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Race report
A successful race debut for the new
The 55th running of the Daytona 24-hour race proved tremendously challenging for drivers and teams, especially during Saturday night with steady rain and unusually cool temperatures. The race was repeatedly interrupted by safety car phases after many pilots lost control of their vehicles on the rain-soaked Daytona International Speedway and ended up trackside. The longest of the 21 safety car phases behind the pace car lasted over two hours. In the early hours of Sunday morning, the race director made the decision for safety reasons due to the flooding on the racetrack. More than two hours – even the safety car ran out of fuel.
In the first race hours on the storied racetrack featuring two fast banked corners and a twisty infield, the 510 hp 911 RSR racers, designed from scratch by
The race showed that the level of competition in the GTLM class is enormous. None of the vehicles of the five automobile manufacturers contesting this category could build a convincing lead over the course of the race. When the sun came up on Sunday, the field was as close as it had been the night before. Both 911 RSR had turned consistently fast laps to secure a good starting position, only to have an unscheduled pit stop for repairs on the right front suspension throw the #912 vehicle out of contention for a podium spot. Kévin Estre (France), Laurens Vanthoor (Belgium) and Richard Lietz (Austria) ultimately took the flag in sixth place. However, their team colleague Patrick Pilet crowned his impressive final stint after an ongoing four-way battle with Ford, Ferrari and Chevrolet with a well-deserved second place. Thanks to this result, he secured a good position for
In the GTD class, the
Round two of the IMSA SportsCar Championship is the 12 Hours of Sebring contested on 18 March in the US state of Florida.
Race quotes
Dr Frank-Steffen Walliser, Head of
Marco Ujhasi, Overall Project Manager GT Works Motorsport: “I’m incredibly proud of my boys. The entire team spent 18 months giving their utmost so that we could tackle this race with a competitive car. Whether in Weissach, with our tyre partner Michelin, or with our squad, every single person did everything they could. Today we reaped the rewards for this. It was an extremely gripping race to the finish. In the beginning we had some slight problems with the tyres because we first had to find out where our limit was with the setup for the decisive final phase. But we never gave up and we fought back. The fighting spirit shown in the team made this possible. I’m incredibly proud of our works driver squad. They are our greatest asset. These guys don’t make any mistakes and always deliver top performances.”
Patrick Pilet (911 RSR #911): “That was a typical Daytona race. I knew that not a lot would happen in the first 20 hours and the decision always goes down to the wire. That’s why I didn’t take too many risks, and didn’t fight for every position come what may. I possibly made some team member nervous by taking this approach, but I knew exactly how things work here. Then during the last two hours I pulled out all stops and squeezed every last ounce out of the 911 RSR. Now I’m pleased. It was the maiden outing for our new car and the one little drawback was that we didn’t win. Still, it was an important step. Now I’m looking forward to Sebring.”
Dirk Werner (911 RSR #911): “That was a very emotional race for me; my first as a
Frédéric Makowiecki (911 RSR #911): “Congratulations to the entire team. What a great start to the season. The time that was invested in developing the new 911 RSR has paid off. The concept is good and it works. Of course not everything ran smoothly today, but we never gave up and we always fought back. One thing is certain – we’re back in the game.”
Kévin Estre (911 RSR #912): “That was a really cool race. Seven cars within ten seconds after 24 hours – you don’t get that very often. We were there when it counted, but not quite enough to have a say in the fight for victory. The whole team did their utmost. Daytona was just the beginning.”
Laurens Vanthoor (911 RSR # 912): “Daytona was my first race for
Richard Lietz (911 RSR # 912): “That was a great debut for the new 911 RSR. The car ran almost perfectly, the entire squad again worked together like clockwork. This gives
Michael Christensen (911 GT3 R #28): “That was a fantastic weekend. I’m amazed that my team performed so brilliantly at their first race with the 911 GT3 R – and in Daytona of all places against such strong competition in the 27-strong field in the GTD class. My final stint was definitely one of the best in my career. I knew what was at stake for the team, I didn’t want to damage the car, and I’m thrilled that we were able to achieve this fantastic result together.”
Race result
GTLM class
1. Hand/Müller/Bourdais (USA/D/F), Ford GT, 652 laps
2. Pilet/Werner/Makowiecki (F/D/F),
3. Fisichella/Calado/Vilander (I/I/SF), Ferrari 488, 652
4. Garcia/Magnussen/Rockenfeller (E/DK/D), Chevrolet Corvette, 652
5. Tincknell/Priaulx/Kanaan (GB/GB/BRA), Ford GT, 652
6. Estre/Vanthoor/Lietz (F/B/A),
7. Pla/Mücke/Johnson (F/D/USA), Ford GT, 652
8. Auberlen/Sims/Farfus (USA/GB/BRA), BMW M6, 651
9. Gavin/Milner/Fässler (GB/USA/CH), Chevrolet Corvette, 651
10. Westbrook/Briscoe/Dixon (GB/USA/NZL), Ford GT, 624
GTD class
1. Christensen/Lazare/Morad/C. de Quesada/M. de Quesada (DK/CAN/CAN/USA/USA),
2. de Phillippi/Mies/Gounon/Schmidt (USA/D/F/SWZ), Audi R8, 634
3. Keating/Bleekemolen/Farnbacher/Christodoulou (USA/NL/D/GB), Mercedes AMG, 634
4. Aschenbach/Davis/Bell/Liddell (USA/USA/USA/GB), Audi R8, 634
5. Segal/Negri/Dyer/Hunter-Reay (USA/BRA/USA/USA), Acura NSX, 634
6. Sweedler/Bell/Montecalvo/Kaffer (USA/USA/USA/D), Audi R8, 633
This is the IMSA SportsCar Championship
The IMSA SportsCar Championship is a sports car race series contested in the USA and Canada, which was run in 2014 for the first time. The series was formed from the merger of the American Le Mans Series and the Grand-Am Series. Sports prototypes and sports cars start in four different classes: GTLM (GT Le Mans), GTD (GT Daytona), P (Prototype) and PC (Prototype Challenge). The
911 GT3 RS: Fuel consumption combined 12.7 l/100 km; urban 19.2 l/100 km; extra urban 8.9 l/100 km; CO2 emissions 296 g/km; efficiency class (Germany): G
All reports on the previous season can be found in our archive.