On the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Porsche works drivers Marc Lieb (Germany), Richard Lietz (Austria) and Romain Dumas (France) finished fifth with the Porsche 911 RSR in the GTE-Pro class at race two of the Sports Car World Championship WEC. The six hour race on the storied circuit in Belgium’s Ardennes, which is considered the final rehearsal for the Le Mans 24 Hours, was the second race outing for the Porsche 911 RSR. A safety car phase prevented a better result. The #92 nine-eleven was unable to make its scheduled pit stop and lost almost an entire lap to the leader who had pitted shortly before.
In the second Porsche 911 RSR, their works driver colleagues Joerg Bergmeister (Germany), Patrick Pilet (France) and Timo Bernhard (Germany) had been running in third place for quite some time but were forced to retire after becoming the faultless victims of a collision in the final hour of racing. The 470 hp GT racers from Weissach based on the seventh generation of the iconic 911 sports car, are fielded this season by Porsche AG Team Manthey.
Wolfgang Hatz, Board Member Research and Development at Porsche AG: “The positive aspect is that our pit stops worked really well this time. In this regard we have made a huge step forward and were at the level of the top teams. Now we need to concentrate on fully utilising the potential of our car.”Hartmut Kristen, Head of Porsche Motorsport: “We’ve made progress in terms of performance, but this unfortunately didn’t translate into a better result. We still have a lot to do, but we’re on the right track.”Marc Lieb (#92): “We experienced a lot of bad luck with the safety car phase and that put us a lap down. I think it’s a shame, we could have scored a podium result.”
Richard Lietz (#92): “After Silverstone we have improved in all the areas we had hoped to. Our pit stops were considerably quicker. And our race speed was better.”
Romain Dumas (#92): “Our car’s performance was good. Perhaps we weren’t in a position to win, but without the safety car phase we may have secured a podium spot.”Joerg Bergmeister (#91): “The car ran very well at the start. At one point we were running third. But then a collision with a Ferrari cost us the race.”
Patrick Pilet (#91): “Our performance today was much better than in Silverstone. We had great duels but unfortunately we were unable to finish the race. Still, we’ve learned a great deal for Le Mans.”Timo Bernhard (#91): “We were looking strong early in the race. If it weren’t for our problems we could have scored third. I’m very sorry for the team. The boys deserved a better result.”
Round three of the World Endurance Championship is at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France on 22/23 June.
Race result
GTE-Pro class
1. Bruni/Fisichella (I/I), Ferrari F458 Italia, 149 laps
2. Senna/Makowiecki/Bell (BRA/F/GB), Aston Martin Vantage, 149
3. Kobayashi/Vilander (J/SF), Ferrari F458 Italia, 149
4. Turner/Mücke/Dumbreck (GB/D/GB), Aston Martin Vantage, 148
5. Lieb/Lietz/Dumas (D/A/F), Porsche 911 RSR, 148
6. Dalla Lana/Lamy/Stanaway (CDN/P/NZ), Aston Martin Vantage, 147
GTE-Am class
1. Potolicchio/Aguas/Malucelli (I/P/I), Ferrari F458 Italia, 147 laps2. Nygaard/Poulsen/Simonsen (DK/DK/DK), Aston Martin Vantage, 146
3. Bornhauser/Canal/Rees (F/F/BRA), Chevrolet Corvette, 145
4. Goethe/Hall/Campbell-Walter (D/GB/GB), Aston Martin Vantage, 1445. Ried/Roda/Ruberti (D/I/I), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 143
6. Narac/Vernay (F/F), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 143
The World Endurance ChampionshipIn the World Endurance Championship, sports prototypes and GT vehicles start in four classes: LMGTE-Pro, LMGTE-Am, LMP1 and LMP2. They all compete together in one race but are classified separately.