Double Victory at Season Opener at the Red Bull Ring for Felix Hirsiger

Against the breathtaking backdrop of Styria, Felix had double cause for celebration at the season opener of the Porsche Sports Cup Suisse. In the GT3 Cup class, he emerged victorious in both race sessions, outpacing the other 20 drivers.

On Thursday and Friday prior to the race weekend, drivers gathered for two intensive days of testing. With four sessions of 30 minutes each, drivers acclimated themselves to the track with their race cars. Felix and the team FACH Auto Tech successfully completed the testing plan. During the tests, Felix demonstrated his strength with incredibly consistent lap times in the race simulations. These times were within a range of 3 to 4 tenths of a second, allowing the team to later adopt an unconventional strategy for the race.

Qualifying Under High Pressure

On Saturday morning at 08:55 AM, it was all business for the GT3 Cup class drivers. A 25-minute qualifying session determined the starting positions for the upcoming two races. Each driver aimed to set their two fastest laps for the starting grid of the first and second races. Since the session was scheduled very early in the morning, track conditions were not yet optimal. However, there was a noticeable improvement in track conditions during the short session. For this reason, the team decided to send Felix out on track late. However, an accident in the first corner triggered a red flag when Felix had barely begun his run. Now, all drivers had to return to the pits and wait for the stationary car to be removed. For all drivers who had not yet set a timed lap, the pressure increased significantly, including for Felix. The team had to change the strategy immediately, and Felix had to give his all in the last 15 minutes. With two nearly identical laps, Felix found himself in 2nd place at the end of the session. For the two races, it meant that Felix would start in P2 for the first race and P1 for the second.

A Thrilling Comeback

Following a successful qualifying session, the team, along with Felix, made a tactical decision. Drivers were allowed to change either the rear or front tires with a new set after qualifying, but they would incur a 3-place grid penalty. Due to the outstanding long-run pace, the team made this decision, and Felix started the first race from P5. The goal now was to stay calm and navigate safely through the first corner. The start of the race was a bit chaotic, and some drivers made overtakes from behind. Making it through the first corner unscathed, Felix found himself in 7th place. The weather was splendid at the Red Bull Ring, and temperatures were rising, as was the grip of Felix’s GT3 Cup with the number 30. Slowly getting into the rhythm, you could already see in the sector times that Felix could maintain the speed he showed in practice. Thus began an incredible comeback to P1. Lap after lap, Felix worked his way through the field and closed the gap to the leading Dylan Yip of Team Sportec Racing. When Felix caught up to Yip, he overtook him in a duel in the second and third corners of the Red Bull Ring and now had a clear track ahead. The gap to the field widened, reaching 3.2 seconds by the end. Felix thus clinched his first victory in the Porsche Sports Cup Suisse and was ecstatic about his outstanding performance.

From Hunter to Hunted

For the second race at the Red Bull Ring on Saturday afternoon, Felix started from P1. The regulations of the PSCS stipulated that all drivers had to start the race with the same set of tires used in the first race. The weather showed a slight change, becoming noticeably cooler and windier in Styria. These conditions made it more difficult for drivers to generate temperature in the tires to bring them into the optimal operating window. Additionally, the tires had already been heavily used in qualifying and the first race, requiring drivers to work particularly well with them in the second race. Starting from P1, the race began well for Felix, and he managed to maintain his position against Dylan Yip after the first corner. Right from the start, he built a gap to the second-placed driver, but only for a short time. An accident caused a safety car phase, and the field lined up behind the safety car again. Felix’s lead was reduced to zero. Drivers had to work hard to keep the tires warm with aggressive maneuvers to avoid losing too much traction from the first corner on the restart. Felix led the field with momentum into the final corner as the safety car turned into the pits again. There was a brief fight for P2, but Felix managed to hold onto the position. Throughout the race, Felix also struggled with tire degradation and had to withstand pressure from the second-placed driver. He maintained a gap of 0.5 to 0.8 tenths of a second over the remaining race distance, thus securing his second victory of the season. An incredible feeling for the driver, team, and family members who supported Felix vigorously at the track.

With this dream result and the very positive test days before the race weekend, Felix, along with FACH Auto Tech, now moves on to Le Castellet in France, where the race will take place from May 30th to June 1st.