The Porsche 911 RSR has scored its first win of the IMSA SportsCar Championship season at the Sebring International Raceway in Florida. At the 12 Hours of Sebring, the oldest and toughest sports car race in the USA, Patrick Pilet (France), Nick Tandy (Great Britain) and Frédéric Makowiecki (France) won the GTLM class with the 510 hp race car from Weissach after a heart-stopping finale on Saturday. At the wheel of the second 911 RSR fielded by the Porsche GT Team, Earl Bamber (New Zealand), Laurens Vanthoor (Belgium) and Gianmaria Bruni (Italy) swept over the finish line in third place after 328 laps on the famously bumpy airfield circuit. Thus, they crowned Porsche’s success in the race that also counts towards the North American Endurance Cup. Florida proves to be a good hunting ground for the iconic 911 sports car: Only a week ago, the 911 GT3 R won both rounds of the World Challenge season-opener on the St. Petersburg street circuit.
Patrick Pilet (911 RSR #911): “This win was missing from my collection. It was a great team effort. The pit crew didn’t make one mistake and our strategy was perfect. To celebrate this achievement with my friends Nick and Fred is incredible. After the qualifying, victory seemed a long way off. But when you’re determined to achieve something and you go for it, you can do it. This race is proof of that.”
Nick Tandy (911 RSR #911): “They say that the best victories come from the toughest races. Today was such a race. We didn’t have the slightest problem over the entire distance and that was the key to our success. My last two stints were incredibly intense, especially the duels with the Ferrari and the BMW. We switched to new tyres during the last pit stop – after that, nothing could hold us back.”
Frédéric Makowiecki (911 RSR #911): “That was one of my greatest successes. Sebring is my all-time favourite race in the USA and we knew that we’d only have a chance if we as a team didn’t make any mistakes. It was a really tough race, but that makes this victory all the more special.”
Earl Bamber (911 RSR #912): “This race was a real rollercoaster for us. A case in point is when another car blocked our pits and we lost twelve seconds and several positions. It was a banner day for Porsche. We’ve waited a long time for such a sense of achievement. Now we’ll tackle the rest of the season feeling even more motivated.”
Laurens Vanthoor (911 RSR # 912): “Victory and third place, what a great success for Porsche. The whole team has worked hard for this major race and they deserve this success.”
Gianmaria Bruni (911 RSR # 912): “I’m proud to be a part of this squad. What they’ve achieved today is hard to describe in words. It’s unbelievable how quickly the mechanics got our car back in the race after I left the circuit briefly towards the end and had to pit with a damaged diffuser.”
Race result GTLM class 1. Tandy/Pilet/Makowiecki (GB/F/F), Porsche 911 RSR, 328 laps 2. Sims/de Phillippi/Auberlen (GB/USA/USA), BMW M8, 328 3. Vanthoor/Bamber/Bruni (B/NZ/I), Porsche 911 RSR, 328 4. Westbrook/Briscoe/Dixon (GB/USA/NZL), Ford GT, 328 5. Vilander/Pier Guidi/Calado (SF/I/I), Ferrari 488, 327 6. Gavin/Milner/Fässler (GB/USA/CH), Chevrolet Corvette, 327 7. Krohn/Edwards/Catsburg (SF/USA/NL), BMW M8, 296 8. Magnussen/Garcia/Rockenfeller (DK/E/D), Chevrolet Corvette, 283 9. Hand/Müller/Bourdais (USA/D/F), Ford GT, 277 GTD class 1. Sellers/Snow/Lewis (USA/USA/USA), Lamborghini, 321 laps 2. Balzan/McNeil/Jeannette (I/USA/USA), Ferrari 488, 321 3. Keating/Bleekemolen/Stolz (USA/NL/D), Mercedes, 321 6. Long/Nielsen/Jaminet/Renauer (USA/DK/F/D), Porsche 911 GT3 R, 321 9. Bergmeister/Lindsey/Pappas (D/USA/A/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 R, 321All results and points standings for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the North American Endurance Cup can be found on results.imsa.com.
Press release Porsche
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