Team Porsche North America 911 RSRs finish One-Two for the second straight TUDOR race weekend at the Oak Tree Grand Prix at Virginia International Raceway

 

Danville, Virginia, August 23, 2015. The One-Two GT Le Mans (GTLM) class and overall victory at today’s Oak Tree Grand Prix at VIR makes it four in a row for Porsche and three in a row for the Porsche North America factory team, and the second straight race for a one-two finish with the iconic 911 RSR in the TUDOR United Sports Car Series. This win is also the first overall for a Porsche 911 in North America since the 2003 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, as the Prototype and PC Lights classes were not on the schedule here in Virginia.

 

The No. 911 Team Porsche North America 911 RSR, driven by Factory drivers Nick Tandy (co-winner with Bamber at Le Mans) and Patrick Pilet started the race from Pole position after the one-two Porsche qualifying result yesterday. The No. 911 Team Porsche North America 911 RSR never relinquished the lead around the 3.27 mile, picturesque road course. 

 

Porsche factory driver Jörg Bergmeister put the No. 912 Team Porsche North America 911 RSR into the second starting spot yesterday in qualifying. Recent 24 Hours of Le Mans overall winner Bamber, who shares the team No. 912 with Factory Driver Jörg Bergmeister drove the final stint of the race and brought the No. 912 home in the second spot once again after strong competition from the Risi Competizione Ferrari F458 Italia. 

 

In the highly competitive GT Daytona Class, the No. 23 911 GT America of Alex Job Racing, Team Seattle finished the 2:40 minute race on the podium in third position, after a solid run by drivers Ian James and Mario Farnbacher and a mistake free team effort throughout the day. 

 

Porsche also secured the “DEKRA Green Challenge Award”, presented to the fastest, most environmentally clean and efficient GTLM competitor. Like in Watkins Glen, the 911 RSR driven by Patrick Pilet and Nick Tandy was distinguished as the GT car with the best overall efficiency. The Porsche 911 RSR features the smallest capacity of all competing GT cars. Customers all over the world praise its road-going 911 GT3 sibling for its outstanding ratio of performance and fuel consumption.

 

Today’s second straight 1-2 finish by Team Porsche North America shows, once again, that hard work, dedication and momentum pay off. The preparation and teamwork throughout the weekend was flawless and helped make the hard fought victory look easier than it was. 

The podium finish by the No. 23 Alex Job Racing Team Seattle entry continues to show the competitiveness of the GT Daytona class. Our customer teams continue to work hard as well and the third place earned by 911 GT America drivers Mario Farnbacher and Ian James is proof. 

Winning the DEKRA Green Challenge Award for the second time this season is an added bonus, as it shows the natural efficiency of our 911 sports cars in competition. 

 

Steffen Hoellwarth, Program Manager TUDOR United SportsCar Championship:

This day was just amazing. A perfect job done by everybody. From the mechanics and the drivers, to the engineers, everybody was pushing really hard and getting things sorted out for the difficult track conditions we had today. Although we were 1-2 in qualifying yesterday, we were the last ones to leave the paddock last night and the first ones to show up this morning. And the hard work paid off. The key for this one was consistency, we found a good set up, the “one-stint” tires Michelin supplied were crucial, the drivers made no mistakes, and the mechanics did a really nice job, they were amazing in the pit stops. 

 

Nick Tandy, Porsche Factory Driver: 

VIR is the only time we get to run at the front with a chance of an overall victory, so it’s one of the most important races for us this year with the GTLM series. So I have been able to win overall at Le Mans, and I also got to take the flag here to win overall at VIR. It feels really nice to watch the flag man wave the checkered flag down on your car, it’s special. To get three wins in a row in any championship is really hard, so to do it in an extremely competitive series like this is just fantastic.

 

Patrick Pilet, Porsche Factory Driver:

It’s just amazing. I have to thank the crew and especially Gary, because he set up an incredible car today. The car was just perfect. The race was tough because we had to be quick and make no mistakes, but also watch the fuel. But we had great info from the team and Nick was great in the beginning to contain the Ferrari. This was the key of the race. For me, I was just pushing, but I didn’t really have any pressure from the Ferrari so I opened the gap a bit. Nick finished at the end with no mistakes and a great pace, so it was just overall a perfect weekend. We will celebrate now and then tomorrow we focus on COTA.

 

Jörg Bergmeister, Porsche Factory Driver: 

Nick and I chatted before the race and decided I should try to go on the outside for the start, to keep the others behind us. Unfortunately, Pierre [Kaffer] hit me a bit and got by, and then I managed to get by him again in turn 11, but then on the straight he just drove by me and there was nothing I could do. Then I picked up a lot of understeer following behind him and destroyed the front tires. But we managed to somehow survive the entire stint. Then Earl got in and we adjusted the tire pressures a little bit, and he made a good move on Pierre who was on cold tires. Another 1-2 for Porsche, not much more you can ask for. 

 

Earl Bamber, Porsche Factory Driver:

My two stints were really great today, the car was on rails after a tough first stint for Jörg, but we changed some things and I was able to make up a bit of the gap to Pierre in the Ferrari. After the second stop, the “one-stint” Michelin tires were working really well and I was pushing really hard to pass him while he was on cold tires. After that pass, I knew I could just manage the tires and the fuel because the No. 911 was ahead and there was no need to push. The team in the pit stops today was perfect. For me, it was a really enjoyable race, another 1-2. I love this track and let’s roll on to COTA.