Porsche Cup Suisse: The duel continues
GT3 AUFTAKTRENNEN IN AUSTRIA The two official support drivers Dominik Fischli and Alexander Fach each decided one race in their favor at the opening round of the Porsche Sports Cup Suisse in Spielberg. The defending champion made it particularly exciting. The thrilling championship duel between the two promotional drivers of Porsche Motorsport Club Suisse and Porsche Schweiz AG could go into extra time in 2021 [...]
The exciting championship duel between the two sponsored drivers of Porsche Motorsport Club Suisse and Porsche Schweiz AG could go into overtime in 2021. Vice champion Dominik Fischli and defending champion Alexander Fach made their mark on the first round of the GT3 Cup season at the Red Bull Ring.
First pole to Gregor Burkard
Fischli had to give way to Gregor Burkard by 0.013 seconds in qualifying, but after the start on the 4.319-kilometer Grand Prix circuit he took the lead in the second lap and pulled away.
Fach, meanwhile, had only finished seventh in the final training session. He was almost a second off the top.
Subject catching up
For the 16-lap race, the 18-year-old from Schwyz had four new tires fitted to his 485-hp 911 GT3 Cup, but was forced to take his place at the very back of the field - the start of an entertaining race to catch up with the rest of the field, which saw him move up to second position.
Fach also drove the fastest lap, which would have been enough for third place on the grid in qualifying. Positions 3 and 4 went to Gregor Burkard and his brother Ricardo. Porsche Racing Experience drivers Alexander Schwarzer, Peter Hegglin and Sébastien Pidoux took the next positions.
Fischli's mistake under pressure
Dominik Fischli and Alexander Fach side by side on row 1 of the grid - the conditions were right for an exciting second race of the season. Fischli initially kept the upper hand, but Fach put him under hard pressure.
On lap 11 of 16, the leader made the decisive mistake: After a spin, Fischli had to rejoin the field in fourth place behind Gregor and Ricardo Burkard. He was then able to pass Ricardo and regain the third podium spot, but Gregor Burkard was two seconds away.
Thus, the score after the first duel of the year is 1-1, which gives hope for further exciting races.
Alexander Fach: "The chase in the first race was great fun, even though the many overtaking maneuvers were hard work - but I was able to show what I can do. In the second race I put pressure on Dominik, then he spun. But there was no contact between us. Afterwards, I drove my own race home."
Brief summary of the other categories
In the GT4 Clubsport classification, Thomas Herbst at the wheel of a Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR was ahead in the first race, with Alexandre Mottet celebrating his victory in the second.
In the Open GT group, Leonardo Caglioni set the best qualifying time with his 911 GT3 Cup, won both heats and also set the fastest race lap in each case. In the Porsche Drivers Competition Suisse regularity competition, Nicolas Garski drove to first place with the most consistent lap times.
We will go into detail about these decisions in a subsequent report.
