The No. 79 Was Fastest in the GTE Pro Class Test Day and Night Practice
By Mark Robinson
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Day or night, the No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Porsche 911 RSR-19 has the pace at Le Mans.
Three days after leading the GTE Pro class in Sunday’s test day for the 89th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the No. 79 Porsche was quick again in Wednesday’s night practice. That came after the car qualified seventh earlier Wednesday – missing the chance to advance to Hyperpole qualifying by one position.
Cooper MacNeil, the full-season No. 79 Porsche driver in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and fresh off a GT Le Mans (GTLM) class win Aug. 8 at Road America, is joined in the car this week by a pair of Porsche standouts, Le Mans winners and WeatherTech Championship GTLM season champions Earl Bamber and Laurens Vanthoor.
The 30-year-old from Belgium, Vanthoor – also a winner at Road America on Aug. 8 in the GT Daytona (GTD) class – put down the top GTE Pro lap Wednesday night of 3 minutes, 49.018 seconds around the 8.467-mile Circuit de la Sarthe.
“Night practice went well, the WeatherTech Porsche is strong,” MacNeil, a two-time Le Mans podium finisher in GTE Am, said following the session. “We ended up being quickest tonight, which is always good for the team vibe. We have one more day of practice (Thursday) to keep tuning the car for Saturday. The team is working well together, so I am looking forward to a good race.”
Vanthoor, the 2018 Le Mans GTE Pro winner and 2019 WeatherTech Championship GTLM champion in a Porsche with Bamber, enjoyed setting the fast lap in the important night session, but he was thinking big picture in the competitive class that includes three other Porsches, two Ferraris and the familiar pair of Corvettes from the WeatherTech Championship.
“We ran some good laps, but I am not putting too much thought into times and what the others are doing,” Vanthoor said. “We are working on things for the long run and that is what the session was for. I don’t think we are in bad shape.”
Bamber is a two-time Le Mans overall winner, driving the Porsche 919 Hybrid to victory in 2015 and ’17. He finished third in GTE Pro at the iconic 24-hour race two years ago and set the fastest class lap during Sunday’s test day.
“Disappointing we just missed out on (advancing to the) Hyperpole,” the 31-year-old New Zealander said. “It was quite close. We didn’t have great timing with the slow zones and traffic in qualifying. That is Le Mans.
“We have a fast race car. We topped the times in night practice, we are working our way up to the race. Cooper is showing good pace and getting more comfortable. We have another day of practice to play around with it and get better. The car has speed. I think we have a strong racing car.”
The 24 Hours of Le Mans begins at 10 a.m. ET Saturday. MotorTrend TV and RadioLeMans.com have flag-to-flag coverage.