Porsche wins in Monza. Kévin Estre from France and Neel Jani from Switzerland drove the number 92 Porsche 911 RSR on the Italian high-speed track to first place in the hard-fought GTE Pro class in the FIA World Endurance Championship . For the works driver duo it was already the second win of the season in the third race after the triumph at the season opener in Belgium. The Italian Gianmaria Bruni and the Austrian Richard Lietz finished the exciting 6-hour race in the home of the main competitor Ferrari in third place. As the best customer team, Project 1 came fourth in the GTE-Am category with the number 56 911 RSR.

“Congratulations to the team! The drivers and the entire team put in an impressive performance. And that under the most difficult of conditions, because the flood disaster in Germany is of course in everyone's minds - especially since employees of our Manthey emergency team are also affected. I can't thank the crew enough ”, summarizes Pascal Zurlinden, overall project manager for works motorsport. “With the victory in the home of our main competitor Ferrari, we regained the top spot in the drivers 'championship and significantly reduced the gap in the manufacturers' championship. It was the ideal dress rehearsal for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which we will tackle with maximum motivation. "

"It's a great result that we didn't expect in this form," explains Alexander Stehlig, Head of Operations at the FIA WEC. “I'm really very relieved because we were under pressure because we couldn't get our dream result in the last race in Portugal. We started the race knowing that Monza is not necessarily the track that suits the Porsche 911 RSR best. We have therefore designed everything to make the most of our possibilities. We succeeded perfectly. It is a huge success to be at the top of the podium at Ferrari's home game in Monza. "

At high temperatures of over 30 degrees Celsius, the spectators, who were allowed to watch a limited number of a FIA WEC race on site for the first time after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, worked up a sweat several times. This was not only due to the high values on the thermometer, but rather an extremely exciting and close competition in the GTE Pro class between Porsche and Ferrari. At the start, pole setter Kévin Estre was able to fend off all attacks by the red competition and, despite occasional caution phases, maintain the lead with a small margin until the end of his double stint. Then Neel Jani was involved in numerous duels, lost the lead in between, but regained it impressively.

The sister car with starting number 91, on the other hand, did not have the necessary luck in the exciting competition several times. Gianmaria Bruni showed a strong pace in the early stages, but was unable to avoid a spinning GTE-AM car shortly before the end of his second stint. The Italian's 911 RSR suffered slight damage at the front in the collision, but Bruni and Richard Lietz were able to hold their own against the second Ferrari and in the end achieved an important podium.

With the second class win in the third race, Kévin Estre and Neel Jani regained the lead in the drivers' championship. In the manufacturers' championship, Porsche is only seven points behind in second place ahead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The GTE-Am category also offered excitement right through to the end. The Norwegian Egidio Perfetti and the two Italians Matteo Cairoli and Riccardo Pera were in top form in Monza. The trio at the wheel of the number 56 911 RSR of the Project 1 customer team drove at the top of the class at times, but had to be content with fourth place in the end due to a less than optimal pit stop strategy. The sister car of the team from Lohne in Lower Saxony came in 13th. The two vehicles from Dempsey-Proton Racing finished fifth and sixth, the 911 from GR Racing finished ninth.

The fourth round of the endurance world championship FIA WEC is the highlight of the year: the 24 Hours of Le Mans on 21/22. August. One week before the start of the 89th edition of the endurance classic, the official test day will take place on the 13.626 kilometer Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans.

Driver comments on the race
Kévin Estre (Porsche 911 RSR # 92):“I'm extremely happy because this success really comes as a surprise. We knew that our 911 RSR was really fast over one lap. We demonstrated that with the pole position in qualifying. At the same time, however, we had expected Ferrari to be faster than us over the distance. We delivered a perfect race - all of them. Our team kept getting important seconds out of the competition with extremely fast pit stops. That was an important key. In addition, the strategy was optimal and my colleague Neel Jani was in top form. That was one of the toughest WEC races I've ever driven. ”

Neel Jani (Porsche 911 RSR # 92):"Mega! What a race - so exciting and so close. It was such a tough fight against Ferrari's number 51. That we decided this duel for us is simply sensational. We would never have thought that, the greater the joy now, of course. This success gives us maximum self-confidence before the season highlight at Le Mans. "

Richard Lietz (Porsche 911 RSR # 91): " It was a difficult weekend for us and especially for some members of our Manthey team who were hit by the flood in their home country are. Because of this, we had to change our pit crew a bit. At this point, many thanks to the entire team, who worked under the most difficult conditions this weekend. ”

Gianmaria Bruni (Porsche 911 RSR # 91):“To be honest, I expected a little more, because our Porsche 911 RSR was optimally set up and really fast. Unfortunately, we weren't able to fully implement that in the race. Much more important than our position in the rankings, however, is that the victims of the flood disaster receive as much help as possible. ”

Egidio Perfetti (Porsche 911 RSR # 56):“For many years I kept hearing the sentence that Monza was built for Ferrari. I didn't believe it until I saw it in the race today. Although we really gave everything and showed maximum attack, it just wasn't enough. This is a pity. We also have to analyze carefully whether we were tactically correct. On the positive side, we were the fastest Porsche customer car. That was good, but I would have loved to have been on the podium in Monza. ”

Result GTE-Pro class
1. Estre / Jani (F / CH), Porsche 911 RSR # 92, 190 laps
2. Pier Guidi / Calado (I. / GB), Ferrari 488 GTE # 51, 190 laps
3rd Bruni / Lietz (I / A), Porsche 911 RSR # 91, 190 laps
4th Serra / Molina (BR / E), Ferrari 488 GTE # 71, 190 laps

Result GTE-Am class
1. Perrodo / Nielsen / Rovera (F / DK / I), Ferrari 488 GTE # 83, 187 laps
2. Dalla Lana / Farfus / Gomes (CDN / BR / BR), Aston Martin # 97, 87 laps
3rd Hoshino / Fujii / Watson (J / J / GB), Aston Martin # 33, 187 laps
4th Perfetti / Cairoli / Pera (N / I / I), Porsche 911 RSR # 56, 187 laps
5th Ried / Evans / Campbell (D / NZ / AUS), Porsche 911 RSR # 77, 186 laps
6th Haryanto / Seefried / Picariello (RI / D / B), Porsche 911 RSR # 88, 186 laps
9th Wainwright / Barker / Gamble (GB / GB / GB), Porsche 911 RSR # 86, 185 laps
13th Olsen / Buchardt / Root (N / N / USA), Porsche 911 RSR # 46, 183 laps

All results and championship standings at fiawec.alkamelsystems.com.