Double disappointment in NEC Round 4

Fischer qualified the No. 84 BMW in ninth position and immediately picked up two positions at the start to move up to P7.

Theis also got off to a good start, picking up one position to move into P9, after qualifying tenth.

For the first few laps of the race, Fischer was now involved in a very tough and close four-car battle for fifth position, but the Leipzig, Germany seemed to be able to keep up with the strong pace for the time being.

On lap two both cars lost positions at Döttinger Höhe. Just a lap later it was deja vu for Fischer as he lost another position at Döttinger Höhe, dropping to P9.

“We definitely had a disadvantage today on top speed. We believe the other teams may have run a significantly lower rear wing setting.”, said Benjamin Fischer.

Close to 40 minutes into the race, on the third lap of the event, Fischer then made contact with a slower-class Mazda MX-5 at Kallenhardt when he was trying to follow his direct GT3 opponents ahead of him, through traffic.

In the consequence, Fischer lost touch to the GT3 front runners. Theis meanwhile benefited from a mistake of another GT3 competitor at the carousel to pick up a position and to move into eighth place.

Both Fischer Motorsport cars came down to pit road on lap 7 for the first scheduled pit stop of the day. Both teams decided to change no tires and also did not make a driver swap.

On the out lap Theis got off track at Aremberg and hit the guard rail in the No. 85 BMW, which forced the Frankfurt, Germany driver to return to the pits for repairs. The incident dropped the team back to P11.

Only three laps later, bad luck struck the sister car No. 84 BMW. At the section of Klostertal/Steilstrecke, Fischer suddenly reported loss of power due to electrical problems on the car.

© 2021 Fischer Motorsport Sunday's NEC Round 4 came to an early end for the No. 84 BMW team after this crash at Pflanzgarten involving a slower-class Mazda MX-5

Even though Fischer somehow was able to return to the pits, the team fell far behind in the process. Florian Volk took over the steering wheel following a lengthy repair and went on to get on his seven-lap stint.

In the final lap of his stint however, during an otherwise harmless lapping maneuver, contact occured between the No. 84 BMW and another Mazda MX-5 at Pflanzgarten, sending both cars into a spin. The rear axle broke during the incident and Volk was forced to retire the car.

“What a horrible day. Nothing went right for us today, seriously. But that’s how it goes sometimes. We had loads of bad luck today, for real. It looked superb for us early on. We had excellent pace and were able to keep up with the guys. But I guess it wasn’t meant to be.”, said Volk.

With just under two hours remaining in the race, Theis handed the No. 85 BMW M4 GT3 over to team-mate Niclas Pedersen for the final driver change of the day.

The Dane drove an unspectacular race, benefited from some late retirements and in the end brought home P8 for the No. 85 BMW team.

“Unfortunately I made a mistake at Aremberg, that caused us to have that repair stop when we lost a lot of time. We tried but couldn’t get back in touch with the GT3 field after that, unfortunately, even though Niclas did a splendid job.”, said Pascal Theis.

After this disappointment, the No. 84 BMW sits 36th in the GT3 championship standings, while the No. 85 BMW holds P53.

The next round of the iRacing Nürburgring Endurance Championship takes place on Sunday, July 18th.