11/14/2020
Porsche Newsroom/2020/Motorsports/WEC: One-two for Porsche at the WEC season finale with the 911 RSR
The Porsche GT Team has wrapped up the 2019/2020 season of the FIA World Endurance Championship WEC with positions one and two in the GTE-Pro category. Kévin Estre and Michael Christensen took up the eight-hour race on the Bahrain International Circuit from pole position and crossed the finish line in first place.
The race
Their teammates Richard Lietz (Austria) and Gianmaria Bruni (Italy) fought their way from fourth at the start to finish in second place. For the sports car manufacturer, this is the third victory out of eight WEC races with the newly developed 911 RSR. Fourteen months ago, Porsche won the season-opening round at Silverstone in Great Britain – on that occasion, Lietz/Bruni took the flag ahead of Estre/Christensen. In August, the French-Danish duo reciprocated with a victory at the Spa-Francorchamps six-hour race.
“We managed to conclude the debut season of our latest 911 RSR as we began it in Silverstone, which now feels like an eternity ago: with a one-two result in the FIA WEC,” states Fritz Enzinger, Vice President Porsche Motorsport. “With a total of three victories in its maiden season, we’ve clearly showcased the potential of this racing vehicle. For this, I’d like to thank everyone involved here in Bahrain as well as those back at our workshop in Weissach.
In a banner day, Porsche won both GT classes at the final round of the season: Porsche brand ambassador Jörg Bergmeister (Germany), Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup winner Larry ten Voorde (Netherlands) and Egidio Perfetti (Norway) claimed victory in the GTE-Am class for the Project 1 customer squad.
Like the two work teams in the GTE-Pro category, Porsche split the strategy of the two 911 RSR on the 5.412-kilometre Bahrain International Circuit, which is known for its particularly abrasive asphalt. Estre and Christensen tackled the qualifying each with new Michelin tyres and secured pole position. Lietz and Bruni, however, shared one set of new tyres. Taking up the race from fourth place, they were the fastest of the three vehicles who had implemented the same tactic. Their advantage: In the race, they had an additional set of fresh tyres at their disposal.
Accordingly, tyre strategy proved paramount at the eight-hour race. The race began with hot air and track temperatures in the daytime and ran into the cooler night. Start driver Estre immediately took the lead. The No. 92 Porsche only relinquished this position once: coming in for the first refuelling stop, the sister car only had to switch out two tyres, making the pit stop shorter. The third pit stop, which was brought forward as a result of a full course yellow situation, did not run as expected for the No. 91 car: when the race resumed quicker than anticipated, the hoped-for advantage evaporated. When the safety car was deployed for its one and only outing at the halfway point of the relatively incident-free season finale, the 911 RSR driven by Lietz und Bruni caught up with the leaders. On the cooling asphalt, the pair moved into second place behind Estre and Christensen with a good three hours to go and ultimately rounded off the one-two result for Porsche.
The result yielded Porsche second place in the manufacturers’ classification
In the GT manufacturers’ classification of the FIA World Endurance Championship, this result yielded Porsche second place.
Two Porsche teams also climbed the podium in the GTE-Am class, in which five 2017-spec 911 RSR competed. Jörg Bergmeister, Larry ten Voorde and Egidio Perfetti claimed victory. Porsche Junior Jaxon Evans (New Zealand), Germany’s Marco Holzer and Khaled Al Qubaisi (United Arab Emirates) planted the 911 RSR fielded by Dempsey Proton Racing on third place in their class. In addition, positions five, six and seven in the GTE-Am class went to Porsche customer teams.
