Porsche drivers confident for Sao Paulo
Porsche’s factory drivers Marc Lieb and Richard Lietz, driving the No. 77 Felbermayr–Proton Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, have every reason to be positive about the second half of the FIA World Endurance Championship season.
Having put the disappointment of their suspension problem at the 6 Hours of Silverstone behind them, the German-Austrian pairing is confident they will have the pace and performance to take the challenge to their competitors in next weekend’s 6 Hours of Sao Paulo, the fifth round of the championship. Since Le Mans, their Porsche has been fitted with a new front splitter and an adapted rear wing and both team and drivers feel they are benefitting from this as the season progresses.
Lieb and Lietz go head-to-head with their rivals from Aston Martin and Ferrari in the hotly-contested LMGTE Pro class, while their team mates Christian Ried-Gianluca Roda-Paolo Ruberti share driving duties in the LMGTE Am class.
Hartmut Kristen, Porsche Head of Motorsport: “The race in Silverstone showed us that the measures taken concerning the Balance of Performance were right. The 911 GT3 RSR is now at the same performance level as our competitors. It’ll be interesting to see how the World Endurance Championship works in the new environment of Sao Paulo.”
Marc Lieb, No.77 Team Felbermayr-Proton: “We found a good basic set-up for our car in Silverstone. After we fell back we changed something at every pit stop and we learned a lot from this. For Sao Paulo, we have a couple of good ideas that could make things even better.”
Richard Lietz , No.77 Team Felbermayr-Proton: “We now have the speed to match the pace of the front-runners. Now we have to find a good balance over the whole race distance. In Sao Paulo our aim is to set pole again and finish on the podium.”
Fiona Miller (Quotes from Porsche press release)
PHOTO: SILVERSTONE (NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, UK), SILVERSTONE CIRCUIT, 6 HOURS OF SILVERSTONE, SUNDAY 26TH AUGUST 2012. The No.77 Team Felbermayr-Proton Porsche battling with the No.51 AF Corse Ferrari.