During the closing stages of FP2, I was photographing at Club Corner, just as the cars entered the start/finish straight. The #91 Porsche came past me a few times and as it accelerated up the straight, the engine sounded like it was misfiring. On Saturday evening after Qualifying, in the Porsche ‘Meet the Team’ interview session, I asked Gianmaria Bruni if this was the case and … [Read more...]
Silverstone Round 3 Free Practice
The summer break is over, and it is back to business for the Silverstone Round 3 of the World Endurance Championship. With six 911 RSRs in the field, there is plenty for the Porsche enthusiast to see. The works Porsche team is well ahead on points in the tables thanks to double points resulting from their win at Le Mans in the GTE Pro class. In the same way, the #77 … [Read more...]
Silverstone WEC Round 3 Preview
After the summer break, the WEC heads to Silverstone this coming weekend for WEC Round 3 of the 2018/2019 Super Season. Having moved from its traditional slot as the WEC season opener in April, it will be the first time the Silverstone round of the WEC has been held this late in the year. The LMP1 class should be beyond question with Toyota already well out in front of … [Read more...]
Twice around the clock
A little more than twenty four hours ago, sixty cars lined up against the pit lane wall, and without exception, every driver on the grid had his/her mind set on winning the race or at the very least, their class. Now, just twenty six hours later, we know which of those drivers was successful, in this most gruelling twice around the clock endurance race. As this feature is being … [Read more...]
Two Days to go – Le Mans 24 Hour 2018
Qualifying 1 (Q1) for the Le Mans 24 Hour went off on Wednesday night without too much fanfare or drama. Before that Free Practice 1 (FP1) in the afternoon offered the teams the opportunity to put their cars and drivers through the paces at will and so not too much can be read into the times posted then. But the first night session was obligatory as all the drivers have to … [Read more...]
Porsche proves that pigs can fly
Well it's official, pigs can fly! The #92 Porsche 911 RSR of Michael Christensen/Kevin Estre/Laurens Vanthoor/Dirk Werner may not have topped the lap charts on Sunday at the Le Mans Test day, but they were just 1.3 seconds off their team mates in the #93 Porsche who did indeed post the fastest time of the day in class. The WEC/ACO has threatened to wield the big stick of … [Read more...]
Pascal Zurlinden speaks about the 2018 Porsche 911 RSR
The evening before the opening round of the WEC season at Spa, Porsche Road & Race had the opportunity of chatting to Pascal Zurlinden, Director GT Factory Motorsports, about the 2018 Porsche 911 RSR and the competition in the GTE Pro class. Uppermost in the minds of some journalists was the question of the auto BoP and how Porsche viewed this. Whatever your thoughts … [Read more...]
What you need to know about Team Project 1
Perhaps the opening race of the 2018 WEC season at Spa did not end quite the way the Project 1 team had hoped, but they came away from the Belgian race having learnt a ship load of lessons. Success in motor racing does not come easily, it is earned through sweat, tears, disappointment…and then comes success and recognition. This is what you need to know about Team Project 1 … [Read more...]
WEC Battle in the Ardennes
The first race of the 2018 WEC season certainly didn’t disappoint. From the starter’s green lights, right up until the chequered flag, the excitement hit a high point and didn’t once wane. This was truly a WEC battle in the Ardennes. The start Under bright sunshine, the race got underway at 13h30 sharp. The starting grid was altered as late as Friday night when the pole … [Read more...]
2018 6 Hours of Spa Pre-Race Report
The first race of the season, the 2018 6 Hours of Spa, is almost upon us. Thursday saw Free Practice 1 and 2 (FP1 and FP2) and while these sessions traditionally don’t tell you anything, it was nevertheless interesting to see the cars out for the first time in the season. One situation that did play out was the interplay between the LMP1 competitors. While the Toyotas … [Read more...]
