ACROFAN

The Porsche GT Team is well prepared for the WEC restart

Published : Wednesday, August 12, 2020, 2:12 pm
ACROFAN=Seunghee Shin | seunghee.shin@acrofan.com | SNS
The 2019-2020 season of the World Endurance Championship resumes after more than a 24-week break due to the coronavirus pandemic. On August 15, round six of the World Endurance Championship WEC will be held at Spa-Francorchamps. Porsche tackles the six-hour race with two of the latest 911 RSR racers. The defending world champions Michael Christensen (Denmark) and Kévin Estre (France) share the cockpit of the No. 92 car, with their teammates Richard Lietz (Austria) and Gianmaria Bruni (Italy) joining forces in the No. 91 Porsche. The factory squad returns to Belgium with positive memories: Last year, Porsche claimed an early world championship title in the GTE-Pro manufacturer’s classification. Currently, the title defender ranks second in the GTE-Pro class after five races. The customer teams Dempsey-Proton Racing, Project 1 and Gulf Racing field five of last season’s 911 RSR in the GTE-Am class.

The race
The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps is located in the far east of Belgium close to the German border. Opened in 1921, the 7.004-kilometre racetrack featuring 21 corners undulates through the Walloon countryside – not surprisingly, the circuit is also known as the “Ardennes rollercoaster”. Fast passages like Raidillon, Eau Rouge and Blanchimont are as notorious as the La Source hairpin at the end of the start-finish straight.

The Porsche 911 RSR
The current Porsche 911 RSR-19 contests its maiden WEC season. The engineers in Weissach were able to improve the ca. 515-hp vehicle compared to its extremely successful predecessor model, most notably in areas such as drivability, efficiency, ergonomics and serviceability. About 95 per cent of all components are new. The 911 RSR is powered by a 4.2-litre, six-cylinder boxer engine.

The Porsche GT Team drivers
After scoring second place at four of the five rounds so far this season, the reigning WEC champions Michael Christensen and Kévin Estre rank third in the WEC drivers’ classification. Richard Lietz and Gianmaria Bruni, the winners of the season-opening round in Great Britain, lie fifth. The latest Porsche 911 RSR underlined its potential at the previous races of the 2019/2020 season with pole positions in Japan, China and Bahrain.

The customer teams
At the WEC restart, Dempsey-Proton Racing fields two Porsche 911 RSR from the 2017 model year. At the wheel of the No. 77 car is Porsche works driver Matt Campbell (Australia), team owner Christian Ried (Germany) and the Italian Riccardo Pera. Vutthikorn Inthraphuvasak (Thailand), Ricardo Sanchez (Mexico) and Lucas Legeret (Switzerland) share the cockpit of the No. 88 sister car. The German customer team Project 1 also campaign a pair of 2017-generation 911 RSR. The No. 56 cockpit is shared by Laurents Hörr (Germany), Egidio Perfetti (Norway) and Matteo Cairoli (Italy). Ben Keating (USA), Felipe Fraga (Brazil) and Jeroen Bleekemolen (Netherlands) drive the No. 57 car. Gulf Racing entrusts the No. 86 vehicle to the all-British crew Michael Wainwright, Ben Barker and Andrew Watson.




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