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Stuttgart . Scoring a double victory at the six-hour race in Silverstone at the season-opening round of the sports car World Endurance Championship WEC, the
At the Silverstone Circuit, spectators witnessed a gripping race with changeable weather conditions from start to finish. Taking up the race from the first grid row at the wheel of the #91
After winning at Le Mans in 2013, the 911 RSR took off into this season scoring victory at the long distance classics at Daytona and Sebring. This success at Silverstone is another step forward, particularly with an eye on this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours in June. Just how tight the competition was in the GTE-Pro class and how strong the factory-entries from Aston Martin and Ferrari were is underlined not least by the fact that the first four vehicles reached the chequered flag within the same lap. Due to heavy rain, the race was red-flagged 26 minutes before the scheduled finish.
Hartmut Kristen,
Marco Holzer (#92): “It is of course a fantastic feeling to kick off my first WEC season with a victory. We faced extremely difficult conditions today, the track conditions changed constantly. When I took over the cockpit, the circuit was dry. After two laps it began to drizzle which made it very difficult to drive consistent lap times. My first priority was not to fly off the track. It’s been a long time since I’ve had to compete under such changeable conditions. You enter a corner that looks completely dry on slicks only to suddenly find your car going sideways and you’re looking ahead out of the side window. That was pretty hair-raising.”
Frédéric Makowiecki (#92): “That is exactly how I imagined my first race as a
Richard Lietz (#92): “I’m really thrilled that I could help my teammates Marco and Frédéric to start the season with a win. The balance of our car was very good. We were able to match the pace of the fastest GT cars without any problems over the whole distance. The track was dry during most of my stint, and it was great fun to drive. I sometimes lost a bit of time while lapping the slower cars because they left little room, but that’s how it goes sometimes. That’s not important now after such a win."
Patrick Pilet (#91): “This is a great result for
Joerg Bergmeister (#91): “There are for sure worse things for a race driver than to start the season in second place behind his teammates. I’m pleased. My stint was real fun, apart from the stop-and-go penalty that was handed to Nick of course. But our car ran so well on slicks that I reclaimed the lead relatively quickly. That was somehow my weather today. I really enjoy driving on slicks under such changeable conditions. That’s definitely one of my strengths.”
Nick Tandy (#91): “We had a very good car, regardless of whether the track was dry or wet. This was shown by the super result for
Round two of the sports car World Endurance Championship WEC takes place on 3 May at Spa-Francorchamps/Belgium.
Race result
GTE-Pro class
1. Holzer/Makowiecki//Lietz (D/F/A),
2. Bergmeister/Pilet/Tandy (D/F/GB),
3. Turner/Mücke (GB/D), Aston Martin Vantage, 147
4. Bruni/Vilander (I/SF), Ferrari 458 Italia, 147
5. Rigon/Calado (I/GB), Ferrari F458 Italia, 146
6. Griffin/Parente (IRL/P), Ferrari F 458 Italia, 146
GTE-Am class
1. Poulsen/Hansson/Thiim (DK/DK/DK), Aston Martin Vantage, 144 laps
2. Dalla Lana/Lamy/Nygaard (CDN/P/DK), Aston Martin Vantage, 144
3. Wyatt/Rugolo/Bird (AUS/I/GB), Ferrari F 458 Italia, 143
4. Ried/Bachler/Al Qubaisi (D/A/UAE),
5. Mowlem/Patterson/Collins (GB/USA/GB), Ferrari F 458 Italia, 141
6. Perez Companc/Cioci/Venturi (ARG/I/I), Ferrari F 458 Italia, 141
The Sports Car World Endurance Championship WEC
Sports prototypes and GT vehicles contest the sports car World Endurance Championship WEC in four classes: LMP1 (eg.
All reports on the previous season can be found in our archive.