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Porsche 911 RSR, Porsche North America

Qualifying

Porsche 911 RSR, Porsche North America
, United SportsCar Championship, round 10, Petit Le Mans at Braselton/USA, Qualifying
Petit Le Mans: Two Porsche 911 RSR lock out first grid row

The first grid row at this year’s Petit Le Mans belongs to the Porsche 911 RSR. At the qualifying in torrential rain for the gripping season finale of the United SportsCar Championship on Saturday on the storied Road Atlanta circuit, New Zealander Earl Bamber notched up his second pole position of the season. For the race on the demanding course in the US state of Georgia, the Le Mans outright winner shares the number 912 vehicle with Jörg Bergmeister (Germany) and Frédéric Makowiecki (France). Porsche’s 911 RSR is based on the iconic 911 sports car and has clinched four victories so far this season in the USA and Canada. Le Mans winner Nick Tandy from Great Britain posted the second quickest time in the GTLM class at the wheel of the sister 911 RSR (#912) for the Porsche North America squad. He is joined in the cockpit by Richard Lietz (Austria) and Patrick Pilet (France), the leader of the GTLM drivers’ classification. Netting its fifth pole position of the season, Porsche also moved to the top of the manufacturer and team classifications and now sits in the best possible position for a successful title defence.

The wet qualifying session was only a taste of things to come for drivers and teams. The weather forecast for Saturday is for partly torrential rain. Even during qualifying, several drivers struggled to keep their cars on the track. American Bryan Sellers, who shares driving duties in the 911 RSR of the Falken Tire customer team with Wolf Henzler (Germany) and Patrick Long (USA), did not succeed in doing this. His first qualifying lap ended in a stack of tyres, resulting in unexpected overtime for the mechanics in his team, which had won this race in 2013 and 2014 and now bids the United SportsCar Championship farewell. Earl Bamber also damaged his 911 RSR in a massive off, causing the qualifying to be red-flagged. Although the regulations stripped Bamber of his fastest lap time, the New Zealander’s second quickest time was enough to stay on pole position.

Quotes on the qualifying
Dr. Frank-Steffen Walliser, Head of Porsche Motorsport: “The shine has been taken off the joy of pole position somewhat. When two cars sustain heavy damage in qualifying that doesn’t bode well for the race. It also underlines the difficult conditions we will have to face tomorrow.”
Earl Bamber (Porsche 911 RSR #912): “I experienced aquaplaning in Turn 4, lost the rear and crashed into the track barrier. I was going fast and perhaps I was wanting too much – very clearly my fault. The car will now be repaired overnight.”
Nick Tandy (Porsche 911 RSR #911): “That was tough. In the first four, five corners the water ran in torrents over the circuit. You had to be really careful. I think we’re very fast here. I hope our mechanics can put our number 912 sister car back on the track in top form overnight because we have to work together in the race if we want to stay in the bid for the title.”

The ten-hour race takes off on Saturday at 11.10 hours local time (17.10 hours CEST). It is broadcast live on the Internet under www.imsa.com.

Qualifying result
GTLM class
1. Bamber/Bergmeister/Makowiecki (NZ/D/F), Porsche 911 RSR, 1:30.304 minutes
2. Pilet/Tandy/Lietz (F/GB/A), Porsche 911 RSR, + 0.324 seconds
3. Gavin/Milner (GB/USA), Chevrolet Corvette, + 1.611
4. Edwards/Luhr/Klingmann (USA/D/D), BMW Z4 GTE, + 1.689
5. Kaffer/Fisichella/Vilander (D/I/SF), Ferrari F458 Italia, + 2.915
6. Auberlen/Werner/Farfus (USA/D/BRA), BMW Z4 GTE, + 3.606
7. Magnussen/Garcia/Briscoe (DK/E/AUS), Chevrolet Corvette, + 3.699

GTD class
1. Carter/Goosens/Lawrence (USA/B/USA), Dodge Viper, 1:38.295 minutes
2. Lindsey/Pumpelly/Snow (USA/USA/USA), Porsche 911 GT America, + 0.591 sec.
3. McNeil/Keen/Davis (USA/USA/USA), Porsche 911 GT America, + 0.604
4. Cosmo/Thome/Thompson (USA/USA/USA), Audi R8, + 3.309
5. Keating/J. Bleekemolen/S. Bleekemolen (USA/NL/NL), Dodge Viper, + 3.402
6. Segal/Sweedler/Bell (USA/USA/USA), Ferrari 458 Italia, + 4.009



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