Three Top-Tens for Fischer Motorsport in NEC Round 3

Florian Volk and Benjamin Fischer lead the charge with a fourth-place finish, their second consecutive top-five finish this season. Volk started off from P12 in the No. 84 BMW M4 GT3 and held his own despite a few close calls early on while battling tough competition and despite a very slippery track surface, due to the summer-like temperatures.

© 2021 Fischer Motorsport Pascal Theis and the No. 85 BMW team were involved in a crash on lap one at Mutkurve, but bounced back to take P5.

Saving fuel was key part of the team’s strategy once again and proved invaluable as Benjamin Fischer was able to move from ninth to fourth place in the final 90 minutes of the race, before taking the checkered flag to claim fourth place.

“It’s pretty cool, you know. We always make it a point to be on top of the strategy game. It’s just so important in this series, at this track. But you never know how these races unfold. Today, it worked out beautifully for us again. I’m really proud of our performance as a team.”, said Florian Volk.

Pascal Theis piloted the sister car, No. 85 BMW M4 GT3 at the start, after posting a blistering quick qualifying lap of 7:57.707 which was good enough for P6 on the grid. On lap one, finding himself under pressure in a close position battle with Michael Meier in the BMW of the Rebellion iRacing Team, Theis was able to recover from a contact between the two cars, but had to go wide through the gravel.

Later on lap one, Theis challenged Jerry Estre in the No. 3 BMW for position, completing the pass on the inside at Kesselchen, heading into Mutkurve. Approaching the top-speed section on a rather tight line, Theis had to lift for the corner and was hit by Estre, that sent the Fischer Motorsport machine into a spin and crash into the barriers.

The incident forced the No. 85 BMW team to take it back to the pits for repairs, dropping them all the way back to the tail end of the GT3 field by a margin of over one minute.

However, thanks to a determined comeback drive, perfectly placed strategy and complementary teamwork with new team-mate Niclas Pedersen, who made his series debut with the team on Sunday, the team worked its way back to a P5 finish in the end.

“We made the most of it today. After that mayhem on lap one, getting a top-five out of this feels like a victory, I’ll honestly say.”, Pascal Theis said.

“I am amazed by how this team responded to adversity today. It really goes to show that a lot can happen at this track, good and bad. I’m stoked we got a top-five. It’s a great start for me in this series.”, commented Niclas Pedersen.

© 2021 Fischer Motorsport Tobias Abel and Marko Zelenika gave Fischer Motorsport a strong comeback in the GT4 class by taking P6 on Sunday

Marking the first start of a GT4 class entry from Fischer Motorsport since November last year, Tobias Abel and Marko Zelenika rounded out a successful weekend for the team by taking sixth place in the No. 94 Porsche Cayman.

It would have been a fifth-place finish, hadn’t it been for a last-lap punt from another competitor at Hatzenbach, an incident that left a sour taste with the two drivers and the team afterwards.

“This is not what racing should be like. The guy just dumped us at Hatzenbach, flat out sent us into the barrier and drove on not giving a damn. We were racing everybody clean all day and then this happens, it’s really frustrating.”, said Zelenika.

Still, even the last-lap incident, the finish marks the best result for a GT4 class car of the organization since November last year.

After championship round 3 of 9, the No. 84 BMW team now sits 36th in the GT3 class championship standings with the No. 85 BMW team following in 59th position. The Fischer Motorsport Porsche Junior Team with the Porsche Cayman in the GT4 class sits in 105th place in the standings after making its first start of the season.

The iRacing Nürburgring Endurance Championship next races on July 4th with championship round 4 opening up the summer part of the season.