While it wasn’t the dominating season many Porsche fans hoped for, Porsche Team Manthey did finish the year with a successful conclusion to the Sports Car World Endurance Championship. With a strong performance at the six-hour race in Sao Paulo, the French Porsche works drivers Frédéric Makowiecki and Patrick Pilet scored second in the fiercely competitive GTE-Pro class at the wheel of their Porsche 911 RSR. With this, the pair notched up another podium result with the 470 hp GT racer from Weissach to add to the two double victories at Silverstone and Shanghai. This final podium gave Porsche 2nd place in the manufacturers’ championship.
Porsche 911 RSR #92
Starting from the third row of the grid, Frédéric Makowiecki got away cleanly at the start and treated the Brazilian fans to some breathtaking fights for positions and spectacular overtaking maneuvers. His teammate, Patrick Pilet, snatched the lead for the first time early in the third hour. With an hour to the flag, Makowiecki was running at the front of the GT field before pulling into the pits for the last refuelling stop and driver change. As dusk turned to darkness, Patrick Pilet returned to the track in third and launched a furious pursuit for position. But after pushing his way up to second place, a safety car phase, triggered by the serious accident involving Mark Webber, lasted until the end of the race robbing him of the chance for victory.
Patrick Pilet (Porsche 911 RSR #92): “Obviously we’re a little disappointed. The whole team did a great job and our strategy was good. But unfortunately the caution phase threw a spanner in the works. Had the Aston pitted again that would have put us further ahead and perhaps even yielded us a victory. Still, second place is a good result and we can be proud of it. All in all it was a tough season for us. After our one-two at the first race in Silverstone we certainly had expected a little more. We never gave up and always did our utmost, but at some of the races we simply lacked the necessary performance.”
Porsche 911 RSR #91
The season finale proved not as successful for Jörg Bergmeister and Richard Lietz in the second 911 RSR campaigned by the Porsche Manthey squad. After a difficult qualifying, which yielded them the fourth grid spot, they were unable to fight for victory and were hampered by a slow puncture and a stop-and-go penalty after a collision. The pair eventually saw the flag in sixth place.
Jörg Bergmeister (Porsche 911 RSR #91): “That wasn’t so great. I struggled with the car today. Plus we suffered a slow puncture and the stop-and-go penalty for the collision. I viewed the situation somewhat differently than the stewards, but what can you do. The season started well for me, and Shanghai yielded another good result. The last two races, however, weren’t particularly encouraging.”
Race Results GTE-Pro Class
1. Turner/Mücke (GB/D), Aston Martin Vantage, 221 laps
2. Makowiecki/Pilet (F/F), Porsche 911 RSR, 221
3. Rigon/Calado (I/GB), Ferrari F458 Italia, 221
4. Bruni/Vilander (I/SF), Ferrari 458 Italia, 220
5. MacDowall/O’Young/Rees (GB/CAN/BRA), Aston Martin Vantage, 220
6. Bergmeister/Lietz (D/A), Porsche 911 RSR, 220
Race Results GTE-Am class
1. Lamy/Dalla Lana/Nygaard (P/CAN/DK), Aston Martin Vantage, 219 laps
2. Poulsen/Heinemeier-Hansson/Thiim (DK/DK/DK), Aston Martin, 219
3. Wyatt/Rugolo/Bertolini (AUS/I/I), Ferrari F458 Italia, 219
4. Ried/Bachler/Al Qubaisi (D/A/UAE), Porsche 911 RSR, 217
5. Collard/Perrodo/Vaxivière (FRA/FRA/FRA), Porsche 911 RSR, 217
6. Fittipaldi/Segal/Pier Guidi (/BRA/USA/I), Ferrari F458 Italia, 186
FIA World Endurance Cup GT Drivers Point Standings
1. Giancarlo Bruni, Toni Vilander (Ferrari) 168 points
2. Frédéric Makowiecki (Porsche) 134,5
3. Richard Lietz (Porsche) 111
4. Patrick Pilet (Porsche) 108,5
5. Stefan Mücke, Darren Turner (Aston Martin), 102
6. Jörg Bergmeister (Porsche) 99
FIA World Endurance Cup GT Manufacturers
1. Ferrari 288 points
2. Porsche 262
3. Aston Martin 232
FIA Endurance Trophy GTE-Pro Teams
1. AF Corse (Ferrari #51) 168 Punkte
2. Porsche Team Manthey (Porsche #92) 148
3. Aston Martin Racing (Aston Martin #97) 138
4. Porsche Team Manthey (Porsche #91) 122
5. AF Corse (Ferrari #71), 98
6. Aston Martin Racing (Aston Martin # 99), 70
FIA Endurance Trophy GTE-Am Drivers
1. David Heinemeier-Hansson, Kristian Poulsen (Aston Martin) 198 points
2. Christoffer Nygaard, Paul Dalla Lana, Pedro Lamy (Aston Martin) 164
3. Nicki Thiim (Aston Martin) 144
4. Christian Ried, Khaled Al Qubaisi (Porsche) 121
5. Klaus Bachler (Porsche), 111
6. Luis Perez-Companc, Marco Cioci, Mirko Ventura (Ferrari) 76
FIA Endurance Trophy GT-Am Teams
1. Aston Martin Racing (Aston Martin #95) 198 points
2. Aston Martin Racing (Aston Martin #98) 164
3. Proton Competition (Porsche #88) 121
4. AF Corse (Ferrari #61) 102
5. AF Corse (Ferrari #81), 68
7. Prospeed Competition (Porsche #77), 58
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