Porsche, Tandy, Pilet Score Third Straight TUDOR Championship GTLM Victory In Oak Tree Grand Prix

Nick Tandy and Patrick Pilet led every lap en route to their third consecutive TUDOR United SportsCar Championship victory in the No. 911 Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR in Sunday’s Oak Tree Grand Prix at VIRginia International Raceway.

The team scored its second consecutive 1-2 finish, with the No. 912 entry of Earl Bamber and Joerg Bergmeister taking second, 27.267 seconds behind. Unofficially, Pilet took over the points lead in the GTLM class. Tandy missed two races earlier in the season to compete in other races in Europe, and scored the overall victory in June’s 24 Hours of Le Mans co-driving a Porsche prototype with Bamber and Formula 1 racer Nico Hulkenberg.

The TUDOR Championship’s GTLM and GT Daytona (GTD) classes were featured in the two-hour, 40 minute race, which ran without a full-course caution. Tandy started the race from the pole, with Pilet retaining the lead on their first pit stop on lap 30. With temperatures hovering in the mid-80s, Tandy returned to the car on the final stop on lap 61.

The No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari of Pierre Kaffer and Giancarlo Fisichella gave the Porsches a run for their money. Kaffer made a thrilling charge late in the race in a bid to take second from Bamber, only to come up 0.575 seconds shy of the No. 912 Porsche as the Ferrari finished third for the second consecutive race.

Sweedler, Bell Claim First GTD Victory Since 2014 Rolex 24 At Daytona

Bill Sweedler and co-driver Townsend Bell earned their first victory in the GT Daytona (GTD) class since their win at the inaugural race of the TUDOR Championship, the 2014 Rolex 24 At Daytona. Their victory in the No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Robert Graham/Royal Purple Ferrari 458 Italia marks the first TUDOR Championship win of the season for Ferrari.

Sweedler took the lead 27 minutes into the Oak Tree Grand Prix after battling pole-sitter Dion von Moltke in the No. 48 Castrol EDGE Audi R8 LMS since the start. The Ferrari held the top position in the class for the majority of the race, only giving up the lead to the Audi for a brief three laps and the No. 007 TRG-AMR car for one, before Bell once again snatched it. The Scuderia Corsa duo are now second in the points with 226.

Kuno Wittmer drove the No. 007 Royal Purple/Orion Energy/LaSalle Solutions/PassTime USA/Mellow Mushroom Aston Martin Vantage to a second place finish, allowing co-driver Christina Nielsen to extend her GTD points standings lead to six points, 232-226, over Sweedler and Bell. Nielsen took over the GTD points lead from Haase and von Moltke after placing second at Road America two weeks ago.

Team Seattle/Alex Job Racing drivers Mario Farnbacher and Ian James captured the team’s third podium finish of the season, placing third in Sunday’s race. The team gained one place in the standings, putting them in fifth with 213 points.

• Porsche now has four consecutive GTLM victories, a streak that began in June with Bryan Sellers and Wolf Henzler’s triumph in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen in the No. 17 Team Falken Tire Porsche 911 RSR. Porsche leads the GTLM manufacturer standings by eight points, 260-252, over BMW.

• Unofficially, Pilet took the GTLM points lead with two races remaining. The Porsche driver has 248 points, followed by Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen, drivers of the sixth-place finishing No. 3 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C7.R, with 243 points. Third, with 240 points, are Bill Auberlen and Dirk Werner, who finished fifth in the No. 25 BMW Team RLL IHG Rewards Club BMW Z4 GTLM.

• Adding to its laurels, the No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR also was awarded 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.

QUOTES

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

“It was pretty awesome. The last time I got to race for a win overall was at Le Mans. It feels something special to see the checkered flag drop on your car after a long grueling race. It might have looked easy at the end, and there at the end it might have been, but the first two stints were really tough. We were counting on a caution period, but we had to manage the fuel and the tire use. We knew we had to stay in front of the Risi car, but in the end they have to stop earlier than us. So they were pushing just as hard as us with their tires and their fuel consumption. We were pushing hard when Patrick came out, he did a great job with his pace and fuel consumption, so when I got in it was about not making mistakes and taking it down to the flag.”

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

“It was really a perfect car this weekend. We seemed to get a lot more pace, and the car was really good. We had to manage the tire and of course the fuel, but it looks really easy from the outside, but it wasn’t. I gained a lot of time to the Ferrari through the traffic. I would like to be first with Nick in the drivers’ championship, but if it’s me in No. 1 in the championship, that’s fine. We have two more events, and COTA is one of my favorite circuits. I ran two races last year in the same event, but I think we have a great package for that race and for Petit Le Mans.”

Townsend Bell, Driver – No. 62 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 Italia

“It was just a fantastic day. The Ferrari was terrific from the first session. Full credit to the team on the preparation and the hard work. Bill gave me a great car and all I had to do was steer it around. I had a bit of an issue with the (No.) 48 on cold tires. We had a little ‘rubbity-rub’ with them. But once we settled in, the car was flawless. We settled in and just had to manage the car until the end.”

Round 11 will feature all four TUDOR Championship classes in the Lone Star Le Mans at Austin’s Circuit of The Americas on Saturday, Sept. 19.

Contact:

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