This coming April 26 marks the Maria Sharapova 2017 early professional tennis comeback. Ms. Sharapova, 29, has been away from the sport since the January 2016 Australian Open.
2017 Porsche GT-class 911 RSR: Rolex 24 Daytona debut
PORSCHE MOTORSPORT DEBUTS ITS LATEST ENTRY – the 2017 Porsche GT-class 911 RSR
2016 Petit Le Mans: Porsche Works 911 RSR last race
The Porsche Works 911 RSR last race ever took place at Road Atlanta today, Saturday, October 1, 2016. The race in question was the 19th Annual Petit Le Mans. It was the season’s championship finale of the 2016 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series.
Porsche Works 911 RSR Last Race Ever: Bittersweet Swan Song
In its past, the Porsche Works 911 RSR at the very peak of its successes enjoyed a fantastic overall victory at the 2015 Petit Le Mans. This yielded Porsche three IMSA championship titles – top manufacturer, top drivers and top team.
Yes, you’re reading that right: OVERALL.
At that time, the Porsche North America Works team consisting of Le Mans 24 overall co-winner Nick Tandy (in a 919) and Patrick Pilet drove the No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR to 2015’s overall victory at Petit Le Mans.
Pilet went on at the end of that extraordinary season to win the drivers’ championship in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class.
Is such a seemingly impossible GT overall win unprecedented? Nope.
The last time it happened was in 2003. That year team owner Kevin Buckler’s TRG Porsche 911 GT3 RS won overall at the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Click here to check out the new 2017 Porsche GT-class racecar.
Last Petit Le Mans for No. 912 and No. 911 Porsche Works 911 RSR
Porsche No. 912 Results
Today, however, the No. 912 Porsche Works 911 RSR closed the curtains on its Works career without a podium. It landed 2 spots shy of that podium with a fifth-place finish in its last race ever.
The faster of the two Works Porsches, the No. 912 Porsche was piloted by Earl Bamber (New Zealand), Michael Christensen (Denmark) and Frédéric Makowiecki (France). They contested the race in the five-manufacturer GTLM (GT Le Mans) class during the Porsche Works 911 RSR swan song.
“It was rather strange to race my 911 RSR for the last time,” lamented Bamber. “At the same time, I’m looking forward to its successor.”
“Our strategy was good, but we were handicapped by several breakages,” Marco Ujhasi confessed, Overall Project Manager GT Works Motorsport. “With our 912 car we were no longer in a position to close the gap afterwards. And then the caution phase didn’t allow us a chance.”
Porsche No. 911 Results
The other Works team of Richard Lietz (Austria), Nick Tandy (Great Britain) and defending IMSA GT champion Patrick Pilet (France) drove the No. 911 sister Porsche 911 RSR.
These boys were even more unlucky.
With only about four hours left in the 10-hour Road Atlanta enduro classic, the No. 911 RSR sustained major damage. An errant sports prototype unsuccessfully defied the laws of physics by trying to occupy the same space in place and time with the No. 911.
The avoidable collision by the BAR1 LMPC-class car, piloted by Johnny Mowlem, shunted the Tandy-driven No. 911 out of its very last race from its third-place spot while the RSR was completing its 223 laps on the storied 2.54-mile Braselton, Georgia, road course. This only makes the fact that this is the Porsche Works 911 RSR last race all the more unpleasant.
“We experienced an exciting race today,” said Dr. Frank-Steffen Walliser, Head of Porsche Motorsport. “It’s a shame that we lost our number 911 contender through no fault of our own. But the team fought hard and didn’t waste any time in getting the car back on its wheels so that it could at least drive the last two laps.”
Ujhasi chimed in: “The accident with the 911 car, which left the car badly damaged, was annoying. But it is simply part of the sporting spirit to repair the car so that it can at least go out and turn the last few laps.”
“The wrong decision of another driver cost us a possible top result today,” Nick Tandy muttered, as if scratching his head in disbelief at the Mowlem maneuver. Tactfully not naming names, however, Tandy ever the professional continued, “He [the BAR1 LMPC pilot] wanted to overtake at a place where you normally can’t overtake. It took me completely by surprise.”
As indeed this is the Porsche Works 911 RSR last race, Makowiecki summed up the season rather ruefully yet pithily: “That wasn’t exactly an ideal finale. We’ve achieved quite a bit this year by scoring two wins and six podiums. But all in all Petit Le Mans was symbolic for the whole season – we often couldn’t match the pace of the opposition.”
Porsche Works 911 RSR last race — Porsche 911 RSR Race History
Nonetheless, there’s no shame to be found in the racing career of the 470-hp Porsche 911 RSR, which is based on the seventh generation of the iconic 911 sports car.
Click here to view this RSR’s replacement, new for 2017
Throughout that fleeting-yet-robust career since debuting in 2013, the Porsche Works 911 RSR chalked up the following impressive triumphs:
- 73 races, all told — in the IMSA SportsCar Championship in the USA and Canada, the WEC Sports Car World Endurance Championship and the European Le Mans Series
- 21 victories
- 8 championship titles
Despite this being the Porsche Works 911 RSR last race, many of those 21 victories were hard-fought and won during some of the greatest classic long-distance endurance slugfests:
- Daytona
- Le Mans
- Petit Le Mans
- Sebring
- Watkins Glen
Ah, but lucky for all of us in the United States of America (traditionally the biggest regional sales market in the world for Porsche since the car-maker’s early days), the successor to the 911 RSR will debut before us at that Florida classic, the 24 Hours of Daytona, on January 28 & 29, 2017.
GTD Class: No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R Earns Impressive Runner-Up Step on Podium
The Porsche customer teams in the GTD (GT Daytona) class fared slightly better than the GTLM Porsche Works 911 RSR. For the record, the customer teams run the 500-hp Porsche 911 GT3 R in the class.
Always-gracious-to-his-fans veteran Porsche Factory driver Jörg Bergmeister (Germany) teamed with American drivers Patrick Lindsey and Matthew McMurry in the Park Place Motorsports No. 73 Porsche 911 GT3 R.
The No. 73 car bested the Works drivers by wresting a second-place podium finish in their GTD class. This impressive result comes on the heels of the team’s first win at Laguna Seca in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
“We are thrilled for our customer team, Park Place Motorsports, who took up the race with their 911 GT3 R from second on the grid and turned it into a second place on the podium after a tough fight,” beamed Dr. Walliser.
Jörg Bergmeister tied it all up in a nice succinct season-finale bow: “It’s fantastic, of course, to climb the podium again at the last race of the season. Second place was certainly a little lucky. But by working hard, the team has earned this success to finish the season. Again this time, they didn’t give up when we were behind, but fought with us right to the very end to achieve this good result.”
All in all, this was the sixth podium finish since the No. 73 Park Place Porsche debuted this season.
GTLM and GTD Race Results
GTLM Class
- Fisichella / Vilander / Calado (I/SF/GB), Ferrari 488 GTE, 398 laps
- Hand /Müller / Bourdais (USA/D/F), Ford GT, 398
- Gavin / Milner / Fässler (GB/USA/CH), Chevrolet Corvette, 398
- Garcia / Magnussen / Rockenfeller (E/DK/D), Chevrolet Corvette, 397
- Bamber / Makowiecki / Christensen (NZ/F/DK), Porsche 911 RSR, 395
- Edwards / Luhr / Wittmer (USA/D/CAN), BMW M6, 391
- Briscoe / Westbrook / Dixon (AUS/GB/NZ), Ford GT, 372
- Serra /Pier Guidi / Bertolini (BRA/I/I), Ferrari 488 GTE, + 350
- Auberlen / Werner / Farfus (USA/D/BRA), BMW M6, 317
- Pilet / Tandy / Lietz (F/GB/A), Porsche 911 RSR, 229
GTD Class
- Keating / Bleekemolen / Miller (USA/NL/USA), Dodge Viper, 385 laps
- Bergmeister / Lindsey / McMurry (D/USA/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 R, 384
- Balzan / Nielsen / Segal (I/DK/USA), Ferrari 488, 384
- Marsal / Palttala / Lawrence (USA/SF/USA), BMW M6, 384
- Snow / Sellers / Miller (USA/USA/USA), Lamborghini GT3, 383
- Aschenbach / Bell / v. Moltke (USA/USA/USA), Audi R8, 383
- Riberas / Farnbacher / James (E/D/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 R, 366
Final GTLM Results after 11 Races
Driver
- Millner, Gavin, Corvette, 345 points
- Briscoe, Westbrook, Ford, 328
- Garcia, Magnussen, Chevrolet, 319
- Bamber, Makowiecki, Porsche, 313
- Fisichella, Vilander, Ferrari, 305
- Hand, Müller, Ford, 301
- Auberlen, Werner, BMW, 298
- Pilet, Tandy, Porsche, 285
- Edwards, Luhr, BMW, 267
Manufacturer
- Chevrolet, 359 points
- Ford, 341
- Porsche, 330
- Ferrari, 317
- BMW, 314
Teams
- No. 4 Corvette Racing, 345 points
- No. 67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing, 328
- No. 3 Corvette Racing, 319
- No. 912 Porsche North America, 313
- No. 62 Risi Competizione, 305
- No. 25 BMW Team RLL, 301 & No. 66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing, 301
- No. 911 Porsche North America, 285
- No. 100 BMW Team RLL, 267
- No. 68 Scuderia Corsa, 164
The first race of the 2017 IMSA SportsCar Championship will be contested on January 28 & 29, 2017, at the Daytona 24-Hour classic in Daytona, Florida, USA.
Porsche garners 18th overall win at 84th Le Mans 2016
Porsche wins 84th Running of Le Mans – Porsche’s 18th overall win, in 2016
THE NO. 2 PORSCHE 919 HYBRID HOLDS ON TO WIN the 84th running of Le Mans. This is the 18th overall win for Porsche, in 2016 – but this wasn’t the expected result near race end, of course…
It’s called “The 24 Hours of Le Mans” — not “The 23 Hours and 57 Minutes of Le Mans”: Toyota Suffers the Agony of Defeat in the 84th Running of Le Mans 2016
The legendary, punishing marathon on the Circuit de la Sarthe approached the end of its 23rd and final hour. Then agony slithered on to the track. The No. 5 Toyota TS050 Hybrid of Anthony Davidson (GB), Sebastien Buemi (CH) and Kazuki Nakajima (JP) was well on its way clinching glorious Le Mans victory. The best that Porsche could hope for was a P2 podium.
But the No. 5 Toyota ended up instead clinching defeat from the jaws of victory via an unforced error: The Toyota No. 5 coasted to a stop on track from powertrain failure, with 3 minutes remaining, on the penultimate lap of the race. It would have been Toyota’s first-ever Le Mans triumph.
Toyota Motorsport Director Rob Leupen speculated on the possible source of the malfunction shortly after the race: “It could be around the turbo side but we don’t know exactly what it is.”
[UPDATE: Toyota in fact confirmed this days later: “Car No. 5 suffered a technical defect on a connector on the air line between the turbo charger and the intercooler, causing a loss of turbo charger control,” said a spokesman for Toyata Motorsport.]
The No. 2 Porsche 919 Sweeps Past the Heartbreakingly Disabled No. 5 Toyota TS050
Earlier in the race, Marc Lieb drove a grueling but stout quadruple stint, leading at times in the No. 2 Porsche 919 Hybrid. He turned the car over to Neel Jani at 11:50 hours, after running 331 laps. The Swiss Porsche works driver pitted to refuel after 345, 359 and 373 laps, respectively.
After 381 laps, Jani had to pit to rectify a slow puncture and then, in the closing moments of the race, a P2 finish seemed to be the crestfallen result. But then it happened.
In front of over 263,000 spectators at La Sarthe, the No. 2 Porsche 919 Hybrid of Romain Dumas (FR), Neel Jani (CH) and Marc Lieb (DE) swept past the heartbreakingly disabled No. 5 Toyota and took the checkers to win the 84th running of the 24 Heures du Mans. Jani crossed the finish line first, headed for Victory Lane and the Winner’s Circle, incredulous.
Incidentally, Dumas, Jani and Lieb also garnered the 662 kW (900m ps) 919 Hybrid Prototype’s maiden win in Brazil during the 2014 season. This came close on the heels of Porsche’s announcement of “Mission 2014. Our Return.”
“Congratulations to our sister car and the Porsche Team; it is a well-deserved win,” said Timo Bernhard. “They fought for the lead for 24 hours and were very close in the end. Of course I feel sorry for everybody at the Toyota Team. To lose a race this way is brutal. We were not lucky either and I also feel sorry for Mark, Brendon and our crew.”
Porsche is Defending Champion of the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans
The highly coveted Le Mans trophy will stay on display at Porsche HQ for the second consecutive year. This is because Porsche, as constructor, is the record holder and title defender of the event. Only last year in 2015, Porsche factory works drivers Earl Bamber (NZ), Nico Hülkenberg (DE) and Nick Tandy (GB) took first-place honors in their Porsche 919 Hybrid.
To put things in perspective after this unprecedented and triumphant 18th victory, the first-ever overall Le Mans victory for Porsche hearkens back to June 14th, 1970. Hans Herrmann and Richard Attwood won the race overall for Porsche in their 917 KH Coupé.
The No. 1 Porsche 919 Hybrid Wasn’t as Lucky as the No. 2
The other Porsche Prototype, the No. 1 Porsche 919 Hybrid, wasn’t as lucky as its podium-topping sister car, however. Reigning Endurance World Champions Timo Bernhard (DE), Brendon Hartley (NZ) and Mark Webber (AU) piloted the No. 1 car.
The No. 1 Porsche 919 Hybrid suffered a water-pump failure. It was pushed into the garage for repairs in the evening hours. Despite leading early on in the race, the No. 1 car consequently fell back 39 laps starting at 11:20 hours, driven at the time by Mark Webber, after 285 laps.
According to Webber, “I am very proud of the team, proud of the mechanics who worked so hard. It’s an honor to drive for Porsche in Le Mans again. It wasn’t our day — we were unlucky with the water pump. That was the big problem for us; we lost a lot of time. But Timo’s and Brendon’s drives were awesome. In the end we all prayed for car 2 and of course I’m happy for our teammates and Porsche. But what has happened to Toyota today, is really hard to take and you have to feel for them.”
The No. 1 Porsche 919 Hybrid was finally released. Mark Webber refueled at 298 and 311 laps, respectively. The car did suffer subsequent damage related to the water-pump failure, but it soldiered on nonetheless. Webber turned the wheel over to Timo Bernhard after 324 laps. Bernhard took a final splash and dash after 337 laps. Bernhard hung on to finish the the race.
The No. 1 Porsche 919 Hybrid fought back to finish 13th overall. The No. 1 car came in fifth place in its top LMP1 class as a result.
The Porsche Works Team Leads in Points after Le Mans 2016
As a constructor, Porsche earned a total of 71 Le Mans points in the FIA WEC Endurance Championship manufacturers’ standings. Twice as many points are awarded for the Le Mans 24-Hour race. This is compared to the other eight six-hour races of the WEC Championship.
Porsche leads the constructors’ standings with 127 points ahead of Audi (95) and Toyota (79). In the drivers’ standings, Dumas, Jani and Lieb have garnered 94 points in total, to lead by 39 points.
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Porsche earns 18th Le Mans pole
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