At Petit Le Mans, on the storied Road Atlanta racetrack, a difficult season for Porsche in the IMSA SportsCar Championship came to an end. After a sensational overall victory for the Porsche North America works team at the prestigious ten-hour race in 2015, which earned Porsche the championship titles for manufacturers, drivers and teams, the Porsche 911 RSR missed out on a podium result at its last works-entry race. In the GTLM class, which with five manufacturers is the most strongly represented, the fastest 911 RSR helmed by Earl Bamber, Frédéric Makowiecki and Michael Christensen finished fifth. In the sister 911 RSR, the defending IMSA GT champion Patrick Pilet, Nick Tandy and Richard Lietz were running in a promising third with four hours to go. After completing 223 laps on the demanding 4.087-kilometer circuit in the US state of Georgia, the 911 RSR became entangled in a collision with a sports prototype and was thrown out of contention.
Dr Frank-Steffen Walliser, Head of Porsche Motorsport: “We experienced an exciting race today. It’s a shame that we lost our number 911 contender through no fault of our own. But the team fought hard and didn’t waste any time in getting the car back on its wheels so that it could at least drive the last two laps. And the number 912 could have scored a better result, too. Still, we rank third in the manufacturers classification against strong opposition. We are thrilled for our customer team, Park Place Motorsports, who took up the race with their 911 GT3 R from second on the grid and turned it into a second place on the podium after a tough fight.”
However, while the farewell performance did not run according to plan, this did not diminish the impressive successes of the 911 RSR. Since its debut in 2013, this race car has contested a total of 73 races in the WEC Sports Car World Endurance Championship, the IMSA SportsCar Championship in the USA and Canada as well as the European Le Mans Series and secured 21 victories and eight championship titles. Some of these victories were secured at the most illustrious long distance classics such as Le Mans, Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen and Petit Le Mans, making the 470 hp 911 RSR, which is based on the seventh generation of the iconic 911 sports car, the most successful GT race car of recent years. Its successor will also celebrate its race debut in the USA at the Daytona 24-hour classic on January 28/29, 2017.
GTD Class
In the GTD class, in which customer teams field the 500 hp Porsche 911 GT3 R, Park Place Motorsports scored second place with drivers Jörg Bergmeister as well as the Americans Patrick Lindsey and Matthew McMurry. For the 911 GT3 R, which notched up its first win in the IMSA SportsCar Championship at Laguna Seca, this was its sixth podium result in its maiden race season.
Jörg Bergmeister (911 GT3 R #73): “It’s fantastic, of course, to climb the podium again at the last race of the season. Second place was certainly a little lucky. But by working hard, the team has earned this success to finish the season. Again this time, they didn’t give up when we were behind, but fought with us right to the very end to achieve this good result.”
GTLM class Race result
1. Fisichella/Vilander/Calado (I/SF/GB), Ferrari 488 GTE, 398 laps
2. Hand/Müller/Bourdais (USA/D/F), Ford GT, 398
3. Gavin/Milner/Fässler (GB/USA/CH), Chevrolet Corvette, 398
4. Garcia/Magnussen/Rockenfeller (E/DK/D), Chevrolet Corvette, 397
5. Bamber/Makowiecki/Christensen (NZ/F/DK), Porsche 911 RSR, 395
6. Edwards/Luhr/Wittmer (USA/D/CAN), BMW M6, 391
7. Briscoe/Westbrook/Dixon (AUS/GB/NZ), Ford GT, 372
8. Serra/Pier Guidi/Bertolini (BRA/I/I), Ferrari 488 GTE, + 350
9. Auberlen/Werner/Farfus (USA/D/BRA), BMW M6, 317
10. Pilet/Tandy/Lietz (F/GB/A), Porsche 911 RSR, 229
GTD class race results
1. Keating/Bleekemolen/Miller (USA/NL/USA), Dodge Viper, 385 laps
2. Bergmeister/Lindsey/McMurry (D/USA/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 R, 384
3. Balzan/Nielsen/Segal (I/DK/USA), Ferrari 488, 384
4. Marsal/Palttala/Lawrence (USA/SF/USA), BMW M6, 384
5. Snow/Sellers/Miller (USA/USA/USA), Lamborghini GT3, 383
6. Aschenbach/Bell/v. Moltke (USA/USA/USA), Audi R8, 383
9. Riberas/Farnbacher/James (E/D/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 R, 366
Final Driver GTLM result after 11 races
1. Millner, Gavin, Corvette, 345 points
2. Briscoe, Westbrook, Ford, 328
3. Garcia, Magnussen, Chevrolet, 319
4. Bamber, Makowiecki, Porsche, 313
5. Fisichella, Vilander, Ferrari, 305
6. Hand, Müller, Ford, 301
7. Auberlen, Werner, BMW, 298
8. Pilet, Tandy, Porsche, 285
9. Edwards, Luhr, BMW, 267
Final Manufacturer GTLM result after 11 races
1. Chevrolet, 359 points
2. Ford, 341
3. Porsche, 330
4. Ferrari, 317
5. BMW, 314
Final Team GTLM result after 11 races
1. #4 Corvette Racing, 345 points
2. #67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing, 328
3. #3 Corvette Racing, 319
4. #912 Porsche North America, 313
5. #62 Risi Competizione, 305
6. #25 BMW Team RLL, 301
#66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing, 301
8. #911 Porsche North America, 285
9. #100 BMW Team RLL, 267
10. #68 Scuderia Corsa, 164
The first race of the 2017 IMSA SportsCar Championship is contested on 28/29 January at the Daytona 24-Hour classic in Daytona/Florida.
View Comments (1)
Unfortunately there is an update in GTD Final Results - Patrick Lindsey, #73 did not drive the required minimum time, similar to John Potter of Magnus #44 and both went to the bottom of GTD Class, in lieu of hard won first and second places, plus Patron Award for #73 also lost.