Fulco werner

The race was dominated by the works Porsche 911 squad, and the duel between its two cars was decided around the time of the first round of pitstops, when poleman Gianmaria Bruni went off at Turn 1 and was forced to pit, and where the #912 car was further delayed by a sticking wheel. This handed the advantage to the #911 sister car, which scored the first win for the mid-engined 911 RSR model in the American series. Pilet said: "It's amazing. These guys worked so hard, and we've been so close so many times." Story of the GTLM race Approaching the rolling start, Bruni rocketed away from the pack at the apex of the final corner, which caught out fellow front-row starter Richard Westbrook (Ford GT). It allowed the second Porsche of Dirk Werner to leap immediately to second, and the lead BMW of John Edwards also took advantage to grab third from Westbrook around the outside of the first corner. Westbrook then rubbed bodywork with Tommy Milner’s Chevrolet Corvette on the … [Read more...] about Lime Rock IMSA: Werner and Pilet lead dominant Porsche 1-2

Falken, which campaigns a BMW M6 GT3 in the VLN as well as a Porsche, had only been planning to run its BMW at the Nordschleife this weekend as all four of its Porsche drivers are busy competing in other championships. Klaus Bachler and Dirk Werner are both taking part in the Monza Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup opener, while Martin Ragginger and Jorg Bergmeister have clashing commitments in Carrera Cup Asia and the European Le Mans Series respectively. However, Falken will still run its 911 GT3 R on Friday as Porsche has made Bernhard - the outright lap record holder at the Nordschleife after his run in the 919 Hybrid Evo last year - available to the Schnabl Engineering-run squad for test duties. “We always planned to race the BMW this weekend but the opportunity came up to get Timo in the car to work through the preparations we need to do before the Nurburgring 24,” said Falken team co-ordinator Stefanie Olbertz. "With revised suspension, different tyre sizes and … [Read more...] about Bernhard gets Falken Nurburgring test call-up

In the first of two GT-only rounds of the series, Bruni set the fastest time in the premiere GTLM division to take his first pole for Porsche in his third outing with the squad after his switch from Ferrari. Ford’s Richard Westbrook had grabbed pole on a 50.540s lap with just under five minutes remaining, before Bruni snatched it back by 0.136s with a 50.404s – one of a sequence of blindingly quick laps. “We tried our best, worked very hard with the engineers, and it works,” said Bruni. “I’m very happy to get my first pole for Porsche at my first qualifying attempt with the team.” The only worry for Bruni was a brief off-track excursion near the end of the session on the tyres which he will have to start the race on. Westbrook will start second, with Dirk Werner third in the #911 Porsche, his 50.606s best being two-tenths off the sister car’s pole time. John Edwards was fourth quickest for BMW, ahead of the Corvettes of Tommy Milner and Jan Magnussen. Dirk Muller … [Read more...] about Lime Rock IMSA: Bruni takes his first pole for Porsche

The two Aussies clashed at The Chase with half an hour to go, Campbell giving Mostert's Schnitzer BMW a nudge on the way into the left-hand part of the corner having slipstreamed it through the fast right hander. The move put Campbell into third, and was crucial in giving him a shot of running down leader Jake Dennis to win the race. While stewards confirmed a post-race investigation would take place, it's since been determined that the move was legal, and Campbell's win alongside Dirk Werner and Dennis Olsen stands. Speaking after the race Campbell told Motorsport.com he had no concerns over the legality of the move, and that he felt Mostert was moving under brakes. "When I saw the opportunity I had to take it," he said. "If I was behind him any longer I think it would have hurt our tyre, and the engine was getting quite hot. It was then and there. "We got it down there, he was moving a bit under brakes and there was a bit of contact. But at … [Read more...] about Campbell avoids penalty, keeps Bathurst win

Campbell, Dirk Werner and Dennis Olsen took a sensational victory after a seven-way shoot out to the flag in the final half hour, a bold move on Aston Martin driver Jake Dennis by Campbell at Forrests Elbow key to the win. However the result is under investigation due a bump-and-run on BMW's Chaz Mostert inside the last hour. As it stands, the #912 is the winner ahead of the #62 R-Motorsport Aston Martin (Dennis/Matthieu Vaxiviere/Marvin Kirchhoefer) and the #999 GruppeM Mercedes (Raffaele Marciello/Max Buhk/Max Goetz). The first of the contenders fell early in the final quarter of the race, the #911 that led at the nine-hour mark forced into the garage with a power steering issues just 12 minutes later. That left just seven on the lead lap, Campbell leading the way in the #912 entry on an out-of-sync strategy as EBM tried to get the car home on a stop less than everyone else. The likes of the #62 Aston Martin and the #108 Bentley spent time at the front … [Read more...] about Bathurst 12 Hour: Campbell seals thrilling victory for Porsche