Porsche has finished on the podium at the FIA GT World Cup in Macau (China) with two of Rowe Racing’s 911 GT3 R. The works drivers Laurens Vanthoor (Belgium) and Earl Bamber (New Zealand) treated fans to a gripping fight in the Chinese metropolis and took the flag in second and third.
“That was an exciting and intense race,” commented Bamber. “Our car was really fast, particularly in the corners. Unfortunately we had no chance to overtake on the straights. Our team worked perfectly together.
“After Laurens had tried everything to get past the leader, he let me past to have a go and I tried as well to the flag. We weren’t far off, I was on the bumper of the leading car but there was just no way past. Unfortunately we have to wait for our first Macau victory, but podium spots aren’t bad either.”
At the start of the 18-lap main race, Vanthoor overtook his brand colleague Bamber and then set his sights on the leader. Despite putting in fast lap times, the Belgian found no way past the leading Mercedes. In the twelfth lap, Vanthoor’s IMSA teammate from New Zealand passed him. Bamber put pressure on the eventual winner Raffaele Marciello, posting one record lap after the other and then made one final attempt in the last lap – in vain. Shortly before the flag, Bamber waited for his factory driver teammate to hand a well-deserved second place back to Vanthoor.
Bad luck plagued the Absolute Racing team in the fourth lap of the FIA GT World Cup. During a spirited chase through the field, the world sports car champion Estre crashed into the barrier in the fast Mandarin turn and had to retire. At the same time, his teammate Imperatori was also forced to retire as a result of damage after the two made contact with their 911 GT3 R, which is based on the high performance Porsche 911 GT3 RS* road-going sports car. Until their early retirement, the pair had put in a strong drive with thrilling duels.
Race result
1. Raffaele Marciello (I), Mercedes-AMG GT3, 18 laps
2. Laurens Vanthoor (B), Porsche 911 GT3 R, + 3.818 seconds
3. Earl Bamber (NZ), Porsche 911 GT3 R, + 4.700 seconds
15. Kévin Estre (F), Porsche 911 GT3 R, + 14 laps
16. Alexandre Imperatori (CH), Porsche 911 GT3 R, + 14 laps
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