Preview: iRacing Nürburgring 24 Hours
Just a few weeks ago, the team announced the merger with Mayer Simspeed Performance and by that the return to GT3 competition with BMW. The fastest GT category will demand everything of the team on the Nordschleife.
“The Nordschleife is the Nordschleife. There is nothing in the world that compares, really. The tradition of this place, the fascination, the flair. It’s just absolutely awesome. But the respect is there too, of course. “, says Pascal Theis, who will make his second Nürburgring 24 Hours with Fischer Motorsport this weekend.
“You can’t be afraid, obviously. Because if you are, then you’ll mess up for sure. But respect for the track is important. Especially with traffic. I think traffic will play a big role and keep us busy all race long.”, Theis added.
Serving as a dress rehearsal, Fischer Motorsport competed in last weekend’s iRacing NEC 2021 season opener, earning an eighth and 13th place finish, respectively.
“For us, that was a big teaching experience. It didn’t all go as we had hoped. But we’re making good progress in the official practice sessions. I think we’re looking pretty good right now.”, said team manager Benjamin Fischer who returns this week after being away for a big due to health problems.
The drivers lineup for the No. 84 BMW M4 GT3 includes Kyle Birnie from California, Tobias Abel from Frankfurt, Manuel Mayer from Teisendorf and Benjamin Fischer from Leipzig.
Pascal Theis, who like Abel is a native of Frankfurt, together with Y. Hignet from Paris, Kyle Birnie’s brother Jason and Florian Volk from Grebenhain will team up to pilot the No. 85 BMW M4 GT3.
A grid of 55 cars will share the Nürburgring Gesamtstrecke, which spans a total of 25.4 km (15.8 miles). Besides the fastest category – GT3 – there will be the CUP class with the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, GT4 class with the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 and BMW M4 GT4 and the TCR class with the Audi RS 3 LMS.
The iRacing Nürburgring 24 Hours – widely regarded the most challenging race of the year - will start Saturday at 14:45 CEST / 8:45 am EDT.