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Race report
Stuttgart. Successful fiery battle: At the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Earl Bamber (New Zealand) and Frédéric Makowiecki (France) won the penultimate GTLM race of the IMSA SportsCar Championship with the
In temperatures reaching 35 degrees Celsius, Patrick Pilet got the best start on the 5.472 kilometre Grand Prix circuit in the hills near the Texas capital. At the wheel of the #911
At the first pit stop, Nick Tandy took over driving duties from Patrick Pilet, with whom he had won the Long Beach race earlier this season. In the 27th lap, he moved into the lead of the GT field. In the second 911 RSR, Earl Bamber maintained third place. In lap 35, the Ferrari again took the lead, but the 911 RSR kept the frontrunner under heavy pressure. With 25 minutes left of the 2.40-hour race, the Ferrari had to make an unscheduled pit stop, thus handing the lead at the hottest race of the year to
Equally as gripping was the GTD-class race in which customer teams campaign the 500 hp
Post-race quotes
Dr Frank-Steffen Walliser, Head of
Patrick Pilet (911 RSR #911): “A fantastic success for
Nick Tandy (911 RSR #911): “This race was perfect for
Earl Bamber (911 RSR #912): “This victory belongs to the entire team. We saw today that the 911 RSR was the most consistent car over the distance under such extreme conditions. First and second place – a great success for
Frédéric Makowiecki (911 RSR #912): “We didn’t necessarily have the fastest car today, but we could maintain a decent pace over the entire race distance. We’ve been working towards this win over the whole season. Finally everything came together. This is precisely the motivation we need heading to the season finale at Road Atlanta.”
The eleventh and final round of the IMSA SportsCar Championship will be contested on 1st October on the storied Road Atlanta racetrack in Braselton in the US state of Georgia.
Race result
GTLM class
1. Bamber/Makowiecki (NZ/F),
2. Pilet/Tandy (F/GB),
3. Magnussen/Garcia (DK/E), Chevrolet Corvette, 74
4. Auberlen/Werner (USA/D), BMW M6, 74
5. Gavin/Milner (GB/USA) Chevrolet Corvette, 73
6. Hand/Müller (USA/D), Ford GT, 73
7. Edwards/Luhr (USA/D), BMW M6, 73
8. Fisichella/Vilander (I/SF), Ferrari 488 GTE, 73
9. Briscoe/Westbrook (AUS/GB), Ford GT, 61
GTD class
1. Curtis/Klingmann (USA/D), BMW M6, 71 laps
2. Sellers/Snow (USA/USA), Lamborghini GT3, 71
3. Nielsen/Balzan (DK/I), Ferrari 488, 71
4. Potter/Lally (USA/USA), Audi R8, 71
5. Bergmeister/Lindsey (D/USA),
6. Barker/Calvert-Jones (GB/USA), Aston Martin, 71
Points standings GTLM class after 10 of 11 races
Drivers
1. Millner, Gavin, Corvette, 314 points
2. Briscoe, Westbrook, Ford, 303
3. Garcia, Magnussen, Chevrolet, 290
4. Bamber, Makowiecki,
5. Auberlen, Werner, BMW, 275
6. Fisichella, Vilander, Ferrari, 269
7. Hand, Müller, Ford, 268
8. Pilet, Tandy,
9. Edwards, Luhr, BMW, 241
Manufacturers
1. Chevrolet, 329 points
2. Ford, 309
3.
4. BMW, 288
5. Ferrari, 282
Teams
1. #4 Corvette Racing, 314 points
2. #67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing, 303
3. #3 Corvette Racing, 290
4. #912
5. #25 BMW Team RLL, 275
6. #62 Risi Competizione, 269
7. #66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing, 268
8. #911
9. #100 BMW Team RLL, 241
This is the IMSA SportsCar Championship
The IMSA SportsCar Championship is a sports car race series contested in the USA and Canada, which was run in 2014 for the first time. The series was formed 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), P (Prototype) and PC (Prototype Challenge). The
All reports on the previous season can be found in our archive.