The Porsche GT Team claimed its fourth straight GTLM class victory in the first five races of the 2019 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Sharing the cockpit of the No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR, Patrick Pilet (France) and Nick Tandy (Great Britain) took their second win of the season in the hotly-contested Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen. Their factory driver colleagues Earl Bamber (New Zealand) and Laurens Vanthoor (Belgium) – who scored the two other team victories of in 2019 – finished in sixth-place in the identical No. 912 at Watkins Glen International in New York.
Porsche has extended its lead in the manufacturers’ point standings and the factory squad has moved to the top spot in the IMSA Michelin Endurance Challenge (IMEC) championship within a championship. The IMEC crowns the greatest endurance racers each IMSA season by virtue of success in the series’ longest races: the Rolex 24 At Daytona, Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, Six Hours of The Glen and Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. In the drivers’ classification, Pilet/Tandy now rank first ahead of Bamber/Vanthoor.
The success at the storied racetrack was thanks to perfect teamwork, well-executed strategies and flawless performances from the works drivers. After starting from the fourth grid row of the all-factory team GTLM field, the two Porsche 911 RSR race cars systematically worked their way up the ranks during the first half of the race. A pit stop near the race’s midpoint was the moment that separated the team and set the No. 911 on the course to its second win of the season. The pit crew completed their work 2.6-seconds faster than their nearest competition and took the lead. In the last 30-minutes of the race, Bamber initially held the top spot in the No. 912 ahead of Tandy, but due to pit stop sequencing, the New Zealander had to make a late fuel stop to make the final run to the flag. The stop would drop the winners of two events this season to sixth-place.
In the overall classification, Porsche has further extended its lead in the Manufacturers’ classification by 18 points. In the Team and Drivers’ championships, the crews of the number 911 and 912 cars occupy the first two places. In the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup, the Porsche GT Team is now the sole leader.
In the GTD class, Porsche development driver Lars Kern (Germany) as well as the two Canadians Scott Hargrove and Zacharie Robichon launched an impressive charge through the field in the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R. However, a puncture and a drive-through penalty threw the team back to last place. They would fight back to be the highest finishing Porsche customer team in sixth-place. Works driver Dirk Werner (Germany) and his teammates Marc Miller (Grand Rapids, Michigan) and Marco Seefried (Germany) brought home a tenth-place in the identical model fielded by Black Swan Racing. The Porsche 911 GT3 R campaigned by Park Place Motorsports, with works driver Patrick Long (Manhattan Beach, California) shared driving duties with FIA World Endurance Championship LMGTE-Am Champion Patrick Lindsey (Santa Barbara, California) and Nicholas Boulle (Dallas, Texas), retired early.
The Porsche factory and customer teams will have little rest before round six of this year’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Back-to-back races on the schedule take four cars – two each in the GTLM and GTD classes – to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada for a two-hour, 40-minute race on Sunday, July 7.
Pascal Zurlinden, Director GT Factory Motorsport.
“We’ve won four out of the five races so far this season. We’re leading all classifications and we’re now alone at the top of the Endurance Cup. It’s been a wonderful season so far. I feel for the No. 912 car. The yellow flag simply came out at the wrong time. In the drivers’ championship, both crews occupy the first two positions, so we now have two irons in the fire. The racetracks at the upcoming events over the next few weeks should suit our 911 RSR.”
Steffen Höllwarth, Program Manager IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
“First and foremost, I’d like to thank the whole team. The work over the last weeks at the IMSA series races, the successful Le Mans outing and today’s long-distance race at Watkins Glen have been really tough. Victory is the just rewards for the entire crew. Our drivers didn’t have the fastest car in the field, but through consistent and completely flawless drives, we’ve now come out on top. That was a real textbook example of teamwork.”
Patrick Pilet, Driver, No. 911 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR.
“The fact that we won this race is simply incredible. Our car wasn’t running perfectly on Friday, and we experienced some problems in the warm-up before the race. Even on the grid our engineers did everything they could to fix the car for the race. They did a sensational job. Precisely this work, even during the pit stops and in making the right strategic decisions, was the key to victory. Plus, we drivers didn’t make any mistakes.”
Nick Tandy, Driver, No. 911 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR.
“We certainly didn’t have the fastest car today, but perfect teamwork secured the victory for us. The pit stops were perfect, the strategies were simply good, and with absolutely consistent and immaculate driving, the drivers brought our Porsche 911 RSR to the finish line. Not everything went smoothly at the beginning of the race weekend, but when it came to the crunch we were 100 percent there. This is a fantastic and very valuable win for me.”
Earl Bamber, Driver, No. 912 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR.
“We simply hit a bit of bad luck with the yellow flag today. Okay, the car wasn’t the fastest in our class, but we made up for that with consistency and good teamwork. All in all, it was a successful day for Porsche. I’m looking forward to the upcoming races. It’s one great racetrack after the other for us drivers now.”
Laurens Vanthoor, Driver, No. 912 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR.
“For me personally, I’m disappointed, but for the Porsche GT Team I’m thrilled. We [the No. 912 team] could have won this race, but in this case we lacked that necessary bit of luck. We’re still well on course in the championship – that’s the most important thing. Now we’re off to Mosport.”
