Porsche and Ferrari take LMGTE honours at COTA
There were further celebrations for Porsche as the PorscheTeam Manthey squad claimed another fine 1-2 formation finish in the LMGTE Pro category.
After a race-long battle between the two Porsche 911 RSRs, it was the No.91 entry of Richard Lietz and Michael Christensen that triumphed once again. The deciding point of the race between the two entries came at the penultimate pit stop when a faster turnaround for the No.91 car gained track position and ultimately the win for the Austrian-Danish pairing ahead of Frederic Makowiecki and Patrick Pilet.
The No.51 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia driven by Gianmaria Bruni and Toni Vilander had looked to be on course to challenge the Porsches but a long pit stop to first fix and then replace a door on the Italian car meant they slipped down the order to eventually place only seventh.
Team mates to Bruni and Vilander in the No.71 AF Corse Ferrari – James Calado and Davide Rigon – took third but were unable to get within striking distance of the Porsche Team Manthey cars.
Completing a hat-trick of LMGTE Am wins at COTA was the SMP Racing Ferrari 458 of Andrea Bertolini, Victor Shaytar and Aleksey Basov. The trio once again completed an excellent win after a race long battle with three competitors – the No.88 Abu-Dhabi Proton Racing Porsche, the No.83 AF Corse Ferrari and the Dempsey-Proton Porsche, which in the hands of Pat Long had led for the first hour.
The win means the Russian-entered Ferrari 458 has an increased advantage of 35 points in the standings.
The sixth round of the 2015 WEC takes place at Fuji, Japan on 11th October.
CLICK HERE for the Results from Round 5
CLICK HERE for the Race Facts
CLICK HERE for the Championship Points after Round 5
