Just two weeks after the new 911 RSRs first victory at Lime Rock, Porsche claimed a second place finish at Road America. After a hard-fought race, the #912 finished just six tenths of a second behind the leading Ford GT of Dirk Müller and Joey Hand. Following its victory at Lime Rock, the #911 car achieved an eighth place finish after a collision with a Corvette early in the race. Racing a 500 horsepower GT3 R, for a customer team in GTD, achieved a second place result as well, following his earlier victory at Lime Rock.
Over the course of the two hour, forty-minute race Gianmaria Bruni initially managed to take the #912 car from fourth to third place. The trailing #911 car also overtook two competitors at the hands of Patrick Pilet. The positions remained constant until the first pit stops. Bruni’s teammate Laurens Vanthoor took advantage of a short pit stop to move to the lead position. The lead was short-lived, and when the race went green after a period under yellow, Vanthoor veered wide and let the second place Ford GT through. Vanthoor finished very aggressively attempting to regain the lead, ultimately finishing just six tenths of a second behind the leading Ford.
After the restart, the #911 car of Dirk Werner and Patrick Pilet suffered an accident with a Corvette. This put the RSR in the gravel, and relegated the #911 car to an eighth place finish.
Despite the fact that the team did not achieve victory, the drivers praised the team’s performance:
Laurens Vanthoor (911 RSR #912): “What a rollercoaster race. We came into the pits earlier than scheduled prior to a caution phase, because we suspected we had a tyre problem, and that cost us the lead. We definitely had some luck on our side because there was nothing wrong with the tyres. After the restart, I wanted to overtake a slower GTD vehicle but he blocked me and that led to a mistake. It’s annoying to lose the lead and possibly even victory because of this, but such things happen. Nevertheless, finishing second on this tricky circuit is a good result.”
Gianmaria Bruni (911 RSR #912): “That was a really tough race. I got away well at the start but the Ford managed to overtake me in corner three. The team had worked out a great strategy, which Laurens implemented almost perfectly after the pit stop. Right up until shortly before the finish I thought we might win. But second place is a great result and a good motivation for the remaining races of the season.”