Scoring two podium finishes at round three of the World Endurance Championship (WEC), Porsche has expanded its lead in the world championship.
At the wheel of the new Porsche 911 RSR, reigning world champions Kévin Estre (France) and Michael Christensen (Denmark) took up the four-hour race on the Shanghai International Circuit (China) from pole position and secured second place.
With this result, the successful pair extended their lead in the drivers’ classification. Gianmaria Bruni (Italy) and Richard Lietz (Austria) took the flag on Sunday in their ca. 515 hp nine-eleven fielded by the Porsche GT Team in third place.
The race on the outskirts of the Shanghai metropolis was gripping to the last second. The team used the full course yellow, a good hour before the end of the race, for its last pit stop.
Because of the early stop, the drivers had to be particularly mindful of the fuel consumption over the remaining 1:05 hours. In spite of this, Estre performed an impressive overtaking manoeuvre in the number 92 vehicle. With less than an hour to go to the finish, the Frenchman swept from third into second place. Bruni, who drove the final stint in the number 91 car, managed to make up one position with 40 minutes left on the clock and ultimately achieve third place.
At one point, however, the driver pair Estre/Christensen had to serve a ten-second penalty due to an unsafe release in the pit lane, where they pulled out into the fast lane in front of a rival car.
Nevertheless, spirited drives and a strategic effort paid off for the Porsche GT Team over 125 laps on the 5.451-kilometre circuit and yielded both driver crews a spot on the podium. Estre and Christensen were able to extend their lead in the drivers’ classification by five points.
After round three of the season, Bruni and Lietz are currently six points off the lead in third. Porsche has managed to expand its lead in the manufacturers’ classification of the FIA World Endurance Championship by 17 points with the new Porsche 911 RSR (2019 model year), which is based on the high-performance 911 GT3 RS* road-going sports car.
The Porsche customer team Project 1 also secured a podium result in the GTE-Am class.
The driver trio Ben Keating, Jeroen Bleekemolen and WEC newcomer Larry ten Voorde brought the 2017-spec Porsche 911 RSR home after 113 laps in position two.
The No. 56 sister car fielded by the German squad occupied position five. Dempsey-Proton Racing fielded three of the ca. 510 hp GTE racers from Weissach this weekend.
The three cars finished the race on positions six, ten and twelve. Ninth place went to the Gulf Racing squad.
Race result
GTE-Pro class
2. Christensen/Estre (DK/F), Porsche 911 RSR, 125 laps
3. Lietz/Bruni (A/I), Porsche 911 RSR, 125 laps
GTE-Am class
2. Keating/ten Voorde/Bleekemolen (USA/NL/NL), Porsche 911 RSR, 113 laps
5. Perfetti/Heinemeier Hansson/Cairoli (N/DK/I), Porsche 911 RSR, 112 laps
6. Negro/Bamber/Preining (I/NZ/A), Porsche 911 RSR, 112 laps
9. Wainwright/Watson/Barker (GB/GB/GB), Porsche 911 RSR, 112 laps
10. Ried/Pera/Campbell (AUS/D/I), Porsche 911 RSR, 112 laps
12. Prette/Prette/Abril (I/I/F), Porsche 911 RSR, 112 laps
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