Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid holds narrow lead
With
an advantage of more than five minutes, the Porsche 911 GT3 R
Hybrid heads into the final phase of the 24 hour race. The key to this
success is the vehicle’s impressive efficiency with its innovative
hybrid concept. The drivers only need to pit every ten laps to refuel,
whereas their direct rivals must return to the pits mostly every eight
laps. Virtually the same lap times with less fuel consumption – that’s
Porsche Intelligent Performance. In contrast, bad luck robbed four teams running the new Porsche 911 GT3 R of any winning chances. The Mamerow team was the first to be struck down. The squad had travelled to the Eifel marathon with high hopes after winning the third round of the VLN long distance championship. But an accident forced Chris Mamerow (Germany) into retirement at around 8 p.m.
Pre-race favourites and last year’s winners in the Manthey Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R lost the chance to achieve their fifth straight win when the vehicle was punted into retirement. A competitor crashed into the barrier before ricocheting back onto the track and hitting the leading 911 GT3 R. Marc Lieb (Germany) had no chance to avoid the collision.
The car was so badly damaged that team boss Olaf Manthey withdrew it from the race. Deeply disappointed, Lieb and his two works driver colleagues Timo Bernhard (Germany) and Romain Dumas (France) as well as Manthey pilot Marcel Tiemann (Monaco) were forced to retire.
Shortly after the half-way point in the race, the Wochenspiegel Team Manthey entry also dropped out after an accident. The Haribo Team Manthey lost a great deal of time changing the non-standard shock absorbers, and the repairs relegated them back to 70th position. The crew, however, pushed on in their campaign, much to the delight of the fans.
Continuing
without any problems, the production 911 GT3 RS surely and
steadily turns its laps. Except for an unscheduled stop to change the
brakes on the front axle and a slight nudge with a rival, the car with
pilots Roland Asch (Germany), Patrick Simon (Germany), Horst von Saurma
(Germany) and Chris Harris (Great Britain) is running like clockwork.