Porsche Cup: Two double winners in GT4
MISBACH AND "HAGI" TOP The absence of last year's champion Fenici provides some variety in the GT4 class of the Porsche Sports Cup Suisse. In Lausitz, Laurent Misbach celebrated two victories, as did Philipp Hagnauer in his class. For Geneva businessman Laurent Misbach, posing as a Frenchman, the long journey to Brandenburg was worthwhile. After his hard-fought [...]
For Geneva businessman Laurent Misbach, posing as a Frenchman, the long journey to Brandenburg was worth it. After his hard-fought sixth place at the season opener in Austria, he celebrated the longed-for success in Class 10 for the current Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR at the 4.534-kilometer EuroSpeedway Lausitz near the Polish border.
A good start is half the battle
In the first race, Misbach benefited from a poor start by his Orchid Racing teammate Jean-Edouard Roussel, who returned from pole position only fifth on the opening lap. Second place was secured by Spielberg winner Thomas Herbst, who was right on Misbach's tail.
At the finish, just 0.334 seconds separated the top two. Third place went to Alexandre Mottet, winner of the second race in Austria, who had fought his way forward from sixth on the grid.
Immediately the second victory
Misbach also won the second sprint race at the Lausitzring in Class 10 - although the pole setter initially lost a place to Thomas Herbst. However, he regained the lead on lap 4.
Herbst also had to let Alexandre Mottet go in the seventh round and ended up third ahead of Sadamoto Takahashi, who had worked his way up from seventh on the grid.
Laurent Misbach: "I'm glad I made the trip to the Lausitzring. It's very interesting and requires a lot of driving skill and courage at the same time. In the first race I was able to take the lead right from the first corner, but had to defend it all the way to the finish against Thomas Herbst. In the second race he was able to squeeze past me, although I got off to a good start. After that I put him under pressure until he made a mistake."
Four starts and four class wins for Hagnauer
In the Class 11 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport without MR package, the man of the weekend - as in Styria - was Philipp Hagnauer. In qualifying for race 1, the Basler took pole position with a lead of around 0.7 seconds and turned it into a commanding victory.
Patrick Schetty finished second and kept his nose just ahead by 0.382 seconds in the duel with Thomas Brauch. Renzo Kressig reached the finish line in fourth place.
The second Lausitz race also went to the spearhead from the Porsche Basel Racing Team. This time, "Hagi" had to fend off a pack of three chasers from both classes - including his direct pursuer Schetty, who was just 2.3 seconds off the class win in the end.
Third place was also fiercely contested: it was only on the last lap that Jens Richter pushed past Thomas Brauch into fourth place and opened the hunt for Kressig. The latter crossed the line with a lead of just 0.107 seconds.
Nicolas Garski again the most regular
Now four drivers took part in the second round of the Porsche Drivers Competition Suisse with their production Porsches. As at the Red Bull Ring, Nicolas Garski with his 991-II GT3 was the best in the regularity competition. In nine timed laps scored, his deviation was just 1.13 seconds from his own average time.
As in Austria, reigning champion Peter Gafner took second place in his 991 GT3 with a difference of 2.15 seconds.
