F3 racer Pommer switches to sportscars

European Formula 3 Championship race winner Markus Pommer will make the switch to sportscars in 2016 with a programme that includes an attack on the Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup.

The German, who took one win with the Motopark team and also finished fifth in the season-ending Macua F3 Grand Prix, will race for the Phoenix Audi squad in both the BGTS Sprint Cup and the ADAC GT Masters series in Germany. He will share an R8 LMS in the Sprint Cup with Nicolaj Moller Madsen, runner-up in last year's inaugural Audi TT Sport Cup one-make series, and in the ADAC series with factory driver Markus Winkelhock.

Pommer told Autosport: "I was looking at staying in single-seaters and tested a Formula V8 3.5 car, but it really made no sense because it keeps getting more and more expensive as you move up and I am getting older.

"I had a call from Audi to say there was a seat at Phoenix. I tested the new R8 LMS and it is a real racecar; it's very stiff with a lot of downforce."

Pommer, who has so far tested for Phoenix at Jerez, the Algarve circuit and Misano, said he was happy with his pace so far. The German driver previously stepped off the single-seater ladder to race in the Porsche Supercup in 2013 before winning the German F3 Championship in 2014.

Winkelhock will also drive in the Sprint Cup with Phoenix, teaming up for a third season with Austrian Niki Mayr-Melnhof.

Phoenix will also contest the Spa 24 Hours round of the BGTS Endurance Cup with a factory R8 to be shared by Winkelhock, Christopher Mies and Frank Stippler. It will also field an official Audi entry at the Nurburgring 24 Hours in May for Winkelhock, Rene Rast, Frank Stippler and Christopher Haase.

Originally on Autosport.com