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The success story
of the Porsche RS Spyder continues: At the Le Mans 24 Hour race, the
Essex team (Denmark) celebrated a clear victory in the LMP2 class. The
440 hp sports prototype from Weissach also won the energy efficiency
classification “Michelin Green X Challenge” as the car with the best
overall efficiency, calculated by the ratio between lap times and fuel
consumption. The RS Spyder of the Danish customer team beat its rivals
in the LMP2 class by 15 laps. One hour before the end of the race, the
RS Spyder of NAVI Team GOH spun off the track while running an easy
second under braking for the first chicane on the Hunaudières straight
on an oil spill of a competitor, hit the barriers and retired. The
Japanese driver Seiji Ara was uninjured.
“We’re proud
that in customer hands the RS Spyder not only confirmed its high speed
and reliability again but also won the environmental classification.
It’s such a great pity that the second RS Spyder retired. NAVI Team GOH
put in an immaculate performance and really would have deserved to
secure second,” said Porsche Head of Motorsport, Hartmut Kristen. In
2008, the RS Spyder won the energy efficiency challenge at all races and
championships – in the Le Mans 24 Hours, the American Le Mans Series and
the European Le Mans Series. With this, the RS Spyder impressively
underlined its status as the world’s most efficient sports prototype.
“After claiming
second last year we are absolutely over the moon with our victory
today,” said Essex driver Casper Elgaard (Denmark). “This is a huge
success for our Danish team, which only began competing in long distance
racing last year.” Porsche works driver Emmanuel Collard (France) added:
“The key to success was the RS Spyder. We didn’t have the slightest
technical problem and turned fast and steady laps.” Only once in the
night was there an unscheduled stop. Before the first Hunaudières
chicane, the two close-running RS Spyder hit a patch of oil and began to
slide. Keisuki Kunimoto (NAVI Team GOH) nudged the Essex car, resulting
in both vehicles having body parts replaced. “Our crew did a super job,”
said the third Essex driver, Kristian Poulsen (Denmark), who celebrated
his Le Mans debut with victory. “I would like to thank the team and
mostly Casper and Emmanuel. They did most of the work.”
After a break
of four years, NAVI Team GOH, Le Mans winner of 2004 with Seiji Ara,
looked like they would bring home a safe second place right up until an
hour before the flag – with a ten lap advantage over third position. Oil
from a competitor became Ara’s eventual fate. “I had no chance. Two
wheels hit the oil that I couldn’t see while braking,” said Seiji Ara.
“It’s a bitter end of a great race. I’m pleased that the RS Spyder is
not only fast, but also safe.” His compatriot Keisuke Kunimoto contested
the long distance classic for the first time. Porsche works driver
Sascha Maassen was full of praise: “I salute our team’s performance.
Perfect preparation, perfect team work in every respect. I’m so sorry
that we couldn’t bring home the success they deserved.” For the perfect
work in the pit stops, the team received a special prize from the
organisers.
Porsche works
drivers Timo Bernhard (Germany) and Romain Dumas (France), lent to Audi
for the Le Mans 24 hour race, lost all chances to win with a technical
defect in their #3 Audi R15 TDI which resulted in repairs over several
hours on Saturday night. With their chase through the field from the
back to finish 18th, the two shone with their excellent lap times. “It
hurts to be out of contention for overall victory so early on,”
summarised Bernhard. “Still, it was great fun. The Audi crew made us
feel very welcome from the first moment on,” added Dumas.
In the
production-based GT2 class, the double pole for the 911 GT3 RSR from
qualifying could not be turned into a race success. After just two
hours, the race came to an end for the three Porsche works drivers Marc
Lieb (Germany), Richard Lietz (Austria) and Wolf Henzler (Germany). A
problem with the fuel system caused the engine of the 911 to die and not
start again – 100 metres from the entrance to the pit lane. As the
regulations do not allow a car to be towed in such a case, the leading
trio of the German Felbermayr-Proton team had no chance to repair the
otherwise technically perfect 911 and retired. “Of course I’m very
disappointed,” said Marc Lieb. “But we are looking ahead and already
looking forward to the next race in the Le Mans Series, where we want to
extend our championship lead with another victory.”
For the
American Flying Lizard team, the 2009 Le Mans race ended in the early
morning hours when Darren Law (USA) collided heavily with the barriers.
Prior to this, pole-setter Jörg Bergmeister (Germany) and team
owner/gentleman driver Seth Neiman (USA) were steadily moving in the
direction of a podium result with their GT3 RSR. The French IMSA
Performance Matmut team with Porsche works drivers Patrick Pilet
(France) and Patrick Long (USA) as well as Raymond Narac (France)
maintained third place for more than two-thirds of the race distance. On
Sunday morning a problem with the power transmission put an end to their
promising charge.
Race result
LMP2
1. Elgaard/Collard/Poulsen
(DK/F/DK), Porsche RS Spyder, 357 laps
2. Kane/Leuenberger/Pompidou
(GB/CH/F), Lola Judd, 353
3. Nicolet/Hein/Yvon
(F/MC/F), Pescarolo Mazda, 325
4. Barazi/Bennett/Moseley
(DK/GB/GB), Zytek 07S, 306
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