that his main focus is to race.
With ex-DTM race engineer Albert Deurig on board, coupled with the outfit providing great support, it gives Zimmermann a better feeling about the season ahead.
“Target is family-run and the whole family is always there – from senior chef Walter Gummerer, who looks at everything that the guys are doing, to his wife, who cares about the catering, it’s really a well-run team,” he admitted, saying that the work to get the new TCR-spec car up to speed before the season gets underway is very important.
Even with having only taken three podium places in 2016 with the Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR, Zimmermann feels that he would not compete in the championship, unless he set himself a goal of winning the title this year.
“I can definitely get it right with the car and the package I have at the moment. The number of top drivers will be roughly the same, but there are six or seven drivers who are always at the front. I have to look to be one of them, so we will definitely focus on the issue of qualifying.”