Press

2015 was the 3rd Asian Formula Renault (AFR) season for Thomas, a Swiss driver who has chosen Shanghai as his home. Born and raised in Switzerland, chosen Shanghai as his home. It was a great comeback with a great team after suffering from a serious accident in September 2014. Thomas sustained serious neck injury from a crash during 2015 Pan Delta race weekend in September, and had to sit out all winter testing and Rounds 1 & 2 of the 2015 AFR season. After being cleared to race again in April this year, he chose to compete in the new A class Formula Renault category and he won the Masters class trophy in every race he finished. Thomas made his comeback in Sepang during AFR Rounds 3 & 4 and from there on continually improved his race performance as he further developed his racing technique to get the most out of his Class A Formula Renault. He ended the 2015 AFR season in Shanghai with his best result ever, proving that he can still deliver fast lap times at his age. Thomas attributes his improvements this year to the professional support from the BlackArts Racing (BAR) team, of which he is a founder and co-owner. “This year was a huge step up from previous seasons”, he says. “The opportunity to work with top level race engineers and coaches, have the top racers as team members and being embedded in a professional environment has made a huge difference to me this year. Preparations for the 2016 season started the day after the 2015 AFR season was completed and BAR has helped me craft a holistic plan to best prepare, including multi-day winter tests, physical and mental training and participation in endurance races in GT and touring cars over the winter months.” Thomas will participate again in the Class A category in the 2016 AFR season. “My racing friends tell me that racing years in Formula Renault is just boring, I should try something different, for example prototypes or GT cars.” Thomas disagrees. “Personally, I think formula cars are the ultimate race cars. The feeling of being squeezed in a tiny cockpit, the engine roaring behind my back, sitting a few centimeters above the track surface and the fast acceleration and short braking distances is unmatchable.” He has plans, though, to test higher performance formula cars this winter and next year. Source: http://frdsports.com/en/news-640.html