No. 85 Porsche earns third consecutive top ten at Spa

Things did not go well for Theis in Qualifying. After a rather disappointing lap time of 2:23.959 the team faced the reality of having to start the race from P18.

“We tried to work with the No. 84, providing each other a tow in the slip stream on the Kemmel straight, because that can easily get you half a second at this track. But I made a little mistake in Eau Rouge on my flying lap, that messed up the plan.”, explained Theis the reasons for the low starting grid spot.

The 4 Hours of Spa showed once again, that competition is extremely tough in the IVRA ClubSport Series. Immediately on lap one, two TCR class cars battled hard for positions, made contact and caused a major crash that forced the first safety car phase of the day.

Theis made the best out of the very hectic opening stage of the race and jumped up to P14 by the time the field made it to lap two. However, the pace was not quite good enough early on, for the Frankfurt, Germany driver to defend his position and thus he dropped back to P16 by the time he came in for the first scheduled green flag pit stop on lap 22.

The team completed the pit stop in very short time, enabling the No. 85 Porsche to make up a couple of positions to P14. It was only a short time later on lap 29, that after another crash between two cars, the second full course caution period interrupted the race.

The No. 85 Porsche team decided to stay out under yellow flag conditions, while several other teams opted to take the opportunity to pit for fuel and tires.

“In hindsight, that wasn’t very clever of us, because we essentially sacrificed a better position at the halfway point because of this. And in the 4 hour race, you get half points at the halfway mark.”, Theis added.

Short-term this worked out great for Theis as it catapulted him into fifth position, which the 26-year old was able to hold thanks to a very good drive. On lap 39 the third and final caution period halted the race once more and this time the team decided to come in and complete its obligatory driver change.

Y. Hignet, who had impressed all weekend with excellent pace and consistency in the free practice sessions, took the seat in the car. When he went back out on the track, the No. 85 Porsche was now scored in 16th position and had to deal with a very low points score at the halfway mark of the four-hour race. However, the team was now well positioned on strategy for the remainder of the race, compared to other teams that ran upfront but had older tires and less fuel.

For Hignet, it didn’t matter. The Frenchman took off like a rocket at the restart on lap 42. Passing car after car, the 26-year old eventually took the race lead on lap 54.

“This was so much fun. I had a blast. The car was perfect today and I had a good rhythm. I believe, we showed today that under the right circumstances, we can run with the front runners.”, explained Hignet.

The final pit stop threw the team to the tail end of the top-ten again, but thanks to a very good driving performance in the closing stages of the event, Hignet was able to deliver an eighth-place finish.

“It was a difficult race, strategy-wise. Perhaps we could have gained more positions, if we had run a different strategy. But that is always easy to say in hindsight. I think we have done a really good job today under the circumstances. I’m happy.”, Theis told to reporters after the checkered flag.

Thanks to the eighth-place finish and consequently the third top ten finish in a row, the No. 85 Porsche team now holds P12 in the official championship standings, after four of six championship rounds.

The next round of the IVRA ClubSport Series takes place at Suzuka on February 6th.

© 2021 Fischer Motorsport Unofficial Race Results - CUP Class