The six-hour race at Watkins Glen in the US state of New York turned into a heated battle with Kiwi driver Earl Bamber and co-driver Laurens Vanthoor finishing fourth.
In temperatures reaching 34 degrees Celsius, Porsche 911 RSR scored finished both third and fourth at round five of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Frenchman Patrick Pilet and Nick Tandy from the UK crossed the finish line ahead of the sister car driven by Vanthoor (Belgium) and Bamber (New Zealand).
In the GTLM class, the Porsche GT Team has notched up two wins so far this season at Sebring and in Mid-Ohio. After five championship rounds, Porsche ranks second in the manufacturers classification.
“It was a close race with many great duels,” commented Bamber. “We had bad luck with the safety car and five seconds made all the difference. At times it looked as if we could win the race. We had the speed to win, but overtaking was extremely tricky here. Had we been in the lead longer then things would have gone differently for us with the pit stops.”
When the 42-strong field rolled onto the grid on Sunday morning, the temperature had already reached 30 degrees Celsius. In the GTLM class, in which four different automobile manufacturers fight for points, the two Porsche 911 RSR took up the race from the third grid row. Putting in swift pit stops and spectacular overtaking manoeuvres, the two vehicles battled their way up the field.
Halfway through the race, they were running in first and second. When the safety car was deployed half an hour later, both frontrunners were struck by bad luck: Just as they were about to enter the pits to refuel and change tyres, the pit lane closed. Several competitors who were far behind managed to complete their pit stops shortly before this happened. This occurrence, however, threw both Porsche 911 RSR back to positions four and six.
In the last hour of racing, Laurens Vanthoor in the #912 car was again hampered by a safety car phase and had to ultimately relinquish the fight for a podium spot.
Porsche managed to earn important points towards the North American Endurance Cup. After three of four races, Porsche lies in second place.
The long-distance classics that count towards this classification are the 24 Hours at Daytona, 12 Hours at Sebring, 6 Hours at Watkins Glen as well as Petit Le Mans at the legendary Road Atlanta, which is run over ten hours.
Race result
GTLM class
1. Hand/Müller (USA/D), Ford GT, 190 laps
2. Magnussen/Garcia (DK/E), Chevrolet Corvette C7.R, 190 laps
3. Tandy/Pilet (GB/F), Porsche 911 RSR, 190 laps
4. Vanthoor/Bamber (B/NZ), Porsche 911 RSR, 190 laps
5. Gavin/Milner (GB/USA), Chevrolet Corvette C7.R, 189 laps
6. Briscoe/Westbrook (AUS/GB), Ford GT, 189 laps
7. Sims/De Phillippi/Auberlen (GB/USA/USA), BMW M8 GTE, 189 laps
8. Krohn/Edwards/Blomqvist (FIN/USA/S), BMW M8 GTE, 163 laps
GTD class
1. Machavern/Palttala/Yount (USA/FIN/USA), BMW M6 GT3, 186 laps
2. Legge/Parente (GB/P), Acura NSX GT3, 186 laps
3. Sellers/Snow (USA/USA), Lamborghini Huracan GT3, 186 laps
6. Lindsey/Bergmeister (USA/D), Porsche 911 GT3 R, 186 laps
9. Long/Nielsen/Renauer (USA/DK/D), Porsche 911 GT3 R, 186 laps
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