After claiming pole position at Daytona, Sebring and Long Beach, a 911 from Weissach once again starts from the first grid row. In the No. 911 sister car, Patrick Pilet (France) achieved the eighth quickest time.
The qualifying at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course took place under difficult conditions. After rain in the morning, the track gradually dried during the 15-minute session. With each lap, the track condition improved and times got quicker minute by minute. Laurens Vanthoor, who shares the No. 912 Porsche 911 RSR with Earl Bamber (New Zealand), was only beaten to pole in the final seconds after a gripping duel. His factory driver colleague, who shares driving duties at the wheel of the No. 911 car with Nick Tandy (Great Britain), never quite got the tyres into the ideal operating range and was thus unable to fight for a top position.
In the GTD class, the new Porsche 911 GT3 R once again underlined its huge potential. Zacharie Robichon took an early lead in the hunt for times, only to be beaten to pole by another competitor at the very end of the session. However, due to a belated drive-through penalty, the fastest lap time was cancelled. As a result, the vehicle was relegated from second to fifth place. For the race, the Canadian shares the cockpit of the No. 9 vehicle with his compatriot Scott Hargrove. Marco Seefried (Germany) experienced bad luck at the wheel of the identical 500+hp GT3 vehicle fielded by the customer team Park Place Motorsports. The German encountered a puddle on his first flying lap and slid onto the grass. This resulted in a red-flag period and the team’s fastest lap times were deleted. Because of this, the No. 73 Porsche 911 GT3 R, which is shared by works driver Patrick Long (USA), starts from position 15.
GTLM class
1. Müller/Bourdais (D/F), Ford GT, 1:19.124 minutes
2. Bamber/Vanthoor (NZ/B), Porsche 911 RSR, 1:19,339 minutes
3. Krohn/Edwards (FIN/USA), BMW M8 GTE, 1:19.623 minutes
8. Pilet/Tandy (F/GB), Porsche 911 RSR, 1:20.098 minutes
GTD class
1. Heistand/Hawksworth (USA/GB), Lexus RC F GT3, 1:24,281 minutes
2. Keating/Bleekemolen (USA/NL), Mercedes-AMG GT3, 1:26,109 minutes
3. Montecalvo/Bell (USA/USA), Lexus RC F GT3, 1:26,451 minutes
5. Hargrove/Robichon (CAN/CAN), Porsche 911 GT3 R, 1:27,113 minutes
15. Long/Seefried (USA/D), Porsche 911 GT3 R, no lap time
Steffen Höllwarth (Programme Manager IMSA SportsCar Championship): “The improving conditions made this qualifying thrilling to the last second. Laurens was in the lead until the end of the session, but then a Ford snatched pole position from us. It’s the first time we’ve not started from pole this season, but the starting position for our number 912 car is still very good. We have to take a look at the sister car to see why the tyre temperatures never quite reached the optimal window at the right time. The race will be very interesting. Slicks haven’t been used much so far this weekend. Race day is supposed to be dry, so tyre management will be a crucial factor.”
Laurens Vanthoor (Porsche 911 RSR #912): “The track didn’t offer much grip, so it took attack mode and many fast laps to get the tyres up to the required temperature. I had to go flat-out in every lap – it was like a race. In my opinion, we have a perfect starting spot for round four. More than second place wasn’t possible today. We aim to go for victory in the race so that we can expand our top position in the championship.”
Patrick Pilet (Porsche 911 RSR #911): “That was a disappointing qualifying for me. In the last two hot laps, just as the track was at its best and things got serious, suddenly the balance wasn’t as good as it had been. For this reason I couldn’t do better today. Race day is predicted to stay dry. So far, no one has enough experience on slicks, so this will be our chance to make up positions during the race. If we manage our tyres well, anything is possible.”
The qualifying at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course took place under difficult conditions
After scoring wins at the traditional North American racetracks of Sebring and Long Beach, the sports car manufacturer would now like to further extend its lead at the race on the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. After the long-distance races at Daytona and Sebring followed by the Long Beach sprint race, round four of the season is the first event of the year that will run over the standard 2 hours and 40 minutes.
The winners of the Sebring race Patrick Pilet (France) and Nick Tandy (Great Britain) share the No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR. The pair currently ranks second in the drivers’ classification. The sister car driven by Bamber and Vanthoor holds an even better position. The New Zealander and the Belgian lead the championship ahead of their factory driver colleagues after winning the Long Beach street race. While the GTD class was absent at the previous round on the Pacific coast, the Porsche 911 GT3 R now returns to the competition. The customer teams Pfaff Motorsports (No. 9) and Park Place Motorsports (No. 73) each field one of the 500+hp GT3 vehicles from Weissach.
The Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is located about 100 kilometres south of the shores of Lake Erie, where most of North America’s automotive industry is based. The 3.364-kilometre circuit was opened in 1962 and has hosted sports car races ever since. In 2006 and 2007, Porsche clinched two overall victories with the RS Spyder on the natural terrain road course featuring many surface changes. Last year, Earl Bamber (New Zealand) and Laurens Vanthoor (Belgium) won the fiercely competitive GTLM class here. Due to its northern location – around the same latitude as New York – changeable weather conditions should be expected in early May.
For its third racing season in North America, the Porsche 911 RSR has undergone further optimisation primarily in the setup. Depending on the size of the restrictor, the engine, which is positioned in front of the rear axle, puts out around 375 kW (510 hp). The large rear diffuser combined with a top-mounted rear wing provides aerodynamic efficiency and significant downforce. The 911 GT3 R was newly developed for the 2019 season. Improvements in the areas of aerodynamics and kinematics were systematically implemented from the insights garnered from the many race outings of its predecessor. The six-cylinder engine in the rear of the GT3 customer racer produces over 368 kW (500 hp).
Pascal Zurlinden (Director GT Factory Motorsport): “Of course we want to continue our good run from the past weeks. The competition among the manufacturers in the GTLM class is fierce. We recently gave an impressive demonstration of just how strong the combination of our squads and the Porsche 911 RSR is. We were victorious over long distances and at the sprint race. Now we’re travelling to Mid-Ohio as last year’s winners – and that gives us even more confidence. We aim to maintain our front spot in the championship and hopefully extend our lead.”
Steffen Höllwarth (Programme Manager IMSA SportsCar Championship): “After our wins at Sebring and Long Beach we’re travelling to the Mid-Ohio race feeling very motivated. This racetrack presents us with new challenges. The course is a real mixed bag with many tight turns and long straights. It requires mechanic grip and the setup must be a good compromise between a lot of downforce and enough top speed. Our victory last year underlined that the Porsche 911 RSR is well suited to the track. Although we’ve been victorious at the previous races, we’ve always had the potential to bring home podium results with both cars. I hope we can do this in Mid-Ohio.”
Sebastian Golz (Project Manager Porsche 911 GT3 R): “The Mid-Ohio track is not only rich in tradition but is also really challenging. The layout allows different racing lines in some places, but the lap-time differences are not significant. The key to success is a strong qualifying result because this narrow circuit doesn’t offer many overtaking opportunities. If you start up the front you can control the race. We want our customer teams’ two Porsche 911 GT3 R cars to be in this promising position.”
More comments in the press release.
The race takes off on Sunday, 5 May, at 13:40 hrs local time (19:40 hrs CEST) and can be viewed live outside the USA and Canada on www.imsa.com.
The IMSA SportsCar Championship is a sports car race series that has been contested in the USA and Canada since 2014. The series originated 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), Dpi (Daytona Prototype international) and LMP2 (Le Mans Prototype 2). The Porsche 911 RSR runs in the GTLM class, and the Porsche 911 GT3 R contests the GTD class.
