iRacing Special Events

Petit Le Mans ends for No. 84 Porsche with crash in eighth hour

by Fischer Motorsport PR

October 3, 2020 11:50 PM CET 695 Views

The iRacing Petit Le Mans, the final iRacing endurance special event of the year, invited teams and drivers for its annual ten-hour test for man and machine on Saturday. After a drive from last to fourth place in the first seven hours of the event, a crash at the chicane with just under three hours remaining put an early end to the race for the No. 84 Porsche team.

Benjamin Fischer started the race in the car, that featured a special livery in celebration of Germany’s national day, that fell on race day, and the 30-year anniversary of Germany’s reunification.

Qualifying did not go well and so Fischer started from second to last place on the grid, dropping to last place on lap one. But it did not take long for the Leipzig, Germany driver to pick up positions as cars ahead of the team crashed and got involved in incidents.

But it wasn’t all luck and benefiting from the misfortune of others, that lead the team to get to the front. Fischer put on a display of great consistency and very quick lap times in an opening double stint and so it was the No. 84 Porsche running solidly in the top ten when the 36-year old handed the car over to team-mate Pascal Theis.

The No. 84 Porsche 991 RSR GTE of Fischer Motorsport featured a special livery in the 2020 iRacing Petit Le Mans, celebrating Germany's national holiday.

Theis then built on Fischer’s work and battled the car’s way further to the front, picking up a few positions as some more top contenders found trouble.

“We were on an excellent pace and had a really great car today.”, Theis said.

Newly hired team driver Y. Hignet was the third driver to take over the steering wheel, scheduled to do his first single stint in an endurance event.

The young Frenchman impressed with very good lap times and despite having to find his rhythm at first, and some close calls with other cars, brought the car back in, having solidified the team’s position in sixth place by the halfway point.

Now Fischer took over again for another double stint and pushed very hard, as the top contenders in the race threatened to slip out of reach, having built on an overall better start into the event.

But as is often the case, the Petit Le Mans does reward consistency as much as it does pure pace. And Fischer in his second double stint showed both, putting down lap times good enough to move all the way into fourth place.

Hignet, making his team debut with Fischer Motorsport, was now set to take on his second and final single stint in the race, as the sun had begun to set over the track and the dusk hours of the race began. It was an indication, that crunch time was near.

The 2020 iRacing Petit Le Mans once again thrilled competitors and fans, but unfortunately had no happy end in store for Fischer Motorsport

Unfortunately fate had no good plans for the No. 84 Porsche team though. Just 17 laps into his stint, Hignet missed his braking point going into the chicane, with lots of traffic right ahead, braked hard and crashed into the concrete barrier, trying to avoid collecting any other cars.

The crash completely destroyed the Fischer Motorsport machine and the team was forced to retire from the event.

“Obviously we’re very disappointed. We had a really strong race going today and a fantastic car, but these things just happen unfortunately. We all make mistakes. We win as a team and we lose as a team.”, Fischer explained.

Fischer Motorsport continues to look for a good finish in the iRacing Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. In three attempts in the last three years, the team has crashed every single time.

As the team leaves Road Atlanta behind, it is leaving for Belgium, where the IVRA Endurance Series kicks off next weekend with the 12 Hours of Spa.