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Porsche Team Manthey

Qualifying

Porsche Team Manthey
FIA World Endurance Championship, round 2, Spa-Francorchamps/Belgium – GT, Qualifying
Porsche Team Manthey focuses on race preparation

Stuttgart. Porsche Junior Sven Müller (Germany) and Kévin Estre (France) have proved their mettle in the Porsche 911 RSR. In the qualifying for round two of the Sports Car World Endurance Championship WEC on the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on Saturday, the pair set the sixth fastest time in the GTE-Pro class. This season, Sven Müller normally competes in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup and drives at selected rounds of the Carrera Cup Deutschland. Kévin Estre won the Carrera Cup Deutschland in 2013. In the second 911 RSR campaigned by the Porsche Manthey squad on the storied circuit in the Ardennes, Porsche factory pilots Frédéric Makowiecki (France) and Richard Lietz (Austria) posted the seventh quickest time.

Quotes on the qualifying

Dr Frank-Steffen Walliser, Head of Porsche Motorsport: “The result corresponds to what we had expected. It was clear that we wouldn’t be up the front on this track. So we used these laps predominantly to prepare more effectively for the race.”

Sven Müller (Porsche 911 RSR #91): “My first qualifying with the 911 RSR in the WEC was really exciting, of course. After the wet all day yesterday, it wasn’t easy for me today to figure out corners like Eau Rouge and La Source. But I’m very pleased with how it all panned out in the end. In a six-hour race, the qualifying is not quite so decisive.”

Kévin Estre (Porsche 911 RSR #91): “Compared to free practice, we were able to further improve the 911 RSR. Unfortunately I made a slight error, and that affected my lap time. But we’re happy with the car’s balance.”

Richard Lietz (Porsche 911 RSR #92): “My lap was good. I had to overtake a vehicle and that cost me some time. However, in a six-hour race that’s not so bad. We turned as few laps as possible on the new set of tyres because we still need them for the race.”

Frédéric Makowiecki (Porsche 911 RSR #92): “That wasn’t such a great qualifying session for me. I didn’t get one clear run today. But Richard did a great job and showed what our 911 RSR is capable of.”

The six-hour race starts on Saturday, 2 May, at 14.30 hrs CEST. TV station Eurosport broadcasts the final race hour live from 19.30 hrs.

Result Qualifying

GTE-Pro class
1. MacDowall/Stanaway/Rees (GB/NZ/BRA), Aston Martin, 2:16.840 minutes
2. Bruni/Vilander (I/SF), Ferrari F458 Italia, + 0.070 seconds
3. Turner/Mücke/Bell (GB/D/GB), Aston Martin, + 0.391
4. Rigon/Calado (I/GB), Ferrari F458 Italia, + 0.680
5. Nygaard/Sörensen (DK/DK), Aston Martin, 0.917
6. Müller/Estre (D/F), Porsche 911 RSR, + 1.185
7. Makowiecki/Lietz (F/A), Porsche 911 RSR, + 1.198

GTE-Am class
1. Lamy/Dalla Lana/Lauda (P/CAN/A), Aston Martin, 2:19.578 minutes
2. Roda/Ruberti/Poulsen (I/I/DK), Chevrolet Corvette, + 1,126 seconds
3. Ried/Bachler/Al Qubaisi (D/A/UAE), Porsche 911 RSR, + 1,864
4. Cameron/Griffin/Mortimer (GB/IRL/GB), Ferrari F458 Italia, 2,315
5. Collard/Perrodo/Aguas (F/F/P), Ferrari F458 Italia, + 2,380
6. Shaytar/Bertolini/Basov (RUS/I/RUS), Ferrari F458 Italia, + 3,341
7. Dempsey/Long/Seefried (USA/USA/D), Porsche 911 RSR, + 3,735
8. Castellacci/Goethe/Hall (I/D/GB), Aston Martin, + 4,951

The Sports Car World Endurance Championship WEC
Sports prototypes and GT vehicles contest the WEC (World Endurance Championship) in four classes: LMP1 (eg. Porsche 919 Hybrid), LMP2, LMGTE-Pro (eg. 911 RSR) and LMGTE-Am (eg. 911 RSR). They all compete together in one race but are classified separately.



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