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21 Sep 2015

String of WEC successes continues in Texas

Porsche’s FIA WEC winning streak continues with another double-class victory in Austin, Texas.

Porsche’s FIA WEC winning streak continues with another double-class victory in Austin, Texas. After one-two results at the Le Mans 24 Hours and the Nürburgring, the ground breaking 919 hybrid race car also won in Austin on Saturday, with the 911 RSR taking the lead in the GTE Pro Class.

Drivers Timo Bernhard (DE), Brendon Hartley (NZ) and Mark Webber (AU) won the six-hour race in the Texan capital. The sister car of Romain Dumas (FR), Neel Jani (FR) and Marc Lieb (DE) was leading for a long time, but after a technical problem the car only finished fifth in its class.

This is the fourth victory in total for the Porsche 919 Hybrid after its maiden win at Interlagos in 2014 and Le Mans and Nürburgring in 2015. With its success in the heat of the night at the Circuit of the Americas, Porsche extended its lead in the manufacturers’ standings in the World Championship with 220 points ahead of Audi (184).

On the 5.513 kilometre long demanding Formula One track Mark Webber (car number 17) had taken the lead from his team mate and pole setter Neel Jani (car number 18) right after the start. The number 17 car stayed in the lead for the first 116 of the 185 race laps until it lost it to the sister car due to a 60 second stop and go penalty.

The number 18 car was able to defend the lead until 35 minutes before the chequered flag. A problem with the 12 volt onboard circuit caused a long pit stop. Nevertheless a one-two in qualifying, the fastest race lap (1:47.436 minutes by Brendon Hartley on lap 118) and another win again proved the Porsche 919 Hybrid’s potential.

In the GTE Pro Class, Porsche celebrated a second straight double victory with Richard Lietz (Austria) and Michael Christensen (Denmark), taking the chequered flag at the wheel of their 470 hp Porsche 911 RSR.

In the second 911 RSR entry, Frenchmen Frédéric Makowiecki and Patrick Pilet crossed the finish line behind their teammates in second, rounding off another perfect one-two of the season for the Porsche Manthey squad after the Nürburgring.

The pair of 911 RSR spearheaded the GTE-Pro class field over the entire six-hour distance, swapping positions several times. The convincing and reliable performance of the nine-elevens, which have won four straight races in the North American United SportsCar Championship so far this season, was made possible by the immaculate performance of the drivers, their pit crews and the perfect race strategy of Porsche Team Manthey.

Thanks to his victory, Richard Lietz further extended his lead in the World Endurance Cup for GT Pilots. In the team classification, Porsche Team Manthey now ranks first. Amongst the manufacturers, Porsche now sits in second place with three remaining races in Fuji/Japan, Shanghai/China and Manama/Bahrain.

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