Ahead of the 6 Hours of Circuit of The Americas, the fourth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, the Porsche Manthey LMGTE Pro squad has rearranged its driver line-up in its two Porsche 911 RSRs.
From the Austin, Texas race on 20th September 20, Austrian Richard Lietz will join forces with Joerg Bergmeister of Germany in the No. 91 entry, while Frenchman Patrick Pilet will move to share driving duties at the remaining five rounds of the championship with his compatriot Frédéric Makowiecki in the No.92 911. Pilet replaces Marco Holzer (Germany), who will now focus totally on his duties as a test and development driver for Porsche.
“We reshuffled the driver line-up in the 911 RSRs for tactical reasons. This puts us in a very good position for the remaining races of the season and our campaign for the World Endurance Championship title,” says Porsche Head of Motorsport Hartmut Kristen. “Marco Holzer is an excellent test driver. He will support us for the rest of the season as a development driver for future factory and customer racing vehicles.”
It remains to be seen whether Richard Lietz is ready to race at Austin, and it depends on how well he has recovered from his accident during a practice session for the last round of the United SportsCar Championship. Lietz broke his left arm in the accident so, as a precaution, Porsche Team Manthey has also entered Britain’s Nick Tandy for Austin as the third driver of the No.91 Porsche 911 RSR.
Fiona Miller (quote from Porsche)
Photos: PORSCHE TEAM MANTHEY'S JOERG BERGMEISTER, PATRICK PILET AND NICK TANDY (TOP, L-R), RICHARD LIETZ (BELOW).
