Estre-Lotterer-Vanthoor keep lead, not Porsche

WECHyperCar

Sep 6

Porsche Penske Motorsport’s works cars secured positions six and seven, enough for Estre-Lotterer-Vanthoor to keep their lead in the drivers’ championship but not the manufacturers’ championship, where Porsche ranks now second with two races left on the calendar.

P6 for current drivers’ championship leaders

After a mediocre qualifying session on Saturday which saw Kevin Estre ranking 16th during qualifying session with the #6 hybrid prototype, Laurens Vanthoor charged from P14 on the grid to hand over to Andre Lotterer in P8. Lotterer won two positions before handing over to Kevin Estre who crossed the finish line in sixth place on the Circuit of the Americas.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Lone Star Le Mans. #6 Porsche 963 with Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor and André Lotterer.

Thanks to the 8 points clinched, Estre-Lotterer-Vanthoor keep the lead of the Driver’s championship with 125 points, still losing 10 points to the Koabayshi-De Vries duo and 7 points to Fuoco-Nielsen-Molina with both team counting now 113 points.

André Lotterer (Porsche 963 #6): “We successfully limited the damage. Had we not been handed a drive-through penalty, fifth place would probably have been within reach but our comeback was still pretty decent after a disappointing qualifying. It was the first race weekend this year where not everything went perfectly. Despite that, we earned some important points. We’re still leading the drivers’ championship. Next up is Fuji. I’ve spent many years in Japan, so it’s a home race for me.” Source: Porsche.

Disappointment for Hyperpole qualified #5 team

Porsche Penske Motorsport came to Circuit of The Americas (COTA) with high expectations but experienced a difficult race day despite Matt Campbell qualifying his #5 Porsche 963 in P5 during the Hyperpole session. A drive-through penalty during Michael Christensen’s stint dropped him to P17 at 4th lap hampering their chance of a better result. Matt Campbell and Frédéric Makowiecki brought the car to finish in P7.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Lone Star Le Mans. #5 Porsche 963 with Matt Campbell, Michael Christensen and Frédéric Makowiecki.

With 6 points clinched in the drivers’ championship, Campbell-Christensen-Makowiecki are now fifth equal points with Mike Conway who join the trio thanks to the 18 points won at Lone Star Le Mans.

Frédéric Makowiecki (Porsche 963 #5): “Unfortunately, we had to make an unplanned pit stop very early in the race. What a shame. Still, there are also many positives: our pace was great. I think we can be proud of the work we’ve done. Our car was difficult to drive at the beginning of the weekend. But by the start of the race, we’d made significant progress. We’re now looking forward to Fuji.” Source: Porsche.