Porsche WEC Season 2017 Wrap-Up - 919 Hybrid & 911 RSR

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At the six-hour race on the Bahrain International Circuit, Richard Lietz (Austria) and Frédéric Makowiecki (France) secured second place in the Sports Car World Endurance Championship WEC. With the 510 hp Porsche 911 RSR, they finished fourth in the GTE-Pro class at the season finale in the desert. For Michael Christensen (Denmark) and Kévin Estre (France), who were on course for victory after running at times in the lead, all hopes were dashed after they became entangled in a collision caused by another competitor.

On the 5.407-kilometre Grand Prix circuit close to Manama, the capital of the Persian Gulf kingdom, the two 911 RSR made a somewhat cautious start to the last race of the year. Only when the engineers sent the #91 vehicle with Kévin Estre at the wheel back out on the racetrack with a new tyre strategy after the first pit stop did the 911 RSR demonstrate the desired performance. Pulling out all stops, the Frenchman overtook two Ferraris in a spectacular overtaking manoeuvre and worked his way up the field one position after the other. After two hours he had snatched the lead. His teammate Michael Christensen rejoined the race in third place, moved up into second and set his sights on the frontrunner. However, after half the distance, an LMP1 Toyota squeezed past the 911 RSR in the blind spot and roughly shunted the Porsche into retirement. All prospects of the new GT spearhead from Weissach claiming its maiden victory in the world championship were destroyed.

As spectators in the pits, Michael Christensen and Kévin Estre had to watch how the fight for victory played out without them. However, their team colleagues Richard Lietz and Frédéric Makowiecki jumped into the breach for them. After a weak start which saw the two at times running at the back of the GTE-Pro field, the title aspirants in the #91 Porsche 911 RSR gathered momentum. With 90 minutes left to the flag, Frédéric Makowiecki had fought his way through to sit second behind the leading Ferrari. However, in the last hour of racing, he was unable to maintain this level of performance. Despite his determined efforts to defend his position, he ultimately had to let the second Ferrari and then a Ford pass him. He didn’t, however, relinquish the runner-up spot in the drivers’ classification of the world championship as reward for the strong performance of the entire team this season and particularly at this gripping final race of the season.

For the Porsche customer team, Dempsey Proton Racing, the Porsche Junior Matteo Cairoli (Italy), Christian Ried and Marvin Dienst (both Germany) concluded the season on second place in the FIA World Endurance Trophy. In Bahrain they took the flag as fourth in the 2015-spec 911 RSR, with which they had won this year’s GTE-Am class races at the Nürburgring and in Mexico.