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Porsche Team Manthey: Lietz, Christensen

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Porsche Team Manthey: Lietz, Christensen
FIA World Endurance Championship, World Endurance Championship, round 6 at Fuji/Japan – Preview GT, Preview
Porsche Team Manthey well prepared for race at Mount Fuji

At the Fuji International Speedway in Japan, the Porsche Manthey team tackles the sixth round of the Sports Car World Championship WEC (World Endurance Championship) on 11 October. After clinching two double victories on the Nürburgring and at Austin, the squad under Olaf Manthey travels as the new series leader to the six-hour race on the tradition-steeped circuit at the foot of Mount Fuji. A pair of 470 hp 911 RSR will be fielded in the GTE-Pro class. Porsche works driver Richard Lietz (Austria) drives the winning racer from Weissach as the frontrunner of the hotly-contested World Endurance Cup for GT pilots.

The Porsche drivers
Sharing the cockpit of the number 91 Porsche 911 RSR on the storied 4.563-kilometre race track are Michael Christensen (Denmark) and Richard Lietz (Austria). So far this season, the duo has scored victory at the Nürburgring and Austin rounds. Their French teammates Frédéric Makowiecki and Patrick Pilet crew the sister 911 RSR (#92). Two customer teams campaign the 911 RSR in the GTE-Am class, where 2014-homologated GT vehicles compete: Taking up the challenge for Dempsey Proton Racing, the US actor and race driver Patrick Dempsey joins forces once again with Patrick Long (USA) and Marco Seefried. Scoring second at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, they celebrated their greatest success as a team until now. Le Mans outright winner Earl Bamber (New Zealand) again drives for Abu Dhabi Proton Racing, which secured its best result of the season at Austin with second place.

The Porsche 911 RSR
The 470 hp Porsche 911 RSR mounted with a flat-six engine in the rear is based on the seventh generation of the iconic 911 sports car and crowned its maiden 2013 season with a double GTE-Pro class victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours. The winning racer is also campaigned in the United SportsCar Championship in the USA and Canada and is characterised by a consequent lightweight design and sophisticated aerodynamics. The insights gained during the vehicle’s development and at race outings are directly incorporated into the design of future 911 generations. Last year the 911 RSR won three of America’s most prestigious long distance classics, the Daytona 24 Hours, the 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans.

The schedule
The six-hour race on the Fuji International Speedway takes off on Sunday, 11 October, at 11.00 hours local time (04.00 hrs CEST). Eurosport broadcasts the entire race and the podium ceremony live.

Comments before the race
Dr. Frank-Steffen Walliser, Head of Porsche Motorsport: “Fuji is a track that posed quite some challenges for us last year. We learned from this and now we’re heading to this round even better prepared. Our goal is to earn more points towards the manufacturers’ championship and to further extend our lead in the driver and team classifications.”
Marco Ujhasi, Overall Project Leader GT Works Motorsport: “Fuji is always good for a surprise, particularly when it comes to the weather. It’s important to be ready for anything. In the past years, Fuji has always been an all or nothing venue for us: Either everything worked perfectly or we were miles off. For this year we have a few ideas on how we can get our tyres working optimally. If we can manage this then we have reason to be very confident.”
Michael Christensen (911 RSR #91): “I’ve never been to Japan so I’m very much looking forward to the country and its people. Fuji is a circuit with a long history, which I know only from Formula 1 TV coverage and computer games. Although that might put me at a slight disadvantage, everything is running very well for us at the moment so we’re feeling optimistic for the Fuji race.”
Richard Lietz (911 RSR #91): “It’s always great to visit Japan. We all enjoy travelling to this country and having our teammate Fred Makowiecki as a Japan expert. He’ll surely show us some new interesting spots. At Fuji, top speed on the long straight will prove decisive.”
Frédéric Makowiecki (Porsche 911 RSR #92): “I have very fond memories of Japan. I love this country. Just last year I contested the Super GT Championship and it was huge fun. One thing I particularly enjoy here is that spectators come in great numbers, they are very interested and they know a lot about the teams and drivers. If the weather cooperates and we’re not affected by the tail end of a typhoon, we’ll definitely experience a great race.”
Patrick Pilet (Porsche 911 RSR #92): “We’ve learned a lot since Le Mans and made great progress thanks to our hard work. We now want to implement this know-how. If we can do this, as was the case recently with our double victories at the Nürburgring and in Austin, hopefully we’ll be in a position to fight for victory on this picturesque race track.”
Earl Bamber (Porsche 911 RSR #88): “I won both Fuji races in the Carrera Cup Asia last year. The circuit is very demanding, it’s a real challenge. I can’t wait to drive the 911 RSR there. At Austin we finished second with Abu Dhabi Proton Racing which was our best result so far this season. I hope we can go one better in Fuji and clinch our first win of the year.”
Patrick Long (Porsche 911 RSR #77): “It’s been a long time since I last competed in Japan. In the late nineties I drove a kart in Suzuka. I’m very much looking forward to returning to this fascinating country and meeting up with old friends from back then. I’m not yet familiar with the Fuji International Speedway but I love having new and interesting experiences. Even though this circuit is new for us, as a team we’ll try to continue our good performances from the previous races.”

The Sports Car World Championship WEC
Sports prototypes and GT vehicles contest the Sports Car World Championship WEC (World Endurance Championship) in four classes: LMP1 (eg. Porsche 919 Hybrid), LMP2, LMGTE-Pro (eg. 911 RSR) and LMGTE-Am (eg. 911 RSR, 2014 homologation). They all compete together in one race but are classified separately.



All reports on the previous season can be found in our archive.