Comments on the race
Steffen Höllwarth (Porsche Program Manager IMSA SportsCar Championship): “That was a day with more lows than highs. Our number 912 car made contact with another vehicle in the first lap, which resulted in damage to a rim and we had to pull out prematurely. On top of that, there was a drive-through penalty. In the end we finished fifth. We implemented an aggressive strategy to put the 911 amongst the frontrunners. After about an hour there was a technical defect in drive train. But it wasn’t all negative: Our strategies were great, and the team put in perfect pit stops. We’ll be back in full force at Laguna Seca.”
Earl Bamber (Porsche 911 RSR #912): “I gained a position right at the start, but then someone hit the rear of my car. We were handed a drive-through penalty and that threw us to the back of the field. Laurens then had to deal with the after-effects of the collision and couldn’t do better than fifth place.”
Laurens Vanthoor (Porsche 911 RSR #912): “Everything was okay at the start of my stint. Earl, however, was nudged in the first lap and I’m sure that’s what caused the damage. After driving for a while, the diffuser played up more and more. That was disastrous, of course, because the downforce at the rear axle got increasingly less. In the end the car was virtually undriveable and I’m pleased that we actually made it to the finish.”
Patrick Pilet (Porsche 911 RSR #911): “The engineers put a well set-up car on the track for us today. Everything came together perfectly. I drove economically to conserve fuel so that we could stay out longer. Our strategy worked perfectly, as well, because we were running at the front when we had to retire unfortunately.”
Nick Tandy (Porsche 911 RSR #911): “Obviously we’re very disappointed that we couldn’t score any points. We could have actually won, because the team implemented a terrific strategy that propelled us to the front. While I was in the lead I suddenly noticed that something was wrong and I lost power. And that was the end.”
Patrick Long (Porsche 911 GT3 R #58): “At my last pit stop I was lying eighth. I asked my team who else needed to come into the pits before us. They said: nobody. I pulled my seatbelt even tighter than usual and went for it. I’m delighted with second place. We’ve had a somewhat bumpy start to the season, but now we’re on a roll.”
Christina Nielsen (Porsche 911 GT3 R #58): “I think this circuit is the most demanding on the calendar, so second place is a very good result. Had I been a bit better at the pit stop we might have been able to fight for victory. Still, I’m very satisfied with this result.”
Complete race results on next page
