Porsche continued its streak of podium finishes at round three of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship on Saturday, July 18. Factory drivers Laurens Vanthoor (Belgium) and Earl Bamber (New Zealand) earned a hard-fought third-place finish with the No. 912 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR at the Sebring International Raceway in the two-hour, 40-minute Grand Prix of Sebring. The No. 911 sister car driven by Nick Tandy (Great Britain) and Frédéric Makowiecki (France) took the flag in the fiercely-contested GTLM class in sixth-place. Porsche has advanced up the manufacturers’ rankings to second-place.
Vanthoor made a catapult start to the race, starting from fourth on the grid, the defending champion of the North American sports car series swept into the GTLM-class lead after just half a lap. The Belgian defended his top spot until the first pit stop. Uncharacteristically, while exiting the pit lane, both Porsche 911 RSR collided. A total of four cars were involved in the incident. Tandy in the No. 911 suddenly had to dodge two Corvettes, Vanthoor made contact with the team car, which resulted in the right front fender and bumper tearing off. Two repair stops and a drive-through penalty cost the No. 912 approximately 20-seconds. As a result of the contact, the No. 911 punctured the left-rear tire costing it one lap when it returned to pit lane for a replacement Michelin. Thanks to an optimal strategy, daring overtaking maneuvers and the fastest stints of all GTLM vehicles, Bamber and Vanthoor ultimately reached the podium in third-place. Sixth-place was the best that Tandy and Makowiecki could muster.
In the GTD class for race cars complying with the FIA GT3 regulations, the entry fielded by the Wright Motorsports privateer squad was also hampered by an incident. Ryan Hardwick (Atlanta, Georgia) battled his way up the order into fourth-place at the wheel of the No. 16 Porsche 911 GT3 R race car, until a small mistake resulted in a spin and contact with the turn 13 wall. After extensive repairs to the rear and side of the 500+hp customer race car, there was little that factory driver Patrick Long (Manhattan Beach, California) could do during his middle stint behind the wheel. The No. 16 vehicle crossed the finish line in ninth-place.
As a result of the GTLM class podium finish – the third-consecutive this season – Porsche moved up to second-place in the Manufacturer’s standing, just four points off the lead. The reigning driver champions Bamber and Vanthoor now rank second as they head to round four at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin on August 2, with their teammates Makowiecki and Tandy in fourth-place.
Steffen Höllwarth, Head of Operations, IMSA Championship.
“It’s a disappointing result. Our race pace was very good, but unfortunately, several things went awry in the pit lane incident. In such situations, it’s about tenths of seconds and positions. While pulling out of the pits, three vehicles made contact, and unfortunately two of them were ours. It was our fault. We’ll analyze it and make sure it doesn’t happen again. But ultimately, at least one car finished on the podium. These points were very important for the championship.”
Nick Tandy, Driver, No. 911 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR.
“Porsche deserved a better result today. Our car was definitely capable of winning. Sometimes things happen in motor racing that aren’t perfect. We have to learn from it and make sure it doesn’t happen again. We lost a lot of points today, but we’ll regard our strong pace as a very positive sign and take it with us to the upcoming race at Road America.”
Frédéric Makowiecki, Driver, No. 911 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR.
“I was part of the top group after the start and was looking good in the race. After just 15 laps we decided to change drivers under yellow. I can’t explain what happened in the pit lane, but the incident obviously cost us a lot of points. Judging by how fast Nick was later on, it’s clear that we could’ve gone for victory had the incident not happened. Unfortunately, we can no longer change that.”
Earl Bamber, Driver, No. 912 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR.
“It was a tough day and it shouldn’t have been. Our two cars were very strong, but unfortunately, the pit incident cost us a lot of time. Laurens drove very strong stints and our strategy was optimal. That’s how we managed to mitigate the damages as much as possible. Today’s race could have thrown a spanner in the works in terms of the championship, but thanks to this podium result, we’re still looking good. We’ll now take this positive aspect to the next round at Road America.”
Laurens Vanthoor, Driver, No. 912 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR.
“What a shame that this mistake in the pit lane prevented us from achieving a better result. I haven’t yet been able to explain precisely how this incident happened. Communication was definitely not perfect. Still, we fought our way up to third-place and that yielded us vital points. I hope that our mistake quota has been fulfilled and we’re spared such things as the season continues.”
Patrick Long, Driver, No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R.
“A result that doesn’t reflect the potential of the day. Ryan [Hardwick] did a heck of a job running in the top-four. He was really in the mix there and then a small, perfect storm of timing and he was in the wall. That was effectively the end of our day. We soldiered on and we will take it from there and on to Road America.”