Fischer Motorsport to return to GT3 with BMW
BMW was announced as new exclusive car manufacturer with Mayer Simspeed Performance before the 2021 season and before the two teams announced their merger on Thursday. Going forward all races will be run under the Fischer Motorsport banner.
The team will start things off with Round 1 of the iRacing Nürburgring Endurance Championship (NEC) this weekend at the Nürburgring Nordschleife – the team’s home track. For 2021 Fischer Motorsport will enter two full-time BMW M4 GT3 and a lineup of four drivers.
Florian Volk and Benjamin Fischer will pilot the BMW M4 GT3 No. 84 in the new season, while Pascal Theis and Y. Hignet will team up to take on the steering wheel in the sister car, the BMW M4 GT3 No. 85.
NEC series veteran Manuel Mayer, who claimed third place in the final 2020 Season 911 Cup championship standings, will replace Benjamin Fischer in the No. 84 BMW this weekend, as Fischer is unavailable due to an illness.
However, Fischer was still briefly available for a few comments:
“We’re very grateful to have such a great, solid team. We have had a great partnership with Mayer Simspeed Performance the last few years, especially when we made some GT3 guest starts like in the 24 Hours of Spa.”
“As a team that is home in GT racing, returning back to the GT3 class sooner or later was an important goal for us. But at the same time, we didn’t want to weaken our GTE/GTLM program with Porsche or our 911er Cup program.”, added Fischer.
“For Mayer Simspeed Performance on the other hand, there was that question how to expand further into GT3 and GTE/GTLM competition. So it made perfect sense for us to join efforts. We’re really happy and excited about the possibilities this opens up for us.”
Next week bring the next highlight and first big GT3 challenge for Fischer Motorsport, in the form of the 2021 iRacing Nürburgring 24 Hours. Fischer Motorsport last competed in GT3 and thus for the overall victory in the event back in 2016.
Additionally the team also announced EAGLE Race Simulators and Fischernetz Design as shared 50-50 primary sponsors of the team for 2021.
“Without our partners, this would not be possible like that. Sure, we race because it’s fun and our passion. But we also have a certain expectation for ourselves, our competitiveness and professionalism. That comes with a cost. We’re very grateful for the support from EAGLE Race Simulators, EAGLE Speed Academy and Fischernetz Design.”, said Fischer.
Round 1 for the iRacing Nürburgring Endurance Championship is scheduled for this Sunday 13:45 CEST. Fischer Motorsport will once again feature onboard live streams on YouTube, allowing fans and friends to follow the racing action from up close, from start to finish.
In the new season, the NEC returns once again with five distinct classes of competition: GT3, CUP, GT4, TCR and MX5. Over the course of nine championship rounds between April and October, between four and six hours long, the series champions will be crowed on the toughest, most demanding race track of the world – the “Green Hell” – the Nürburgring Nordschleife.
2021 iRacing Nürburgring Endurance Championship Schedule
Date | Series | Event | Track | Location | Time |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
04/18/21 | NEC Round 1 | Nürburgring Gesamtstrecke (VLN) |
Nürburg, Germany | 13:00 CEST | |
05/02/21 | NEC Round 2 | Nürburgring Gesamtstrecke (VLN) |
Nürburg, Germany | 13:00 CEST | |
05/30/21 | NEC Round 3 | Nürburgring Gesamtstrecke (VLN) |
Nürburg, Germany | 13:00 CEST | |
07/04/21 | NEC Round 4 | Nürburgring Gesamtstrecke (VLN) |
Nürburg, Germany | 13:00 CEST | |
07/18/21 | NEC Round 5 | Nürburgring Gesamtstrecke (VLN) |
Nürburg, Germany | 13:00 CEST | |
08/01/21 | NEC Round 6 | Nürburgring Gesamtstrecke (VLN) |
Nürburg, Germany | 13:00 CEST | |
09/05/21 | NEC Round 7 | Nürburgring Gesamtstrecke (VLN) |
Nürburg, Germany | 13:00 CEST | |
09/26/21 | NEC Round 8 | Nürburgring Gesamtstrecke (VLN) |
Nürburg, Germany | 13:00 CEST | |
10/10/21 | NEC Round 9 | Nürburgring Gesamtstrecke (VLN) |
Nürburg, Germany | 13:00 CEST |