Up-an-down NEC season operner for Fischer Motorsport

Pascal Theis qualified the No. 85 BMW M4 GT3 eighth on the grid, with a quick lap of 7:55.344 – in fact a new team record for Fischer Motorsport. At the start the 27-year old could however not cash in on this, as he spun off the track in turn two, struggling with cold tires and dropping to the rear end of the field.

Manuel Mayer, who was directly behind Theis in the team’s sister car, the No. 84 BMW, was barely able to avoid the Frankfurt, Germany native to maintain P9 at the end of lap one.

On lap two Mayer then engaged in a hard battle for P8 with the No. 57 Audi of Silver Racing Team, after the latter made an error entering Adenauer Forst. The two cars almost touched and the Teisendorf native had to take evasive action.

Few corners later, at Kallenhardt, he was then hit hard in the rear by the No. 23 BMW of Raceline Simsports and both cars crashed hard into the barriers. At that point, the race was essentially over for Mayer and team-mate Florian Volk. After a lengthy repair stop the No. 84 BMW team was able to continue the race but did not get past a 13th place finish.

“A tough day. Tough day for us. I wanted to let the 23 past, but they hit me in the rear bad. And then we both went into the barriers. I’m terribly sorry for the team. That wasn’t the season opener we hoped for.”, said Mayer visibly disappointed.

After his opening lap spin, Theis in the No. 85 BMW showed a strong driver’s performance the rest of the day and put together a solid race. On lap eight he endured another dramatic situation. Entering Schwedenkreuz he went to the outside of the No. 8 BMW of High-G Simracing Tractor Team to make the pass, but the latter pushed Theis off the track and the two cars made contact.

Somehow Theis was able to regain control with only small damage to the Fischer Motorsport machine and thus he was able to continue without having to stop for repairs.

After close to three stints, Theis came to the pits on lap 19 to complete the team’s driver swap. Running in third position at the time, also thanks to the fact that other teams had already pitted, things were looking upward for the No. 85 BMW team.

Y. Hignet took over the cockpit from Theis with one hour and 20 minutes remaining in the race. The Frenchman from Paris returned to the track in sixth position, getting ready to hunt down the top-five.

But it all came differently, unfortunately, when on lap 25 the 26-year old lost control at Schwalbenschwanz and after that backed his car into incoming traffic that lead to significant rear end damage on the car.

One lap later Hignet made contact with a slower GT4 class car at Bergwerk, that lead to a heavy crash of the competitor.

For Hignet, a tough weekend continued, after he suffered a personal loss following the sudden death of close friend Belaid Younsi a few days earlier. Struggling especially in the closing laps of the event, Hignet lost control one more on the final lap, at the track section of Galgenkopf.

In the accident, Hignet crashed hard into the barriers and lost two positions shortly before the finish line and thus the No. 85 BMW team ended the race in eighth position.

“That final crash was just embarrassing. I have no good explanation for this, honestly. Pascal has done a really good job today. I’m not happy with my race today. It’s really sad, because I wanted to deliver a good race, also for Belaid and his family.”, said a disappointed Hignet after the race.

Following the first of nine championship rounds in 2021, the No. 85 BMW team sits 149th in the GT3 championship standings, while the No. 84 BMW team is 380th.

Following next weekend’s iRacing Nürburgring 24 Hours, the Nürburgring Endurance Championship returns with Round 2 on May 3rd.

© 2021 Fischer Motorsport Official Race Results - 2021 iRacing NEC Round 1

© 2021 Fischer Motorsport Official Race Results - 2021 iRacing NEC Round 1

© 2021 Fischer Motorsport Official Race Results - 2021 iRacing NEC Round 1 - GT3