Porsche took victory at the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s 12-Hours of Sebring long-distance classic…
IMSA WEATHERTECH SPORTSCAR CHAMPIONSHIP
PORSCHE WINS AT SEBRING
Briton Nick Tandy and his French teammates Patrick Pilet and Frédéric Makowiecki took victory in the Sebring 12-hour race – one of the IMSA Weathertech SportsCar Championship’s blue riband events.
Early into the race a lack of grip in heavy rain put both Porsche 911 RSR’s down the pack, but, as conditions improved at the half-way point of the race, the pair picked up pace and employed strategy to put them back into play. The No.911 car of Tandy, Pilet and Makowiecki fought its way back into the lead of the race. In a gripping close to the event, Tandy fended off all comers to cross the finish line with a 1.951-second lead after 12-hours of hard racing. The trio are the first to win the IMSA race at Sebring twice in a row.
The sister No.912 RSR of Earl Bamber, Laurens Vanthoor and Mathieu Jaminet fell back two laps in the early phase of the race but managed to put in a spirited charge through the field to finish fifth. Vice President Motorsport, Fritz Enzinger, commented “I’ve been in motorsport for a long time, but I’ve never experienced anything like this. Within 48 hours we won a 1,000- mile race and a twelve-hour race with our factory teams at one venue.
That’s phenomenal. I was impressed by how focused every single person was – that’s what sets Porsche apart. And we must not forget the successful performances from our customer teams. It was one of the best motor racing weekends I’ve ever experienced – just brilliant.”
Nick Tandy said: “It was a totally crazy race that one rarely experiences. We got the lot: extremely wet at the beginning, a dry track, then predicted rain, which didn’t eventuate. We started from pole, then quickly fell back, only to end up in the lead again. You only get such things at a long-distance race. And this is the precisely the kind of discipline that Porsche excels at. Never give up, always push and then pull out all stops at the right moment. That’s how it’s done.”
Earl Bamber said: “Initially, both Porsche 911 RSR lost ground in the rain. But we got faster later on. Unfortunately the timing of a pit stop didn’t work out for us. While our sister car regained the lead, we were still a lap down. We fought hard, but we couldn’t really do much. Congratulations to our colleagues. It was a dream weekend for Porsche.”
The next IMSA Weathertech SportsCar Championship meeting, Round three of the championship, will be contested at Long Beach.
