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Stuttgart. Porsche travels as the points’ leader to the final race of the 2015 United SportsCar Championship held on October 3 on the storied Road Atlanta race track. Although the Porsche North America 911 RSR narrowly missed out on clinching an almost certain fourth double victory in the very last lap at Saturday’s race on the Circuit of the Americas in Austin/Texas, Porsche still holds the GTLM class lead in all categories. As the best Porsche pilots, Le Mans winner Nick Tandy (Great Britain) and the drivers’ championship leader Patrick Pilet (France) took the flag in third. With the 470 hp winning racer from Weissach, which is based on the seventh generation of the iconic 911 sports car, the pair has won the last three rounds of the most important sports car championship on the North American continent.

Trailing the winners from Bowmanville, Road America and Virginia over the line in fourth place were Wolf Henzler (Germany) and Bryan Sellers (USA) at the wheel of the 911 RSR fielded by the Falken Tire customer squad. Scoring victory at Watkins Glen, the duo clinched the first of four straight wins for Porsche. Fifth place went to Le Mans winner Earl Bamber (New Zealand) and Jörg Bergmeister (Germany) crewing the second 911 RSR of Porsche North America.

With the thermometer measuring 35 degrees Celsius and a track temperature of 60 degrees Celsius, the penultimate round of the United SportsCar Championship on the outskirts of the Texas capital pushed drivers and teams to the limit – especially Patrick Pilet and Earl Bamber who also contested the Sports Car World Endurance Championship (WEC) for Porsche in the late afternoon on the Circuit of the Americas. Making a superb getaway, the pair got the jump off the line to take the lead of the strong GT field, with Wolf Henzler catching up in the first lap. With three Porsche 911 RSR at the front, everything was running to plan in the opening phase.

The serial winners maintained their strong performance over the course of the 2.40-hour race. At the wheel of the number 911 vehicle, Nick Tandy and Patrick Pilet were running at the front followed by Earl Bamber and Jörg Bergmeister. But just as the fans in the grandstand were counting on Porsche achieving the fifth straight win and the third one-two in a row, fortunes changed. Because the race on the Grand Prix circuit, with its wide run-off zones, was only slowed down by two caution phases, which reduce fuel consumption, the leading 911 RSR racers got low on fuel. With one lap to the flag, they had to come in for a splash-and-dash pit stop, which cost them an almost sure double victory.

Comments after the race
Dr. Frank-Steffen Walliser, Head of Porsche Motorsport: “From a results point of view it’s obviously very disappointing. We were running in the lead over the entire race but had to call our 911 RSR into the pits for a splash of fuel. That cost us victory. But we still scored third place. We certainly deserved better today, but now we’re turning our attention to the final round at Atlanta. We’re still leading the championship, so it’ll be exciting.”
Patrick Pilet (Porsche 911 RSR #911): “It is what it is. Sometimes you’re lucky, sometimes you’re not. We tried everything to conserve fuel and make it to the flag, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough. It’s not the end of the world. We still finished in third. The whole team can be proud of the work we’ve done this week. After three straight victories we can easily live with third place. Now we’ll concentrate on the last race at Atlanta. We have a good package and still have the chance to take home all titles.”
Nick Tandy (Porsche 911 RSR #911): “The positive thing is that, despite everything, we finished on the podium and still earned good points for Porsche towards the manufacturers and team classifications with our podium result. That takes the edge off the disappointment a little, although it’s of course bitter to lead the entire race and lose the victory just before the finish.”
Earl Bamber (Porsche 911 RSR #912): “With our dream start and three Porsche suddenly in the lead, we gave the fans a terrific show. It’s a pity we weren’t rewarded for this in the end. But what can you do. Now the fight continues at Atlanta. All titles will be decided at the final race – it doesn’t get much more exciting than that.”
Jörg Bergmeister (Porsche 911 RSR #912): “It was a great race for us until shortly before the finish. In the fast corners our 911 RSR got a bit of understeer and this made it difficult to preserve the tyres, especially the front tyres. Still, I was looking forward to finishing in second place, but then the petrol ran out and we had to pit with one lap to go.”

Petit Le Mans on 3 October marks the season finale of the United SportsCar Championship. It is contested on the storied Road Atlanta race track at Bowmanville (US state of Georgia).

Race result

GTLM class
1. Auberlen/Werner (USA/D), BMW Z4 GTE, 72 laps
2. Kaffer/Fisichella (D/I), Ferrari F458 Italia, 72
3. Pilet/Tandy (F/GB), Porsche 911 RSR, 72
4. Henzler/Sellers (D/USA), Porsche 911 RSR, 72
5. Bamber/Bergmeister (NZ/D), Porsche 911 RSR, 72
6. Magnussen/Garcia (DK/E), Chevrolet Corvette, 72
7. Edwards/Luhr (USA/D), BMW Z4 GTE, 72
8. Gavin/Milner (GB/USA), Chevrolet Corvette, 72

GTD class
1. Bleekemolen/Keating (NL/USA), Dodge Viper SRT, 69 laps
2. Palttala/Marsal (SF/USA), BMW Z4, 69
3. Haase/von Moltke (D/USA), Audi R8 LMS, 69
4. Farnbacher/James (D/USA), Porsche 911 GT America, 69
5. Lindsey/Pumpelly (USA/USA), Porsche 911 GT America, 69
6. Sweedler/Bell (USA/USA), Ferrari 458 Italia, 69

The United SportsCar Championship
The United SportsCar Championship is a 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 (e.g. Porsche 911 RSR), GTD (e.g. Porsche 911 GT America), P and PC.