Fischer Racing started with a Top-8 finish in the 2011 season of the FIA GT3 European Championship at the season opener in Portimão/Portugal. In the first race of the season, Christoffer Nygaard (DNK) and Mikko Eskelinen (FIN) finished in a strong seventh place in the Fischer Racing-Ford GT and collected the first points. Markus Palttala (FIN) and Paulo Bonifacio (BRA) finished their first common race in the second Fischer Racing-Ford GT in 14. position.
In the first race of the 2011 European Championship, Nygaard and Eskelinen showed a strong performance in the #14 Fischer Racing-Ford GT. Eskelinen started from position 18 of the grid into the 60-minute race on the scenic track at the Portuguese Algarve coast and could already gain several places in the first lap. Until the mandatory driver change halfway through the race, the Finn fought further up in the ranking and handed over the American muscle-car to teammate Nygaard in tenth position. Nygaard continued the strong performance, gained another three places, and finally finished seventh, behind a bunch of competitors with strong Mercedes and BMW. “My start was really good, I could pass some cars directly in the first corner”, Eskelinen was pleased with the result of the first race. „Then I worked further up through the field, but halfway trough my stint, I started to save the tires, as I wanted to give Christoffer a good car for the second part of the race.”
„My race was quite o.k., during my stint I could make up some more ground and could overtake three competitors”, Christoffer Nygaard, who was on double duty in Portimão and also raced in the GT1 World Championship, said after the race. „At the end of the race, I had a small issue with the gearbox and couldn’t use the second gear anymore. But a seventh place finish is a good start into the new season.”
Markus Palttala and Paulo Bonifacio in the #13 Ford GT experienced a very challenging race. Markus Palttala: „We had a issue with the steering or with the suspension, that already worried us during Qualifying. We did some improvements to the car, but it seams we didn’t found the problem. Due to that, the car was not easy to drive in the race. We have now to address this again and hopefully solve the issue for the second race.”
In Sunday’s second race, both Ford GT had bad luck. A competitor drove in the back of #13 Ford of Bonifacio in the second part of the race, which forced the Brazilian to retire. Nygaard/Eskelinen had to retire halfway through the race after an issue with the starter engine.
Source : Fischer Racing