The all-German trio Jürgen Häring, Edward-Lewis Brauner and Wolfgang Triller concluded the season on second in the Am class for gentlemen drivers with the customer sport racer from Weissach. In the Pro category, the Porsche works drivers Romain Dumas, Frédéric Makowiecki (both France) and Dirk Werner (Germany) achieved tenth overall after a pursuit race through the field over the entire three-hour duration.
A total of 52 GT3 vehicles took up the challenge on the 4.655-kilometre circuit just outside Barcelona. Dumas, Makowiecki and Werner had to tackle the race from 37th after several interruptions in qualifying hampered them from posting a better grid position. Despite receiving a drive-through penalty in the first third of the race, the No. 911 took the flag in tenth place, beating 16 of the 24 rivals in the professional class.
In the Am class, Häring, Brauner and Triller had started from the third grid spot. Triller, as last year’s B class champion in the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland, moved into second place after the final pit stop and, in spite of a late safety car phase, defended his position to the flag. For Herberth Motorsport, this marks the second podium in its class in this season’s Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup. At the Silverstone race in mid-May, the drivers clinched third with the No. 991 car.
Dumas, Makowiecki and Werner achieved tenth overall
Sebastian Golz (Project Manager 911 GT3 R): “We had the performance in the race. Frédéric, Dirk and Romain were able to complete their stints at a consistently high level. Tenth place is commendable in such a strong field – especially considering the difficult qualifying. Second place for Herberth Motorsport in the Am class is an excellent conclusion to the season. As always, the team drove a clean race and kept its cool in the face of pressure from the rivals.”
Romain Dumas (Porsche 911 GT3 R #911): “We fought back hard, but still it’s a pity that we started from so far down the grid. We simply lack top speed, and that makes overtaking very difficult – it’s been like this the whole season. A great pit stop strategy and mistakes made by our opponents helped us to finish in the top ten.”
Frédéric Makowiecki (Porsche 911 GT3 R #911): “It was great to plough my way through the field and the car felt good. But we didn’t come here to start so far back. Had we not received the drive-through penalty, we would have been on 18th at the first pit stop. My sector time under yellow was too fast, although I drove much slower than usual through the danger zone.”
Dirk Werner (Porsche 911 GT3 R #911): “Our Porsche handled well. Of course we benefited here and there from the caution phases, but all in all our performance was strong. With a better qualifying result and without the penalty we would definitely have achieved more.”
Jürgen Häring (Porsche 911 GT3 R #991): “We’re delighted with second place, especially after our bad luck at the 24 Hours of Spa. Wolfgang drove a fantastic final stint. The late caution phase didn’t make it easy for him to defend the podium spot.”
The Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup is reserved for race cars that comply with FIA GT3 regulations. Storied racetracks, cost-effective conditions of participation and equality in terms of technology thanks to the Balance of Performance form the framework of this customer-oriented championship. The season highlight, the 24 Hours of Spa, is also part of the global Intercontinental GT Challenge, in which Porsche teams compete with the 911 GT3 R. SRO Motorsports Group organises both series.
