Porsche has gotten off to a great start this season in the World Endurance Championship GTE Pro category, having taken two wins from three races thus far, as well as three additional podium place finishes. It’s fair to say that after the first three of eight rounds Porsche has a mighty shot at securing another world championship this year. Of course there are still plenty of races to be run, but this is the kind of domination Porsche is known for in endurance racing.
Porsche did not qualify well for the first round in Britain, but did secured pole position in Japan and China. Qualifying takes place on Saturday, but for now let’s take a look at an onboard lap from Porsche in free practice from Bahrain earlier today.
The glorious flat six shouts out down the main straight before barking its way down the gears into turn one. You can see the driver, either Richard Lietz or Gianmaria Bruni the video doesn’t clarify, totally abuse the car against the kerbing at the 5-6-7 esses complex, exceeding track limits with just one set of tires to remain within legality. They use every last millimeter of the track at the sharp turn 10. This course has plenty of long fast straights for the Porsche to stretch its legs at high speed.
Gimmi Bruni’s early Friday best lap of 1m57.388s is good enough to lead the GTE Pro class in free practice 1, but in the cooler evening temperatures the Aston Martin team knocks off a 1m55.696s in free practice 2 to take the fastest lap thus far this weekend. It’s going to be a tight race in GTE Pro, but here’s hoping Porsche can put another good points haul down to stake their claim on the class.