Porsche Cup: GT3 title fight open again
THE SWISS IN IMOLA At the third round of the Porsche Sports Cup Suisse in Imola, Alexander Fach had to accept a technical zero in the endurance race after another victory in the sprint race. This was victoriously exploited by rival Dominik Fischli. In qualifying, Dominik Fischli put an exclamation mark on the race by securing the 26-year-old's victory by around a tenth of a second [...]
In qualifying, Dominik Fischli put an exclamation mark on the race by securing pole position ahead of defending champion Alexander Fach by around a tenth of a second. However, Gregor Burkard, who had started third, returned first from the turbulent starting lap, followed by Fischli and Fach.
Free ride for Fach after Fischli's mistake
This order held until the fifth round. Suddenly, the 19-year-old Fach emerged in P1. One lap later, Fischli had also passed Burkard.
In the tenth round, the runner-up from 2020 dropped to the back of the field after slipping into the gravel trap and only finished eleventh.
Alexander Fach thus had a clear run to his fourth sprint victory of the current season. The man from Schwyz also secured the additional points for the fastest race lap and further extended his lead in the standings.
Second place went to Gregor Burkard ahead of Alexander Schwarzer, while Peter Hegglin defended fourth place against Marco Sacchet after a strong race.
Speed and strategy perfect
In the final Endurance race over 100 miles, Dominik Fischli was able to take revenge. This time it was Fach who was the fastest in qualifying.
The champion also initially led Class 2 of the GT3 Cup in the 54 Porsche field, but made an early mandatory pit stop on lap 10 and dropped back accordingly.
As a result, Gregor Burkhard initially moved up to first place in the class until the vehemently charging Fischli pushed past on the 18th lap. He waited until the 23rd lap with his obligatory stop and was thus able to defend his top position when he returned to the track.
Dominik Fischli: "Although this race track has not particularly suited me in the past, I was able to keep up well with Alexander. Unfortunately, I messed up the start to the sprint race myself. When I tried to overtake Alex afterwards, I wanted a bit too much and slid through the gravel bed - a pity, because I had my sights set firmly on victory. On the other hand, I surprisingly won the Endurancelauf, because I was fast. I will give everything to win more races and the title."
Fach's zero makes championship exciting again
Second place went to Burkhard after a total of 68 minutes of racing ahead of Peter Hegglin and Marc Arn, while Alexander Fach had to park his car after 21 laps with a broken drive shaft.
Bad luck for him, but good for the title fight: the championship question in the GT3 Cup is thus open again before the start of the second half of the season.
Garski for the third time
In the group of Cayman GT4 cars, Thomas Herbst won the sprint race, , while runner-up Laurent Misbach decided the endurance race in his favor.
In the regularity competition of the Porsche Drivers Competition Suisse, Nicolas Garski already managed his third victory of the season. We will go into these decisions in a separate report.
