News

Porsche 911 RSR, Porsche Team Manthey: Lietz, Christensen, Bergmeister

Interim report

Porsche 911 RSR, Porsche Team Manthey: Lietz, Christensen, Bergmeister
FIA World Endurance Championship, round 3, 24 Hours of Le Mans/France - GT, Interim report
Fastest Porsche 911 RSR up to third at midnight

Stuttgart. By midnight, the 911 RSR fielded by the Porsche Manthey squad has gained ground at the Le Mans 24 Hours. With Michael Christensen (Denmark), Richard Lietz (Austria) and Jörg Bergmeister (Germany) sharing driving duties, the racer from Weissach, which is based on the iconic 911 sports car, has moved up into third place in the GTE-Pro class during the first hours of the night. On Saturday at 15.00 hours, the Porsche works drivers had set off into the 83rd running of the endurance marathon from seventh position.

Dempsey Proton Racing has also gained ground as the best-placed Porsche customer team in the GTE-Am class. The 911 RSR driven by the American race driver and actor Patrick Dempsey, Patrick Long (USA) and Marco Seefried (Austria) is currently running fourth.

Driver comments

Michael Christensen (911 RSR #91): “My first stint lasted more than three hours and was quite long, although there was a safety car phase in between. The team has put together a clever strategy and changed the tyres at the right time. The initial phase of the race was difficult for us, but the 911 RSR is constantly improving. We have to push ahead with everything we’ve got, perhaps then we can continue to work our way up the field.”

Jörg Bergmeister (911 RSR #91): “My stint was tough work with a lot of traffic. I got a puncture but luckily I was close to the pit entrance when it happened so I could just veer in for a tyre change. With more grip on the track, our 911 RSR performs significantly better than early on in the race. Now we must make sure it continues like this.”

Patrick Dempsey (911 RSR #77): “Our pace is good. I’ve tried to maintain consistent lap times and not make any mistakes. I succeeded in doing this. It’s going well for us, but it’s still early in the race. We still have a lot of work ahead of us.”

Status after 9 hours

GTE-Pro class
1. Gavin/Milner/Taylor (GB/USA/USA), Chevrolet Corvette, 121 laps
2. MacDowall/Stanaway/Rees (GB/NZ/BRA), Aston Martin, 121
3. Lietz/Christensen/Bergmeister (A/DK/D), Porsche 911 RSR, 121
4. Bruni/Vilander/Fisichella (I/SF/I), Ferrari 458 Italia, 120
5. Rigon/Calado/Beretta (I/GB/MC), Ferrari 458 Italia, 118
6. Sörensen/Thiim/Nygaard (DK/DK/DK), Aston Martin, 117

GTE-Am class
1. Dalla Lana/Lamy/Lauda (CDN/P/A), Aston Martin, 120 laps
2. Collard/Perrodo/Aguas (F/F/P), Ferrari 458 Italia, 120
3. Bertolini/Shaytar/Basov (I/RUS/RUS), Ferrari 458 Italia, 119
4. Dempsey/Long/Seefried (USA/USA/D), Porsche 911 RSR, 119
5. Sweedler/Bell/Segal (USA/USA/USA), Ferrari 458 Italia, 118
6. Bleekemolen/Keating/Miller (NL/USA/USA), SRT Viper, 117
9. Chen/Vanellet/Parisy (TWN/F/F), Porsche 911 RSR, 116
11. Chen/Kapadia/Maassen (TWN/GB/NL), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 112



All reports on the previous season can be found in our archive.