Both Porsche GT teams claim top-fives at Watkins Glen

The two Porsche GT teams gridded in two different splits of the iRacing 6 Hours of the Glen; the No. 84 Porsche 911 RSR with Niclas Pedersen and Benjamin Fischer in split two; the No. 85 Porsche 911 RSR with Pascal Theis and Tobias Abel in split three.

Niclas Pedersen, who made his debut with Fischer Motorsport just a few short weeks ago at the Nürburgring, qualified the No. 84 Porsche 911 RSR in P11 with a lap of 1:42.033. Pascal Theis, who took on qualifying duties for the No. 85 Porsche 911 RSR posted an even faster lap at 1:41.857 but ended up eleventh on the grid as well.

The fifth edition of the iRacing 6 Hours of the Glen once again proved to be a race of attrition for man and machine, thanks to high-summer temperatures.

At race start at 10:40 am local time, blue clear skies promised track temperatures to quickly rise and so they did. By the time the race reached its halfway mark, track temperatures had risen to an unbelievable 52°C and several drivers and cars struggled with lack of grip and spun.

Niclas Pedersen had to overcome a big scare on the opening lap, avoiding carnage on the exit of turn one, just before heading into the esses. But thanks to an alert reaction and presence of mind, the Denmark driver avoided the worst and kept on racing, albeit dropping to P16.

© 2021 Fischer Motorsport Pascal Theis and Tobias Abel charged their way to a fifth place finish at Watkins Glen in the No. 85 Porsche 911 RSR

“Our focus was on staying clear of any type of trouble. We knew this race was all about making sure you get through traffic as best you can and to avoid aero damage, which is extremely punitive at this high-speed track.”, Pascal Theis said.

Proving how quickly just a minor slip of concentration can create a big scare, Pedersen spun out on the final lap of his second stint on lap 101 in turn one. As his No. 84 Porsche 911 RSR sat still on the curb, he watched on helpless, waiting for traffic to clear. Fortunately he was able to resume the race without getting any damage in the incident.

“Yeah, I was pretty pissed about that one, to be honest. It cost us a good bit of time that maybe could have made a difference here and there later in the race. But once it happened, the guys really cheered me up on the radio and encouraged me to stay focused.”

On lap 120 it was Pascal Theis with another big scare, as a LMP2 prototype made the diving pass on Theis going into the second-to-last corner of the circuit, leading the Frankfurt, Germany driver to go a bit too far towards the outside of the corner and to lose control on the outside curb.

The No. 85 Porsche 911 RSR spun out but fortunately avoided damage from the barriers and oncoming traffic.

Benjamin Fischer and Tobias Abel each took over from their respective team-mates for most of the second half of the race and experienced a somewhat uneventful couple of stints without incidents.

On the final lap of the race, Fischer – running in sixth position at the time – benefited from excellent fuel management all race long, taking over fifth place from the direct opponent ahead, who had to make a splash and dash pit stop to finish the race.

Tobias Abel also brought the No. 85 Porsche 911 RSR to the checkers in a clean drive, to give the team the fifth place finish, marking a very successful 2021 iRacing 6 Hours of the Glen for Fischer Motorsport.

“I’m so happy for this opportunity. It was a long, hot race. I’m just really tired now. But man, this was so much fun. What a great team. Pascal did a great job getting us into the top-ten. It made my job really easy.”, Tobias Abel said, visibly excited after the race.

Benjamin Fischer also was happy with the fifth-place finish for the No. 84 Porsche team:

“This probably was the longest six-hour race of my life (laughing). My goodness, this was tough. Such a strong field, but we knew what we had in this car. The setup was rock solid and Niclas did an amazing job getting us into the race and staying out of trouble early. Just a great day for us, I’m pumped.”

After the event was canceled last year, this year’s edition marked the most successful iRacing 6 Hours of the Glen for Fischer Motorsport yet, easily besting a 15th place finish in 2019.

The team is now traveling to Europe in preparation for the biggest endurance race of the year on July 10th, the annual iRacing 24 Hours of Le Mans in France.

© 2021 Fischer Motorsport Official Race Results - 2021 iRacing 6 Hours of the Glen, Split 2

© 2021 Fischer Motorsport Official Race Results - 2021 iRacing 6 Hours of the Glen, Split 3