At the Virginia International Raceway, the Porsche GT Team has secured positions two and eight in the GTLM class. In the qualifying for the IMSA SportsCar Championship, the Porsche 911 RSR with the starting number 911 was driven by Patrick Pilet. On a track wet with rain, the Frenchman achieved his fastest time on the last lap.
With 1:56.170 minutes, he secured position two in the close session. On Sunday, he joins forces with Nick Tandy (Great Britain) to tackle the race over two hours and 40 minutes. Earl Bamber planted the car with the starting number 912 on P8 with a time of 1:57.874 minutes. The New Zealander will drive the first stint at round nine of the championship before handing the car to his teammate Laurens Vanthoor (Belgium).
“Unfortunately we didn’t produce the best performance,” commented Bamber. “Towards the end of the qualifying I tried to turn a faster lap and I spun. Now we have some work ahead of us. Starting from eighth on the grid we have to put together a good race strategy, otherwise it’ll be difficult to advance up the field.”
Sunday’s race takes off at 13.05 hrs local time (19.05 CEST) and runs over 2:40 hours. Due to the absence of prototypes at this meet, the Porsche 911 RSR in the GTLM class will aim for overall victory.
Qualifying result
GTLM class
1. Briscoe/Westbrook (AUS/GB), Ford GT, 1:55.580 minutes
2. Tandy/Pilet (GB/F), Porsche 911 RSR, 1:56.170 minutes
3. Krohn/Edwards (FIN/USA), BMW M8 GTE, 1:56.185 minutes
4. Magnussen/Garcia (DK/E), Chevrolet Corvette C7.R, 1:56.760 minutes
5. Sims/De Phillippi (GB/USA), BMW M8 GTE, 1:57.148 minutes
6. Hand/Müller (USA/D), Ford GT, 1:57.202 minutes
7. Gavin/Milner (GB/USA), Chevrolet Corvette C7.R, 1:57.492 minutes
8. Vanthoor/Bamber (B/NZ), Porsche 911 RSR, 1:57.874 minutes
GTD class
1. Hawksworth/Heinemeier Hansson (GB/DK), Lexus RC F GT3, 1:44.107 minutes
2. Keating/Bleekemolen (USA/NL), Mercedes-AMG GT3, 1:44.323 minutes
3. Foley/Auberlen (USA/USA), BMW M6 GT3, 1:44.360 minutes
4. Marcelli/Baumann (CAN/A), Lexus RC F GT3, 1:44.516 minutes
5. Sellers/Snow (USA/USA), Lamborghini Huracan GT3, 1:44.626 minutes
6. Long/Nielsen (USA/DK), Porsche 911 GT3 R, 1:44.758 minutes
7. Marks/Aschenbach (USA/USA), Acura NSX GT3, 1:44,797 minutes
8. Legge/Farnbacher (GB/D), Acura NSX GT3, 1:45.506 minutes
9. MacNeil/Jeannette (USA/USA), Ferrari 488 GT3, 1:45.918 minutes
10. Potter/Lally (USA/USA), Audi R8 LMS GT3, 1:55.580 minutesis teammate Laurens Vanthoor (Belgium).
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