Porsche GTE teams well prepared for the season ahead
The Porsche Team Manthey is well prepared for the season-opener of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) in Silverstone on 20 April. At the official Prologue on the Circuit Paul Ricard on Friday and Saturday in Le Castellet, south of France, the #92 Porsche 911 RSR posted the fastest time in the GTE-Pro class at every test session in which it took part.
At the final test before the start of the season, Porsche works drivers Marco Holzer (Germany), Frédéric Makowiecki (France) and Richard Lietz (Austria) shared the cockpit of the 470 hp GT racer from Weissach, which is based on the seventh generation of the iconic 911 sports car. This trio will also contest the season-opening race in Silverstone. Manning the second 911 RSR with the starting number 91 for the race on the storied British race track are their factory pilot colleagues Joerg Bergmeister (Germany), Patrick Pilet (France) and Nick Tandy (Great Britain). The 911 RSR, which scored a double GT victory at last year’s Le Mans 24 hour race, received many improvements for the 2014 season and continued its winning streak at the endurance classics of Daytona and Sebring.
“This was a very successful test. We were able to complete all the tasks we had set ourselves,” said Porsche Head of Motorsport Hartmut Kristen. “We uncovered some interesting results in the area of the vehicle setup and brakes, which we will now evaluate. We’re also well sorted with the tyres. The collaboration within the team, which was partly reorganised, worked very well. And the drivers, who have been reshuffled this season, managed to become attuned to each other quickly. One of the newcomers Frédéric Makowiecki shared some interesting insights with our engineers. All in all, the mood in the team is very good and we’re feeling confident heading to the season-opener at Silverstone.”
“There were two priorities for this test,” said Project Manager Marco Ujhasi. “The most important aspect in the lead-up to the season is to rehearse the procedures within the team and to practice pit stops. As far as the vehicle is concerned, we concentrated on fine-tuning the 911 RSR. On the first test day the focus of attention was on the setup, shocks and aerodynamic configuration, on the second day it was the brakes. We were able to cover a lot of kilometres here at Le Castellet and conclude the final test with positive results before the season takes off.”
Fielding a 911 RSR in the GTE-Am class, the customer squad Proton Competition also used the test days in southern France to determine how they compare. Porsche junior Klaus Bachler from Austria completed his first kilometres with the car, which he shares in his maiden WEC season with Christian Ried (Germany) and Khaled Al Qubaisi (Abu Dhabi).
From Porsche AG press release
Photo: CIRCUIT PAUL RICARD (LE CASTELLET, FRANCE), THE PROLOGUE, FRIDAY 28 MARCH 2014. The No.92 Porsche Team Manthey 911 RSR.
