Porsche’s Pictures and Results From the 1st Round of the World Endurance Challenge

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If you would like to see a larger version of the picture, simply click on the image itself. When you’re ready to come back to the main gallery, simply click on the larger version and you’ll be back where you started.  Full race report is after the two videos below.

Qualifying is Teamwork

Let’s Go Racing

GTE-Pro Class

The new Porsche 911 RSR narrowly missed out on a podium spot at its first race outing. At the six hour race in Silverstone, the season-opener of the sports car World Endurance Championship (WEC), Porsche works drivers Marc Lieb (Germany), Richard Lietz (Austria) and Romain Dumas (France) occupied fourth in the GTE-Pro class with the 470 hp race car from Weissach. At the wheel of the second 911 RSR, also fielded by the newly-formed Porsche AG Team Manthey, their works driver colleagues Joerg Bergmeister (Germany), Patrick Pilet (France) and Timo Bernhard (Germany) took the flag in sixth.

On the storied British race track, the Porsche 911 RSR, based on the seventh generation of the iconic 911 sports car, took up the race after a good qualifying result from the second row of the grid and could match the pace of its strongest opponents for some time. At times, Patrick Pilet was running third with the #91 car, before an unscheduled pit stop cost him more than two laps and pushed him down the field. Halfway through the race, Romain Dumas was also on track for a podium place in third with the #92 car. Later, his teammate Richard Lietz even moved into second place – but at the end of the day it was not enough for a top three placing.

Hartmut Kristen, Porsche Head of Motorsport said after the race, “Both new 911 RSR reached the flag at their race debut, and there were no major technical problems. With a new team, of course there is still some fine-tuning to be done, that’s normal. We are looking forward to the next race and hope that the car will make another step forward there.”

Joerg Bergmeister added, “That wasn’t our dream result. But we’ve learned a lot this weekend. The conditions were not the easiest, because we had no time to practice on the dry track for setting up the car.”

GTE-Am Class

Christian Ried (Germany) and his Italian teammates Gianluca Roda and Paolo Ruberti scored fifth place in last year’s Porsche 911 GT3 RSR fielded by the customer team Felbermayr-Proton.
Round two of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) takes place on 4 May in Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium).

Race Results in the GTE-Pro Class

1. Turner/Mücke/Senna (GB/D/BRA), Aston Martin Vantage, 171 laps
2. Kobayashi/Vilander (J/SF), Ferrari F458 Italia, 170
3. Dalla Lana/Macowiecki/Lamy (CAN/F/P), Aston Martin Vantage, 170
4. Lieb/Lietz/Dumas (D/A/F), Porsche 911 RSR, 170
5. Bruni/Fisichella (I/I), Ferrari F458 Italia, 170
6. Bergmeister/Pilet/Bernhard (D/F/D), Porsche 911 RSR, 168

Race Results in the GTE-Am Class

1. Nygaard/Poulsen/Simonsen (DEN/DEN/DEN), Aston Martin Vantage, 169 laps
2. Bornhauser/Canal/Rees (FRA/FRA/BRA), Chevrolet Corvette, 166
3. Potolicchio/Aguas/Peter (I/VEN/A), Ferrari F458 Italia, 165
4. Goethe/Hall/Campbell-Walter (D/GB/GB), Aston Martin Vantage, 165
5. Ried/Roda/Ruberti (D/I/I), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 165
7. Narac/Bourret/Tandy (F/F/GB), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 163

Other Porsche Blog Posts You Will Enjoy
Is it True? Is Mark Webber Leaving F1 and Joining Porche?
Porsche’s Photos and Video from “free practice” at the World Endurance Championship in Silverstone