Porsche Cup: Two victories on the birthday

FACH TWICE AHEAD The two GT3 races as part of the Porsche Sports Cup Suisse at the Lausitzring were dominated by Alexander Fach, who thus gave himself a nice present for his 19th birthday. Due to postponements on the part of the Circuit Paul Ricard, this year's second race weekend in the Porsche Sports Cup Suisse did not take place in the warm south, but [...]

Editorial - June 7, 2021

For the first time, Swiss Porsche drivers competed in Cup races at the impressive EuroSpeedway Lausitz. Alexander Fach and Dominik Fischli (left) shared the front row of the grid (Photos: Dirk Michael Deckbar).

Due to postponements on the part of the Circuit Paul Ricard, the second race weekend of this year in the Porsche Sports Cup Suisse did not take place in the warm south, but in the somewhat cooler north in Brandenburg.

The date was also unusual: practice on Thursday, as Corpus Christi is a public holiday throughout Germany, and the two 25-minute races on Friday.

It does not get better than this
For Alexander Fach, who celebrates his 19th birthday three days later (on June 7), everything went according to plan. First, the defending champion in the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup of his father's team took pole position in qualifying, then he led both sprint races from start to finish and set the fastest race lap in each case.

Maximum points haul - his title defense project is well on track with three wins in four races. The fact that he knew the Lausitzring from last year's guest start in the Carrera Cup Deutschland thus paid off.

Alexander Fach: "That was a brilliant weekend for me, of course. We dominated the entire race day and took home all the points that were up for grabs. The track at the Lausitzring is very technical and demanding, which certainly suited me. The team did a terrific job and provided me with a super car."

Alexander Fach drove away from his pursuers in both GT3 races. The battles took place in the midfield.

Dominik Fischli also convinces
The first to suffer from this dominance is Dominik Fischli. Like Fach, the reigning runner-up is supported by the Porsche Motorsport Club Suisse and Porsche Schweiz AG for the second year as a development driver. He justified this trust in Saxony with two unchallenged second places.

Position battles in the back of the Porsche Juniors
The battle for the third positions was more exciting. In race 1, Gregor Burkard secured this position ahead of the Swede Mike Knutzon.

This result was also indicated in the second run - until the seventh lap. At this point, Burkard fell far behind and was ultimately only classified eleventh, while Knutzon managed to make it onto the podium for the first time. A great result for the Porsche Racing Experience graduate.

Dominik Fischli and Alexander Fach are regulars on the GT3 podium. For Mike Knutzon, it was a premiere.

Peter Hegglin also delivered a strong performance in Lausitz. In the first race, he had to retire on the starting lap, only to take revenge in the second. From 11th on the grid, he fought his way up to 5th place in furious fashion.

Two GT4 victories for Misbach and "Hagi
In the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR field, Laurent Misbach was delighted with his first two victories of the season. The class for the mid-engine race car without MR package was won twice by Philip Hagnauer.

The Open GT group saw Ray Calvin's 911 GT3 Cup finish first in each case. As in Spielberg, Austria, the Porsche Drivers Competition even-temperature contest was won by Nicolas Garski.

We will come back to the GT4, Open GT and PDC races in a separate report.