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Patrick Pielt (FRA), Nick Tandy (GBR)

Race report

Patrick Pielt (FRA), Nick Tandy (GBR)
, Tudor United SportsCar Championship, race 6 at Bowmanville/Canada, Race report
Bowmanville: Porsche continues on success path with lights-to-flag victory

Porsche maintains its success streak in the Tudor United SportsCar Championship: Two weeks after scoring a double victory at Watkins Glen, the 911 RSR campaigned by Porsche North America has now scored its second GTLM-class win of the season at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. On the challenging 3.957-kilometre circuit not far from Toronto, recent Le Mans winner Nick Tandy (Great Britain) and Patrick Pilet (France) secured a convincing lights-to-flag win after the two hour forty minute race with the number 911 vehicle. With a total of six GT wins at the former Mosport International Raceway, one of the most historic race tracks on the North American continent, Porsche as the defending champion has moved up the manufacturers’ standings to now rank second.

After the wild weather conditions recently in Watkins Glen, the sixth round of the popular US race series was contested in summer temperatures and under slightly cloudy skies. At the wheel of the 470 hp 911 RSR, which is based on the seventh generation of the iconic 911 sports car featuring lightweight design and sophisticated aerodynamics, Nick Tandy headed into the race from pole position for the first time this season. In the very first lap, he pulled clear of his pursuers, but lost his advantage after a good half hour with the first caution phase. After the first pit stop, his teammate Patrick Pilet took up the race again at the head of the pack and fended off strong opposition from BMW, Chevrolet and Ferrari, before handing the 911 RSR back to Nick Tandy with 35 minutes to go. The Briton, who was the first driver to take up a race for the second time from pole position since the championship was inaugurated in 2014, managed to gradually extend his lead and ultimately bring home the second victory of the season for Porsche.

After 122 laps, Jörg Bergmeister (Germany) and Le Mans winner Earl Bamber (New Zealand) crossed the finish line in seventh at the wheel of the sister 911 RSR campaigned by Porsche North America. Wolf Henzler (Germany) and Bryan Sellers (USA), the Watkins Glen winners, had to park their 911 RSR fielded by the Falken Tire customer team with 15 minutes to go due to a faulty transmission – a consequence of becoming caught up an earlier collision.

Comments after the race
Marco Ujhasi, Overall Project Manager GT Works Manager: “That was an incredible race. Our strategy worked perfectly. We went testing here earlier this week and managed to implement what we’d achieved in the qualifying and the race. The race underlined how important it is to clinch pole position here, because it’s extremely difficult to overtake. But the pole was only half the battle. We also needed a flawless performance from our drivers and the entire team. That’s how you win races.”
Patrick Pilet (Porsche 911 RSR #911): “Nick managed to build a gap from pole position and that was really important. Afterwards it was somewhat more difficult for me. My pursuers put me under a lot of pressure and I often encountered heavy traffic. Moreover, we struggled with the high temperatures halfway through the race. Still, I managed to maintain the lead and didn’t make any mistakes. Nick did the rest brilliantly.”
Nick Tandy (Porsche 911 RSR #911): “That was a perfect weekend for us. We started from pole position and led over the entire race – you can’t do better than that. I’m very relieved that we’re finally winning again, because this is our first victory in the Tudor United SportsCar Championship since our first win at Daytona in 2014. I hope everything continues to go well in the next races and we gain ground in the championship.”
Earl Bamber (Porsche 911 RSR #912): “It was great driving at Mosport for the first time. It’s a fantastic track. Unfortunately it wasn’t our race today. Now we’ll take a good look at why this happened and work towards fighting for victory again at the next race in Elkhart Lake.”
Jörg Bergmeister (Porsche 911 RSR #912): “Congratulates to our teammates on their victory. That was a strong performance. Unfortunately it wasn’t such a great weekend for us. Now I’m looking forward to the next race in Elkart Lake. It’s my all-time favourite circuit. I’m confident that things will go better for us there.”

Round 7 of the Tudor United SportsCar Championship will be contested on 9 August on the storied Road America circuit in Elkhart Lake (Wisconsin).


Race result
GTLM class
1. Pilet/Tandy (F/GB), Porsche 911 RSR, 122 laps
2. Edwards/Luhr (USA/D), BMW Z4 GTE, 122
3. Magnussen/Garcia (DK/E), Chevrolet Corvette, 122
4. Auberlen/Werner (USA/D), BMW Z4 GTE, 122
5. Gavin/Milner (GB/USA), Chevrolet Corvette, 122
6. Kaffer/Fisichella (D/I), Ferrari F458 Italia, 122
7. Bamber/Bergmeister (NZ/D), Porsche 911 RSR, 121
8. Henzler/Sellers (D/USA), Porsche 911 RSR, 103

This is the Tudor United SportsCar Championship
The Tudor United SportsCar Championship is a new sports car race series contested in the USA and Canada which was run in 2014 for the first time. The series was formed from the merger of the American Le Mans Series and the Grand-Am Series. Sports prototypes and sports cars start in four different classes: GTLM (GT Le Mans), GTD (GT Daytona), P (Prototype) and PC (Prototype Challenge). The Porsche 911 RSR runs in the GTLM class, with the Porsche 911 GT America contesting the GTD class.



All reports on the previous season can be found in our archive.