Fans of the 24H SERIES will be more than familiar with this young Austrian. A regular in the series since 2015, and a class winner with CREVENTIC on only the second time of asking, Klaus Bachler has made a notable name for himself courtesy of myriad fastest laps and his metronomically consistent, and quick, stints in the GT3 class. You need only look at last month’s Hankook 12H MONZA or his class wins last year in Portimão and Barcelona for proof of that.

 

Klaus Bachler’s career highlights run deeper than that though. A Formula Lista Junior champion in only his second single seater season in 2007, this Porsche factory driver has taken class wins in the European Le Mans Series, the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, the ADAC GT Masters and the VLN, among others, since making the switch to sports cars in 2012. And with time on his side, no doubt there’s more to come.

 

But could the T-800 really play him in a movie…?

Name?

“Klaus Bachler.”

Age? You can lie about that if you want…

“29. Still in my twenties, just!”

Where and when was your first ever car race, and how old were you?

“I was 15 years old and its was a Formula Lista race at the Salzburgring in 2006.”

What is the best moment of your racing career so far?

“A lot of cool stuff has happened over the last years. I broke a track record on the VLN layout of the Nordschleife. I won on my debut in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup at Monza in 2019. I won my first-ever [ADAC] GT Masters race at Oschersleben in 2015. But my absolute favourite moment is probably standing on the GTE-Am podium at Le Mans as a rookie in 2014.”

Aside from the Nürburgring, which is your favourite circuit and why?

“I like Spa-Francorchamps a lot. It is a very cool, fast track with huge elevation changes. The feeling when you drive through Eau Rouge or Blanchimont is just insane!”

Describe the strangest thing that’s ever happened to you at a motor race …

“It was in 2011, a German Formula 3 race in Assen. We started the race in dry conditions and after a few laps, it started to rain. Everyone entered the pits to change tyres, and I thought about doing the same. The team gave me the decision, but in the end, I decided to stay out. I’ve no idea why! In the end I managed to stay on-track for the whole race and I won by less than a second with slicks in a damp/wet track.”

Describe your helmet design to us, and what it signifies…

“My new helmet design is quite simple. I just wanted to have a simple design with the colours of the Austrians flag, so my helmet has been red-white-red since 2019.”

What is your greatest strength?

“I believe in hard work and never giving up.”

If Hollywood made a movie about you, who would play you and why?

“[Pause] This is a hard one, but I would say Arnold Schwarzenegger. The body type is a little different but at least we have the same accent!”

What would you like to achieve before retiring?

“Winning the Nürburgring 24 Hours. For me personally, that is one of the toughest races on the planet because it’s so hard on the car and the driver. That’s one of my dreams, and hopefully it will happen before I retire.”

Tell us a random fact about yourself that your fans might not know…

“I was born very close to the Red Bull Ring and lived in the countryside around it. So I spent a lot of time there growing up.”

Finally, what do you enjoy most about competing in the 24H SERIES?

“I like endurance races and I love competing, so the 24H SERIES is a really good platform featuring cool tracks and good competition throughout the whole season. Hopefully I’ll be back very soon.”

* Klaus Bachler very kindly spoke to CREVENTIC remotely after the 2020 Hankook 12H MONZA. Images courtesy of Petr Frýba and Porsche.

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