Comments on the race
Marco Ujhasi, Overall Project Manager GT Works Motorsport: “We took up the race from pole. The start was somewhat unusual. There are few things we need to have clarified: why the BMW accelerated before the race had really started. In any case, it was an exciting race in which we put pressure on the frontrunners over large distances. Our 911 RSR was consistently fast and we turned the fastest race lap. Our strategy was good. When it became very difficult to overtake on the racetrack, we concentrated on getting our number 911 car into the lead with an extremely fast pi stop. That worked well and we were five seconds ahead. Unfortunately Lady Luck wasn’t on our side today. At the end of the day, we delivered a very strong performance, and we can build on this. Still, it hurts when you put in such a spirited fight and go home without a podium.”
Patrick Pilet (911 RSR #911): “The entire team did another excellent today, particularly with the superfast pit stop. It wasn’t easy when it started raining in the final phase, because we were running a different tyre compound compared to our opposition. The 911 RSR performed well over the distance. We were the fastest today. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough to achieve our first victory. We’ll try again at Lime Rock.”
Dirk Werner (911 RSR #911): “The race took off with a huge surprise: Normally the pole-sitter decides when the race starts, but two rivals decided against that and accelerated in front of me. I was then running in third during my stint. Our 911 RSR was actually a winning car today; it was as good in the race as it was in practice and qualifying. The pit stops were super. We’re taking a lot of positive things with us, even if the result after what happened in the race is disappointing, of course. But in two weeks we have another chance at Lime Rock.”
Laurens Vanthoor (911 RSR #912): “Right from the beginning this wasn’t a good race for us. We lost one position at the start. Our pace was good enough to match the frontrunners, but it’s very difficult to overtake on this racetrack. We used a different strategy today, but before we could implement it fully, tyre damage threw us back.”
Gianmaria Bruni (911 RSR #912): “It’s a shame how things turned out day. We had a good and very well balanced car. At the first pit stop we decided on a different strategy that felt very promising for us. But then I got a puncture and I had to limp back to the pits over most of the circuit virtually on three tyres. That relegated us to the back of the field – on a track that allows practically no chance to overtake. But we don’t give up, we’ll keep fighting.”
