Motorsport News July 3, 2018 No
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Motorsport News July 3, 2018 No. 48/18 Dear Journalist: Early each week, Porsche Cars North America will provide a weekend summary or pre- race event notes package, covering the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, Pirelli World Challenge (PWC), the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) or other areas of interest from the world of Porsche Motorsport. Please utilize this resource as needed, and do not hesitate to contact us for additional information. - Porsche Cars North America Motorsports Public Relations Team Porsche Motorsports Weekly Event Notes: Tuesday, July 3, 2018 This Week. • Podium Porsche. Porsche 911 RSR Earns Third-Place at Six Hours of The Glen. • Porsche To Canada. 911 RSR and 911 GT3 R Move to Canadian IMSA Round. • True Tribute. 919 Hybrid Evo Breaks 35 Year-Old Porsche Nürburgring Record. Next Porsche Event. IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Event: Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park Dateline: Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada Date: Friday – Sunday, July 6 – July 8, 2018 Track Length: 2.459-miles, 10-turn Race Duration: 2-Hours, 40-minutes Class: GTLM (Porsche 911 RSR) Public Relations Department 1 of 18 Public Relations Department Motorsport Communications Product Communications Dave Engelman David Burkhalter Phone +1.770.290.3617 Phone +1.770.290.3511 [email protected] [email protected] Motorsport News July 3, 2018 No. 48/18 GTD (Porsche 911 GT3 R) Round: GTLM. 6 of 11 GTD. 6 of 11 Next Round: Northeast Grand Prix, Lime Rock Park, Lakeville, Connecticut, July 21, 2018 IMSA Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. Event: Continental Tire Motorsport Park 120, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park Dateline: Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada Date: Saturday, July 7, 2018 Track Length: 2.459-miles, 10-turn Race Duration: 2-Hours Class: GS (Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR) Round: GS. 5 of 10 Next Round: Lime Rock Park 120, Lime Rock Park, Lakeville, Connecticut, July 20, 2018 Porsche Profile. Event Story Lines. Podium Porsche. Porsche 911 RSR Earns Third-Place at Six Hours of The Glen. The Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen turned into a heated battle, both in temperature – which reached 94 degrees Fahrenheit – and competition. The pair of 510 horsepower Porsche 911 RSR factory cars scored third and fourth-position at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York. In the six-hour event, Patrick Pilet (France) Public Relations Department 2 of 18 Public Relations Department Motorsport Communications Product Communications Dave Engelman David Burkhalter Phone +1.770.290.3617 Phone +1.770.290.3511 [email protected] [email protected] Motorsport News July 3, 2018 No. 48/18 and Nick Tandy (Great Britain) crossed the finish line just ahead of the sister car driven by Laurens Vanthoor (Belgium) and Earl Bamber (New Zealand) in round five of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The Porsche GT Team has notched up two wins in the GTLM class thus far this season at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring and at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Following the event on July 1, Porsche ranks second in the manufacturer’s point standings. When the 42-strong field rolled onto the grid Sunday morning, the temperature had already reached 86 degrees. In the GTLM class, in which four different automobile manufacturers fight for points, the two Porsche 911 RSR took the green flag, side-by- side on the third row of the grid. Putting in swift pit stops and spectacular overtaking maneuvers, the two vehicles battled their way up the field. Halfway through the race, they were running in first and second-place. When the safety car was deployed half an hour later, both frontrunners were struck by bad timing. Just as they were about to enter the pits to refuel and change tires, the pit lane closed. Several competitors managed to complete their stops shortly before the closing of the pits. This threw both Porsche 911 RSR back to positions fourth and sixth. In the last hour of racing, Vanthoor in the No. 912 car was again hampered by a safety car phase and had to ultimately relinquish the fight for a podium spot. Porsche earned important points towards the Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup – an endurance race championship within the larger IMSA Championship. After three of four races, Porsche sits in second-place. The long- distance classics included in the 24 Hours at Daytona, 12 Hours at Sebring, 6 Hours of The Glen as well as Petit Le Mans at the legendary Road Atlanta, which is run over ten hours in October. Public Relations Department 3 of 18 Public Relations Department Motorsport Communications Product Communications Dave Engelman David Burkhalter Phone +1.770.290.3617 Phone +1.770.290.3511 [email protected] [email protected] Motorsport News July 3, 2018 No. 48/18 Two Porsche 911 GT3 R contested the GTD class on the storied 3.4-mile racetrack. Patrick Lindsey (Santa Barbara, California) and Porsche factory driver Jörg Bergmeister (Germany) finished in sixth-place. Due to an accident in which the No. 73 Park Place Motorsports 911 GT3 R was struck by a competitor in practice the day before, the duo was unable to take part in the qualifying and thus started the race last in the field. Porsche “works” driver Patrick Long (Manhattan Beach, California), Porsche Selected Driver Christina Nielsen (Denmark) and Robert Renauer (Germany) drove the No. 58 Porsche Consulting/Porsche Digital Wright Motorsports 911 GT3 R sporting a special Independence Day livery highlighting the United States flag design. The driver trio took the green flag in eighth-position on the grid and crossed the finish line in ninth-place. Round six of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will be contested on July 8 in the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada. Steffen Höllwarth, Porsche Program Manager, IMSA SportsCar Championship. “We can be happy with positions three and four. A clever tire choice and a good strategy put us in the lead in the first half of the race. Then the safety car came out at an inopportune time. Several parts were laying on the track, but it wasn’t as if a car had hit the wall. For this reason, you didn’t necessarily expect the safety car to be deployed. Several vehicles that were running far behind us opted to take the risk and come in for an early pit stop and that brought them forward. But when you’re running in the lead you don’t risk making such a stop.” Patrick Pilet, Driver, No. 911 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR. Public Relations Department 4 of 18 Public Relations Department Motorsport Communications Product Communications Dave Engelman David Burkhalter Phone +1.770.290.3617 Phone +1.770.290.3511 [email protected] [email protected] Motorsport News July 3, 2018 No. 48/18 “It was a very intense race. The heat inside the cockpit was extreme and during my final stint my drinking system didn’t work. Now I’m thirsty but I’m also pleased to have climbed the podium. The race was a little complicated. At the beginning, I was really wedged in and that means you lose a lot of downforce. In terms of strategy, I’m proud of the team. We responded well. Ultimately we earned important championship points to take home.” Nick Tandy, No. 911 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR. “I’m pleased that we finished on the podium. Our car was fast and reliable. The caution phases didn’t go so well for us, but that’s typical for sports car races. When we were leading, I could really go flat out. Overtaking, however, was extremely difficult.” Laurens Vanthoor, No. 912 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR. “We did our best and fought hard. The field was very tight so it came down to the details. Our speed was good but we simply got stuck behind other cars too often. Implementing various strategic measures, we attempted to maneuver ourselves out of these situations but it didn’t work. Luck simply wasn’t on our side today.” Earl Bamber, No. 912 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR. “It was a close race with many great duels. We had bad luck with the safety car and five seconds made all the difference. At times, it looked as if we could win the race. We had the speed to win, but overtaking was extremely tricky here. Had we been in the lead longer then things would have gone differently for us with the pit stops.” Patrick Lindsey, Driver/Team Principal, No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R. Public Relations Department 5 of 18 Public Relations Department Motorsport Communications Product Communications Dave Engelman David Burkhalter Phone +1.770.290.3617 Phone +1.770.290.3511 [email protected] [email protected] Motorsport News July 3, 2018 No. 48/18 “I can’t complain about sixth-place. I’m not sure Porsche was the car to beat this weekend, but I did feel like we had a great car in practice. The setup wasn’t perfect for the race, but the guys figured things out after the start. The crew did a great job this weekend. Without everyone working as hard as they did we could have been done Saturday. They got us back out there and kept us competitive. Which is all I ever want to be, if we’re competitive we have a shot. Not a bad weekend at Watkins Glen – highest finishing Porsche, no real race drama and our best finish of the season.” Jörg Bergmeister, Driver, No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R.