The No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR wins the 2016 IMSA Long Beach race today.  This third round of the WeatherTech Sports Car Championship was contested on the world-renowned Southern California street circuit.

Reigning IMSA GT champion Patrick Pilet (France) and outright 2015 Le Mans winner Nick Tandy (Great Britain) won the GTLM class.  They emerged victorious in their 470-hp Porsche 911 RSR.  It’s the seventh generation of the iconic 911 sports car.

With today’s race, Porsche Works has broken a 6-year dry spell at Long Beach.  This is the first top-of-podium result for a works-driver team since 2010.  In this tight field of five car manufacturers, Porsche has thus closed the gap with the top manufacturer to only 4 points now.

But the win wasn’t a lazy stroll on the beach at the Roar along the Shore.  Starkly contrasted against this idyllic chamber-of-commerce setting of sand, sun, surf and palm trees swaying in the balmy breeze against deep blue skies, competition was fierce, brutal and explosive in this latest contest for GTLM-class top of the heap.

For starters, triskaidekaphobia became a self-fulfilling prophesy early in the race.  Lap 13 turned on a dime from sheer ecstasy to gut-wrenching agony as Earl Bamber (New Zealand) in the No. 912 and Patrick Pilet in the No. 911 were running in first and second place, respectively.

Both pitted to turn the cars over to Frédéric Makowiecki (France) and Nick Tandy, just an hour into the race.  Then it happened.  Not one but both racecars were ruled as exceeding the pit-lane speed limit – both racecars charged with stop-and-go penalties.

“This race provided everything that makes this sport so fascinating,” said Marco Ujhasi, Overall Project Manager for GT Works Motorsport, after the race.  “Unfortunately we made it unnecessarily suspenseful for ourselves when we exceeded the speed limit in the pit lane with both 911 RSR.  The reason for this was that, against the briefing, the pit-lane speed-limit zone had been extended.  That’s why the checkpoint was no longer in the agreed place.  Despite the penalty, we didn’t give up.”

Indeed.  With assists from exceptionally fast lap times and a safety-car yellow, both works Porsches caught up to the head of the field, holding down second and third place behind the P1 Corvette.

Then came the edge-of-your-seat finish as Makowiecki in P2 missed his braking point and thereby inadvertently collided with the Corvette in the lead.  Out of the blue this opened the door and paved the way for Tandy to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat to race on to the checkered flag to his first GTLM-class win of the young season.

“After two third-places, we finally had every opportunity to win today, but we didn’t use it,” lamented Makowiecki.  “The first blow was the penalty for being too fast in the pit lane.  The collision in the penultimate lap was my fault.  I was a touch too optimistic heading into the corner.”

Finally, Pilet summed it all up quite nicely:  “The race was a real rollercoaster with an unbelievably intense final phase.  I’m sorry for our teammates in the 912 car; they drove a great race.  But this time luck was on our side.”

Round four of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will be contended on May 1st at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California, USA.

Race result

GTLM class

  1. Pilet/Tandy (F/GB), Porsche 911 RSR, 73 laps
  2. Gavin/Milner (GB/USA) Chevrolet Corvette, 73
  3. Fisichella/Vilander (I/SF), Ferrari 488 GT, 72
  4. Briscoe/Westbrook (AUS/GB), Ford GT, 72
  5. Auberlen/Werner (USA/D), BMW M6, 72
  6. Serra/Balzan (BRA/I), Ferrari 488, 72
  7. Bamber/Makowiecki (NZ/F), Porsche 911 RSR, 70
  8. Hand/Müller (USA/D), Ford GT, 70

Points’ standings after 3 of 11 races

GTLM class

Drivers

  1. Millner, Gavin, Corvette, 105 points
  2. Bamber, Makowiecki, Porsche; Auberlen, Werner, BMW, 87
  3. Fisichella, Vilander, Ferrari, 86
  4. Pilet, Tandy, Porsche, 82
  5. Serra, Ferrari, 80
  6. Magnussen, Garcia, Chevrolet; Westbrook, Briscoe, Ford, 79

Manufacturers

  1. Chevrolet, 102 points
  2. Porsche, 98
  3. BMW, Ferrari, 88
  4. Ford, 80

Teams

  1. No. 4 Corvette Racing, 105 points
  2. No. 912 Porsche North America, 87; No. 25 BMW Team RLL, 87
  3. No. 62 Risi Competizione, 86
  4. No. 911 Porsche North America, 82
  5. No. 68 Scuderia Corsa, 80

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