Best Porsche secures sixth place

11/07/2016

At round six of the IMSA SportsCar Championship at Bowmanville, the #912 Porsche 911 RSR fielded by the Porsche North America factory squad has secured position six in the GTLM class.

On the ultra-fast racetrack at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville/Canada, Earl Bamber (New Zealand) and Frédéric Makowiecki (France) had fought their way up to second place. However, in the final phase of the race they were unable to defend this position against the four other automobile manufacturers in the fiercely contested category. Their teammates Patrick Pilet (France) and Nick Tandy (Great Britain), the winners of the Long Beach race, finished on eighth place. Porsche currently ranks third in the manufacturers’ classification of North America’s premier sports car racing series.

The new Porsche 911 GT3 R of Seattle/Alex Job Racing tackled the 2.40-hour race from pole position. The former Porsche junior Alex Riberas (Spain) defended his lead until the first pit stop, and his teammate Mario Farnbacher (Germany) also held the competition at bay for long periods with the 500 hp customer sports racer from Weissach. But with just one hour to the flag, their hopes of a second win after Laguna Seca were dashed when the 911 GT3 R lost a wheel. As the best Porsche customer team, Park Place Motorsports with works driver Jörg Bergmeister (Germany) and Patrick Lindsey (USA) conquered sixth place.

Race quotes

Steffen Höllwarth, Program Manager IMSA SportsCar Championship: “It was already evident after the practice that we would have a hard time on this track. We took up the race with different strategies for our two cars and we managed to work our way up the field. Thanks to fast pit stops at precisely the right time our number 912 contender even made it to second. Our drivers and the entire team again put in an immaculate performance today. When this effort only yields sixth place then of course you’re not particularly happy. We’ll now concentrate on the next round at Lime Rock Park and hope that we do better there.”

Nick Tandy (911 RSR #911): “Today we tried various tyre strategies. Okay, it didn’t pay off today, but we still gained important insights for the next races. Hopefully we can then fight amongst the frontrunners again.”

Patrick Pilet (911 RSR #911): “It was a difficult weekend for us. We now have to do everything to deliver a better performance at Lime Rock Park. When things don’t go so smoothly then it’s mostly due to bad luck – like at the pit stop when I accelerated while the car was still jacked up. It was a misunderstanding. The drive-through penalty cost us one or two positions.”

Frédéric Makowiecki (911 RSR #912): “We can’t blame ourselves. The team did a great job again and deserved better than sixth place. To match the pace of the others sometimes I had to take risks yet I was still overtaken in places where that would normally not be possible.”

Earl Bamber (911 RSR #912): “My stint was good with some interesting duels. Thanks to a perfect strategy and fast pit stops, the team managed to help us reach second place at one point. In the final phase Fred gave 110 percent to hold on to the position. Unfortunately it wasn't enough.”

Race result

GTLM class
1. Briscoe/Westbrook (AUS/GB), Ford GT, 119 laps
2. Gavin/Milner (GB/USA) Chevrolet Corvette, 119
3. Magnussen/Garcia (DK/E), Chevrolet Corvette, 119
4. Auberlen/Werner (USA/D), BMW M6, 119
5. Hand/Müller (USA/D), Ford GT, 119
6. Bamber/Makowiecki (NZ/F), Porsche 911 RSR, 119
8. Pilet/Tandy (F/GB), Porsche 911 RSR, 119
9. Edwards/Luhr (USA/D), BMW M6, 108

GTD class
1. Klingmann/Curtis (D/USA), BMW M6, 116 laps
2. Liddell/Davis /GB/USA), Audi R8, 116
3. Sellers/Snow (USA/USA), Lamborghini GT3, 116
4. Nielsen/Balzan (DK/I), Ferrari 488 GT3, 116
5. Lewis/Pumpelly (USA/USA), Lamborghini GT3, 116
6. Bergmeister/Lindsey (D/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 R, 116
7. MacNeil/Keen (USA/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 R, 115
12. Farnbacher/Riberas (D/E), Porsche 911 GT3 R, 106

Points standing GTLM class after 6 of 11 races

Drivers
1. Millner, Gavin, Corvette, 192 points
2. Briscoe, Westbrook, Ford, 187
3. Auberlen, Werner, BMW, 170
4. Bamber, Makowiecki, Porsche, 166
5. Fisichella, Vilander, Ferrari, 164
5. Garcia, Magnussen, Chevrolet, 164
6. Hand, Müller, Ford, 159
7. Pilet, Tandy, Porsche, 153
8. Serra, Ferrari, 140
9. Edwards, Luhr, BMW, 138

Manufacturers
1. Chevrolet, 192 points
2. Ford, 185
3. Porsche, 181
4. Ferrari, 174
5. BMW, 172

Teams
1. #4 Corvette Racing, 192 points
2. #67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing, 187
3. #25 BMW Team RLL, 170
4. #912 Porsche North America, 166
5. #62 Risi Competizione, 164
5. #3 Corvette Racing, 164
6. #66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing, 159
7. #911 Porsche North America, 153
8. #68 Scuderia Corsa, 140
9. #100 BMW Team RLL, 138

Info

Round seven of the IMSA SportsCar Championship will be contested on 23 July at Lime Rock Park in the US state of Connecticut.

This is the IMSA SportsCar Championship

The IMSA SportsCar Championship is a sports car race series contested in the USA and Canada, which was run in 2014 for the first time. The series was formed from the merger of the American Le Mans Series and the Grand-Am Series. Sports prototypes and sports cars start in four different classes: GTLM (GT Le Mans), GTD (GT Daytona), P (Prototype) and PC (Prototype Challenge). The Porsche 911 RSR runs in the GTLM class, with the new Porsche 911 GT3 R contesting the GTD class.