Porsche Cup: Fach sets the course
DOUBLE WINNER IN HOCKENHEIM With victories in both GT3 races for the Porsche Sports Cup Suisse at Hockenheim, Alexander Fach further extended his lead in the drivers' standings. In the GT4 class, Laurent Misbach manifested his lead in the standings. For Alexander Fach's title rival Dominik Fischli, the race weekend was already compromised in the first of 15 laps on the Baden GP circuit. At the [...]
For Alexander Fach's title rival Dominik Fischli, the race weekend was already compromised in the first of 15 laps on the GP circuit in Baden. While braking for the hairpin, his second-placed Porsche 911 GT3 Cup was hit by Gregor Burkard.
The best place is always at the front
The biggest beneficiary of the unfortunate situation was the second young driver sponsored by Porsche Motorsport Club Suisse and Porsche Schweiz AG. Defending champion Alexander Fach had taken the lead from pole position, managed to stay out of the mess behind him and took an unchallenged start-finish victory - including three extra points for the fastest race lap.
Peter Hegglin also had reason to celebrate: having started fifth, he saw the chequered flag in second place. After an eventful race, Ricardo Burkard was celebrated in third place, just 0.3 seconds ahead of Alexander Schwarzer. On the other places: Josef Stengel and Marc Arn, who had returned from the first lap still in second place, but defended this position unsuccessfully.
Great catch up from Fischli
Alexander Fach also took the spoils in the second GT3 sprint. The 19-year-old from Schwyz took a clear start-finish victory and relegated Alexander Schwarzer to second place with a lead of 6.8 seconds. Fach thus took another step towards the title.
The story of the race, however, was written by Dominik Fischli. Last year's runner-up was able to return to the starting line thanks to energetic parts support from other teams and instigated a spectacular chase from the back of the field.
After five of 15 laps, he was already back on the podium and turned the fastest race lap before suffering the next setback and dropping back to 6th place - only to fight his way forward again. In the end, the Remetschwiler was just 0.9 seconds short of Peter Hegglin and 3rd place.
Amazing guest driver
The first surprise in the GT4 Clubsport group came from a guest driver at Hockenheim. Fabio Grosse, otherwise known mainly at the wheel of a Porsche from the Nürburgring-Nordschleife, put his 718 Cayman GT4 on pole position with a narrow lead of 0.057 seconds, even though he was competing in car class 11 without an MR package.
In the first race, too, the Berlin-born driver was able to defend his position at the front for a long time. It was only on the ninth of 15 laps that he had to let Antonio Spavone pass, the eventual winner, whose car was wearing Competition accessories from Manthey-Racing.
On lap 12, Laurent Misbach, who had traveled to Baden as the leader of the Class 10 standings, also pushed past. At the finish, just 0.654 seconds separated the fast trio. As the third-placed driver in the overall standings, Grosse was able to celebrate victory in Class 11.
Misbach confirms its title ambitions
Christian de Kant started the second race from pole position. The Italian had taken over the car from his compatriot Antonio Spavone, but was quickly passed to the rear and returned from the first lap in eighth place.
At the front, meanwhile, Patrick Grütter with the mid-engine race car without MR package annoyed the GT4 Clubsport establishment, which had previously been driven by Fabio Grosse. In the second round, however, championship leader Laurent Misbach set things right again and took over first place all the way to the finish. Behind him, Orchid teammate Alexandre Mottet crossed the finish line in second.
Thomas Herbst held third position for a long time before he crashed on lap 9, triggering a safety car phase. As a result, Grütter moved up to third place in the overall standings, but had to fight hard with Patrick Schetty in the battle for victory in Class 11. In the end, a 0.4-second lead was enough for him to take the biggest trophy.
The fourth strike of Garski
The Porsche Drivers Competition Suisse saw Nicolas Garski's games continue at Hockenheim. Even more remarkable than his fourth win of the season is the precision with which Garski circled his Porsche 911 GT3 around the Grand Prix circuit in the regularity competition. His nine scoring laps deviated by a total of just 0.44 seconds from his own average time.
Even defending champion Peter Gafner had little to counter this. He allowed himself a difference of 1.8 seconds for second place ahead of Fide Scheer and Franco Castellazzi. Robert Schwaller, Peter Meister and Rudolf Schulte took the other places.
All-round successful Porsche Weekend
Richard Feller, Head of Porsche Sports Cup Suisse: "The Porsche Sports Cup Suisse has returned from the summer break with momentum and offered challenging motorsport in Hockenheim. It was fair and sporting on the track, even if the one or other contact is unavoidable in exciting position battles and sometimes even bystanders are affected - like Dominik Fischli this time. But the two race weekends in Italy are still to come, so a great end to the season is still within reach for him."
