XXX - Porsche GT Team win Petit Le Mans

Porsche GT Team celebrates win at Petit Le Mans

Porsche GT Team celebrates threepeat win at Petit Le Mans

Road Atlanta, Georgia - USA, 17 October 2020

At “Petit Le Mans” on the Road Atlanta racetrack, the Porsche GT Team has achieved its first win in this year’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Works drivers Nick Tandy (Great Britain), Frédéric Makowiecki (France) and Matt Campbell (Australia) won the ten-hour race in the US state of Georgia by a narrow 1.779 seconds.
Due to the safety car phases, the frontrunners in the GTLM class never lost sight of each other over the entire “Petit Le Mans” distance.
Most of the time, they lapped the 4.088-kilometre racetrack separated by just a few seconds. Depending on the individual pit-stop cycle, the lead changed multiple times. Shortly before the halfway mark, Matt Campbell withstood a nail-biting moment when his Porsche 911 RSR was forced into a spin in a slight collision. Fortunately, the 515 hp works car from Weissach sustained only light damages. The young Australian was able to continue.

Fred Makowiecki took the lead with just over 30 minutes remaining when Augusto Farfus (BMW M8 GTE #24) had to go through the pit lane to clean the radiator inlet following a collision between the BMW and a prototype, even forcing the Brazilian driver to stop at Turn 12.
Fred Makowiecki then withstood Antonio Garcia’s charge with the #3 Corvette C8.R, but the Frenchman held on and crossed the line only 1.7 seconds ahead of the American car after 10 hours of racing !

This win is the third one in three years at Petit Le Mans for the Porsche GT Team : #911 won in 2018, #912 won in 2019 and #911 in 2020.

The second Porsche 911 RSR, driven by Laurens Vanthoor (Belgium), Earl Bamber (New Zealand) and Mathieu Jaminet (France), became entangled in an accident in the turbulent final phase and reached the finish line in fifth place.

After nine of eleven races, Porsche ranks third in the GTLM manufacturers’ championship.

Pascal Zurlinden (Director Factory Motorsport):
“What a fantastic result for the team. We’ve suffered many setbacks during this IMSA season. This victory at ‘Petit Le Mans’ is the reward for all the hard work that everyone in the team has done. That includes both the team here in the USA and our Weissach squad.”

Steffen Höllwarth (Head of Operations IMSA Championship):
“The monkey’s finally off our back. Those were some tough and intense ten hours with ups and downs. We had to deal with some minor setbacks, but we didn’t let it ruffle our feathers and were in the right place at the right time in the end. I’m thrilled for the boys. Unfortunately, in the fight for GTLM victory, the number 912 car was involved in an accident while lapping a GTD vehicle, otherwise we could have brought home an even better result. Still, a huge compliment to the whole team. Today we benefited from the necessary racing luck several times, which has evaded us in the past. We’re happy with this victory and we’re looking forward to the last two races of the season.”

Nick Tandy (Porsche 911 RSR #911):
“Petit Le Mans was extremely exciting, especially towards the end. We ran a risky strategy to maintain contact with the leaders. There were one or two incidents early on in the race, but the last few hours ran perfectly. After the problems that we’ve had this year, we would’ve been happy with a podium finish. To see Fred actually cross the finish line in first place was a very emotional moment.”

Frédéric Makowiecki (Porsche 911 RSR #911):
“That result was totally unexpected. Normally in such a race, we wouldn’t have been in a position to fight for the GTLM victory, but we were in the right place at the right time. This is a very special moment for me. I’ve already won Petit Le Mans with Nick. This time Matt was part of our team and he did a great job. We attacked over the entire distance, and we couldn’t have driven even a tenth of a second faster.”

Matt Campbell (Porsche 911 RSR #911):
“Quite honestly, I never expected the race to go like that. We experienced ups and downs, but ultimately we drove a fantastic race. This win is something very special. I’m over the moon.”

Porsche GT Team celebrates win at Petit Le Mans

Road Atlanta, Georgia - USA, 17 October 2020

Rennsport Driver

Rennsport Driver