The best Porsche 911 RSR takes up Sunday’s race at Road America from the second row of the grid. In qualifying for the eighth round of the IMSA SportsCar Championship on the tradition-steeped 6.515-kilometre circuit close to Elkhart Lake in the US state of Wisconsin, Gianmaria Bruni clocked the fourth quickest time in the GTLM class with the #912 car. A fortnight ago at Lime Rock, the Italian had clinched pole position in the 510 hp race car, which was developed new by Porsche Motorsport in Weissach on the basis of the high-performance 911 GT3 RS. His teammate at Road America is Laurens Vanthoor (Belgium). In the second 911 RSR fielded by the Porsche GT Team, Patrick Pilet posted the sixth quickest time. The Frenchman is joined in the cockpit of the #911 racer by Dirk Werner (Germany).
Qualifying quotes
Marco Ujhasi, Director GT Factory Motorsports: “After three pole positions in a row for the 911 RSR, it wasn’t quite enough today for the front spot. We tried everything but we didn’t quite nail it. However, we’d already realised this in free practice so we concentrated on finding the best possible race setup and a good race strategy. We hope that it all works out well tomorrow.”
Gianmaria Bruni (911 RSR #912): “Once again we tried our utmost in this qualifying. However, unlike Lime Rock, it wasn’t good enough for pole this time. But I’m not too worried about it. The race is long and a lot can happen. I’m satisfied with our starting position and I’m convinced that we’ll perform strongly over the distance and definitely improve.”
Patrick Pilet (911 RSR #911): “We’re having a tough time understanding our 911 RSR this weekend. Its balance in the qualifying was not as it should be, although we made some slight changes from session to session. The fact that it rained yesterday and today the sun is shining made the setup a little more complicated. The starting position on this racetrack is not so decisive. Two years ago we came from the very back of the field and won. So anything’s possible.”
The 2:40-hour race takes off on Sunday, 6 August, at 13.35 hrs local time (20.35 hrs CEST). Outside the USA, the race can be seen live on www.imsa.com.
Qualifying result
GTLM class
1. Hand/Müller (USA/D), Ford GT, 2:01.422 minutes
2. Westbrook/Briscoe (GB/USA), Ford GT, + 0.781 seconds
3. Auberlen/Sims (USA/GB), BMW M6, + 0.789
4. Vanthoor/Bruni (B/I), Porsche 911 RSR, + 1.018
5. Edwards/Tomczyk (USA/D), BMW M6, + 1.161
6. Pilet/Werner (F/D), Porsche 911 RSR, + 1.248
7. Gavin/Milner (GB/USA), Corvette, + 1.936
8. Garcia/Magnussen (E/DK), Corvette, + 2.159
GTD class
1. Mul/Lewis (NL/USA), Lamborghini GT3, 2:06.649 minutes
2. Klingmann/Krohn (D/USA), BMW M6, + 0.174 seconds
3. Bergmeister/Lindsey (D/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 R, + 0.500
11. MacNeil/Jeannette (USA/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 R, + 2.381
13. Braun/Bennett (USA/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 R, + 2.898
14. Morad/de Quesada (USA/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 R, + 3.793
