Four Porsche qualify in the fastest ten
In
a gripping final qualifying
session for the Nürburgring 24 hour race, Porsche pilots secured
good starting positions. Fastest with the new 480 hp 911 GT3 R was
Lance David Arnold (Germany), who clinched the fifth grid position for
Haribo Team Manthey. Chris Mamerow (Germany) turned the sixth quickest
lap driving the Mamerow team’s 911 GT3 R. After topping the time sheets
for a lengthy period, Porsche works driver and last year’s winner Marc
Lieb (Germany) takes up the Eifel marathon tomorrow at 15.00 hours from
seventh on the grid. Twenty-four-year-old Lance David Arnold shares the cockpit of the 911 decked out in the gold bear design with two-time winner of the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup, Richard Westbrook (Great Britain), former DTM driver Alex Margaritis (Germany) and Christian Menzel (Germany), the reigning champion of the Asian Carrera Cup. The Mamerow squad entrusts the car to a line-up of experienced Nordschleife drivers. Former Porsche junior, Chris Mamerow, shares driving duties with Porsche works driver Wolf Henzler (Germany) and his compatriot Joerg Hardt.
The winning driver quartet from the last three years, who compete in Manthey Racing’s 911 GT3 R sporting the starting number one, did not take part in the final stages of the qualifying. “We would prefer to come first in the last lap of the race than in the first lap,” said Marc Lieb. “We deliberately conserved our material for the race.” Like last year, the 911 of the four-time victorious team under Olaf Manthey has a top-class driver line-up. Lieb, who currently leads the points in the Le Mans Series after two wins as title defender, shares the cockpit with the other factory pilots Timo Bernhard (Germany) and Romain Dumas (France) as well as Marcel Tiemann (Monaco).
The
innovative 911 GT3 R Hybrid
(Porsche Team Manthey) heads into the 38th edition of the 24 hour race
from the ninth spot on the grid. “Our aim was to qualify in the top ten
and we did this,” summarised works driver Richard Lietz (Austria).
“Under dry conditions we weren’t able to do better due to the weight of
our car. In the race we are relying totally on the efficiency of our
911 GT3 R Hybrid.” Sharing driving duties with the Austrian are Porsche
junior Marco Holzer (Germany), works driver Joerg Bergmeister
(Germany), and the 22-year-old former Porsche junior Martin Ragginger
(Austria). The 480 hp six-cylinder engine is supplemented by two 60
kilowatt electric motors and serves as a rolling test lab under the
toughest race conditions to provide Porsche with crucial results for
the further development of hybrid technology. The crew at the wheel of the standard 911 GT3 RS were delighted with their 42nd place on the grid after a trouble-free final qualifying. Sharing the cockpit are former DTM pilot Roland Asch (Germany), race pro and TV commentator Patrick Simon (Germany), as well as the two Nürburgring regulars and journalists Horst von Saurma (Germany) and Chris Harris (Great Britain).
Television station Sport1 (formerly DSF) broadcasts over 20 hours of the Nürburgring 24 hour race. For the first time, Porsche offers its German-speaking fans its own internet radio as part of a web special under www.porsche.com. In a ten-minute radio show held on the hour every hour during the race, commentator Burkhard Bechtel reports on the progress of the Porsche league, and also interviews interesting guests at the track.
Result final qualifying:
1. Ekström/Jarvis/Scheider/Werner (S/GB/D/D), Audi R8 LMS, 8.24.753 minutes
2. Basseng/Rockenfeller/Stippler/Stuck (D/D/D/D), Audi R8 LMS, + 0.815 seconds
3. Abt/Collard/Luhr/Mies (D/F/D/D), Audi R8 LMS, + 3.214
4. Biela/Fässler/Kaffer/Hennerici (D/CH/D/D), Audi R8 LMS, + 4.497
5. Arnold/Menzel/Westbrook/Margaritis (D/D/GB/D), Porsche 911 GT3 R, + 4.768
6. Mamerow/Henzler/Hardt (D/D/D), Porsche 911 GT3 R, + 5.026
7. Bernhard/Lieb/Tiemann/Dumas (D/D/D/F), Porsche 911 GT3 R, + 5.570
8. Müller/Farfus/Alzen/Lamy (D/BR/D/P), BMW M3 GT2, + 8.108
9. Bergmeister/Lietz/Holzer/Ragginger (D/A/D/A), Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid, + 9.890
10. Alzen/Schwager/Jäger/Bert (D/D/D/D), Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S, + 10.153
11. Werner/Müller/Priaulx/Adorf (D/D/GB/D), BMW M3 GT2, + 12.087
12. Rostek/Ludwig/Bronzel/Winkelhock (D/D/D/D), Audi R8 LMS, + 13.106
13. Weiss/Jacobs/Pietsch/Kainz (D/D/D/D), Porsche 911 GT3 R, + 13.753
Quotes from Porsche drivers
Marc
Lieb (Porsche 911 GT3 R,
Manthey Racing), 7th on grid:“I turned our quickest lap right at the beginning of the session. We deliberately avoided gunning for top times in the last few minutes of the qualifying and instead chose to conserve our car. The grid position at an endurance race is more a thing of prestige. The score is settled after 24 hours. I’m heading into the race feeling totally optimistic – after all, we have a fabulous package: Four equally fast drivers, a reliable and quick car and, with Manthey Racing, arguably the most experienced and best Nordschleife crew.”
Richard Lietz (Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid, Porsche Team Manthey), 9th on grid:
“Unfortunately on my quickest lap I encountered a slower vehicle under the yellow flag. Considering this, my time wasn’t half bad. The car felt terrific and gives us a lot of confidence even in the fast corners. During the race, we hope we can make the most out of our hybrid-Porsche’s fuel efficiency advantage.”
Lance David Arnold (Porsche 911 GT3 R, Haribo Team Manthey), 5th on grid:
“I must admit I’m rather proud to be the fastest Porsche pilot in qualifying. I got a great run and our Porsche 911 GT3 R was simply sensational. We have a super starting position for tomorrow’s race.”
Chris
Mamerow (Porsche 911 GT3
R, Mamerow Racing), 6th on grid:“I’m pleased it was dry today so we could continue working on our race set-up. Taking this into account, I’m satisfied with our sixth in qualifying. The conditions yesterday were truly awful. But now we’re well prepared for the race.”
Roland Asch (Porsche 911 GT3 RS, Porsche AG), 42nd on grid:
“I’m very happy with our lap time of 9:15 minutes. In fact, we’d expected to be around the 9.20 mark. Our 911 GT3 RS is more fun lap by lap. This vehicle is definitely the road-going car that carries the most racing genes. I’m totally enthusiastic.”
