The IMSA season for GTLM cars is only five races deep. By taking the 12 Hours of Sebring, Long Beach Grand Prix, Mid Ohio, and now 6 Hours of the Glen, all in a row, Porsche has put a serious stamp on the 2019 season. Sunday’s 6-hour endurance race in New York went well for the Porsche Motorsports North America team. Works drivers Patrick Pilet and Nick Tandy took the win. With this victory, Porsche leads the manufacturer’s championship, the endurance challenge championship, and the drivers’ championship. Impressive work.
Both 911 RSRs started the race from the fourth row of the GTLM grid, getting off to a not great start. The two cars worked methodically to gain their way toward the front. A particularly good pit stop in hour three, which saw the 911 RSR team pit more than 2.5 seconds quicker than the Corvette team which had been leading, saw Porsche move into the lead. Because the two 911s were on a different fuel strategy, which could have played out way differently with a mis-timed yellow flag, Earl Bamber was leading but had to pit with 30 minutes to go in the race for a splash of fuel. As a result, the Bamber/Vanthoor car was relegated to 6th in class.
Comments on the race
Pascal Zurlinden (Director GT Factory Motorsport): “We’ve won four out of the five races so far this season. We’re leading all classifications and we’re now alone at the top of the Endurance Cup. It’s been a wonderful season so far. I feel for the No. 912 car. The yellow flag simply came out at the wrong time. In the drivers’ championship, both crews occupy the first two positions, so we now have two irons in the fire. The racetracks at the upcoming events over the next few weeks should suit our 911 RSR.”Steffen Höllwarth (Programme Manager IMSA SportsCar Championship): “First and foremost, I’d like to thank the whole team. The work over the last weeks at the IMSA series races, the successful Le Mans outing and today’s long-distance race at Watkins Glen have been really tough. Victory is the just rewards for the entire crew. Our drivers didn’t have the fastest car in the field, but through consistent and completely flawless drives, we’ve now come out on top. That was a real textbook example of teamwork.”
Nick Tandy (Porsche 911 RSR #911): “We certainly didn’t have the fastest car today, but perfect teamwork secured the victory for us. The pit stops were perfect, the strategies were simply good, and with absolutely consistent and immaculate driving, the drivers brought our Porsche 911 RSR to the finish line. Not everything went smoothly at the beginning of the race weekend, but when it came to the crunch we were 100% there. This is a fantastic and very valuable win for me.”
Earl Bamber (Porsche 911 RSR #912): “We simply hit a bit of bad luck with the yellow flag today. Okay, the car wasn’t the fastest in our class, but we made up for that with consistency and good teamwork. All in all, it was a successful day for Porsche. I’m looking forward to the upcoming races. It’s one great racetrack after the other for us drivers now.”
Race result
GTLM class
1. Pilet/Tandy (F/GB), Porsche 911 RSR, 195 laps
2. Garcia/Magnussen (E/DK), Corvette C7.R, 195 laps
3. Briscoe/Westbrook (AUS/GB), Ford GT, 194 laps
6. Bamber/Vanthoor (NZ/B), Porsche 911 RSR, 194 laps
GTD class
1. Farnbacher/Hindman/Marks (D/USA/USA), Acura NSX GT3, 188 laps
2. Auberlen/Foley/Machavern (USA/USA/USA), BMW M6 GT3, 188 laps
3. MacNeil/Vilander/Westphal (USA/FIN/USA), Ferrari 488 GT3, 188 laps
6. Kern/Robichon/Hargrove (D/CDN/CDN), Porsche 911 GT3 R, 188 laps
10. Miller/Seefried/Werner (USA/D/D), Porsche 911 GT3 R, 186 laps
33. Long/Lindsey/Boulle (USA/USA/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 R, 86 laps