Porsche Caps Off Dominant Weekend With 1-2 Finish At Road America

Porsche North America capped off an outstanding weekend at Road America Sunday with a 1-2 finish in the Continental Tire Road Race Showcase. One day after Earl Bamber drove the team’s No. 912 Porsche 911 RSR to the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class pole, co-drivers Nick Tandy and Patrick Pilet rallied from the back of the field to give the No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR its second consecutive TUDOR United SportsCar Championship win of the season.

Pilet – who started last following a post-qualifying engine change – finished 5.241 seconds ahead of teammate Joerg Bergmeister, who made a daring last-lap pass on the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari F458 Italia of Pierre Kaffer for the second position. Bergmeister and Kaffer made slight contact in Turn 13, sending Kaffer sliding through the grass. He rebounded to finish third alongside co-driver Giancarlo Fisichella, while Bergmeister and co-driver Bamber matched their season-best finish of second.

The points-leading No. 3 Corvette Racing Corvette C7.R of Jan Magnussen and Antonia Garcia finished fourth, extending its points lead to four points, 217-213, over the No. 25 BMW Team RLL BMW Z4 GTE of Bill Auberlen and Dirk Werner. Auberlen and Werner finished fifth.

Bleekemolen, Keating Win In GTD While Nielsen Takes Points Lead

Jeroen Bleekemolen inherited the GT Daytona (GTD) lead when Kuno Wittmer drove the No. 007 Royal Purple/Orion Energy/LaSalle Solutions/PassTime USA Aston Martin Vantage V12 onto pit lane for fuel with 20 minutes remaining and never looked back, joining co-driver Ben Keating in giving the No. 33 ViperExchange.com Dodge Viper SRT GT3-R its first win of the season.

Wittmer held on to finish second, propelling co-driver Christina Nielsen to the points lead by two points (199-197) with three races remaining. Nielsen took the top spot from No. 48 Castrol EDGE Audi R8 LMS co-drivers Christopher Haase and Dion von Moltke, who finished sixth.

Polesitter Patrick Lindsey led the first 24 laps and finished third in the No. 73 Park Place Porsche 911 GT America co-driven by Spencer Pumpelly. It was the duo’s first podium finish since winning earlier this season at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

The race was slowed by full-course caution once for three laps for an incident involving Turner Motorsport’s No. 97 Alvarez & Marsal/IHG Rewards Club BMW Z4 of Michael Marsal.

· Corvette Racing welcomed back its No. 3 Corvette C7.R this weekend with a fourth-place result. The car was damaged in an incident in qualifying for the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June. Since Le Mans, the car Magnussen and Garcia had been racing in the TUDOR Championship was a loaner provided by a European Corvette team.

· Porsche has won three consecutive races in the GTLM class. The No. 17 Team Falken Tire Porsche 911 RSR won at Watkins Glen before the No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR won consecutive races at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and Road America.

· The No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari F458 Italia won the DEKRA Green Challenge Award. The award is presented each race to the most environmentally clean, fast and efficient GTLM competitor. The award is determined through Green Racing protocols established by the United States Department of Energy (DOE), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) International.

· The No. 73 Park Place Porsche 911 GT America was one of the quickest cars in the GTD class all weekend. Pumpelly set the fastest lap in the race, while co-driver Lindsey also earned the TOTAL Pole Award on Saturday.

· Up next for the TUDOR Championship is a GT-only event at VIRginia International Raceway on Aug. 23. The GTLM and GTD classes headline the Oak Tree Grand Prix that also includes the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge, Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama and Lamborghini Super Trofeo.

QUOTES

Patrick Pilet – No. 911 Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR

“It was a crazy weekend. We were always in front, but unfortunately I had a problem with the car and I couldn’t qualify. We had to change the engine for the race and it was good choice. We ran a lot of downforce, we didn’t feel it was needed to be fast in the straight lines. It was completely different than anyone else. I was surprised about the grip, it was amazing.”

Nick Tandy – No. 911 Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR

“Like at (Canadian Tire Motorsport Park) we had the perfect weekend. We were fastest, started on pole, and we won the race. We had a small problem in the qualifying session, but overall we executed perfectly as a team. Everyone is confident as we go into the weekends now.”

Ben Keating – No. 33 ViperExchange.com Dodge Viper SRT GT3-R

“No doubt, it has been a difficult season for the (No.) 33 car. We had a good car the entire season, but it feels great to finally stand on the top step of the podium. We ran the exact strategy that we expected to run. The race kind of came to us being green until the end. If a yellow came out in the last hour, I think we would have come out third.”

Jeroen Bleekemolen – No. 33 ViperExchange.com Dodge Viper SRT GT3-R

“Today we had a great race, we ran well, no mistakes. We had great pit stops. Since they were almost all green, they had to be great because every second counted. It’s nice to finally win, I don’t like to look back too much, but we had a rough start to the year. I’m happy it’s starting to go well. A second in Lime Rock, and now a win here, it’s a nice come back going into the end of the season.”

Contact: nsiebens@imsa.com

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