Raymond Narac and Patrick Pilet won Saturday’s International GT Open endurance race at Monza to cap a great day for Porsche and the team’s Matmut sponsors. It’s a result the French team will hope to repeat during the championship’s season finale in Barcelona on November 3/4.
‘Superb’ and ‘Well deserved’ were the comments ringing out around the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza at roughly 17:40 on Saturday evening after IMSA Performance Matmut dealt with the changeable weather conditions perfectly to give its #16 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR victory. Following a productive qualifying session that yielded fifth place for Narac and a pole position for Pilet, IMSA Performance Matmut jumped at the chance to add another victory to its racing CV, its first this season in the International GT Open despite scoring numerous podiums and other strong finishes. At the home of Ferrari the French squad gave Porsche a superb win ahead of a Corvette and Manthey Racing’s 911.
The following day, taking into account the time handicaps imposed on Saturday’s winner (an additional 15 seconds spent stationary in the pits for IMSA) and a track that had dried, Pilet and then Narac gave everything they had to finish sixth after a faultless performance. Pilet made a superb start to lead the opening three laps before the effects of the International GT Open’s balance of performance rules helped three cars with less of a disadvantage past. Narac was equally superb, only being caught by the Manthey Racing Porsche of Nick Tandy and a Ferrari who re-joined with new tyres and managed to reel him in towards the end of the race.
The final round of this year’s International GT Open takes place at Barcelona on November 3/4 where the entire IMSA Performance Matmut team will be hoping for a repeat of this Monza result. Following their World Endurance Championship win at Spa, second place at the Le Mans 24 Hours and now this significant result in Italy, the French team can be trusted to grasp even the slightest chance of further success at the famous Catalan circuit.
Arnaud Soudey (GT Open chief engineer): “Saturday was a great day for IMSA Performance Matmut. Raymond did superbly in qualifying against a lot of professional drivers, which allowed us to start from fifth place. We owe it to our strategy of remaining on wet tyres when our rivals got into trouble by trying to run slicks. It was a bit complicated but our set-up worked really well in those conditions. We then followed it up with the pole position from Patrick who flew during the second qualifying session in the rain to lead by 1.3 seconds over everyone else. The icing on the cake was the superb victory thanks to the drivers who both drove really well and managed to avoid all the pitfalls of this famous Monza circuit. On Sunday Raymond ran on used slicks as that optimised our set- up and allowed us to save tyres. In that regard we were better than Manthey Racing, which was seen at the end of the race. After Budapest we very nearly restarted from zero and have subsequently found a good set-up that increased performance. We have done a really good job and, on a layout like that of Monza where we expected to suffer, we made the best of the weather conditions to win. We are hoping for a repeat in Barcelona!”
Patrick Pilet (Official Porsche and IMSA Performance Matmut driver): “Since arriving at Monza we were very consistent on both a wet and dry track. Raymond’s qualifying performance put us in an ideal position at the start before being squeezed down to ninth position due to the wrong tyre pressures, but he nevertheless managed to stay in touch with the leading cars and avoided contact with others, especially the Corvette. We decided to leave Raymond on track longer so that we could re-join with slick tyres at the optimum moment. I managed to re-join just in front of the Corvette and pushed really hard in my first few laps to overtake the Ferraris of Léo and Lopez. I was very fast in the dry but then had to manage the traffic and, towards the end of the race, my slick tyres when it started to rain. Fortunately these are precisely the type of conditions I love so was able to manage them. It was difficult but we made good decisions. The one to start Raymond on wet tyres was correct and our strategy worked out perfectly after that. This victory is a reward for all of our efforts this season. Raymond gave me the car in a good position and I was able to attack and make the difference against our rivals. It was a good day. Then on Sunday we started from pole position and used everything we have learnt since Budapest, when we reviewed all of our set-ups, which allowed us to be competitive in all conditions. The Porsche is comfortable in these changing conditions which mask the balance of performance restrictions that do not favour us.”
Raymond Narac (IMSA Performance Matmut co-owner and #16 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR driver): “The car’s maximum potential in the International GT Open was demonstrated on Saturday. This means that in wet weather conditions and on a slippery track we showcased its capability by winning. As soon as the track dried the balance of performance regulations again became a handicap for us. I watched the start of Sunday’s race but had I been at the wheel it would have been understandable for someone to say, ‘It’s Narac, which is why he is being caught.’ But for Patrick Pilet, a Porsche works driver who again proved his credentials as a top- line factory racer at the Le Mans 24 Hours, to be caught by the others like that is not conceivable. I can tell you that he was flat out and that was clear for all to see. It was like watching a film in fast-forward when the RSR was going through each corner as he had to throw the car at the curbs in order to stay in front, while the other drivers at the front drove very easily without as much effort. We must not be shy about our display. We have delivered the maximum. I, merely an amateur, achieved a great fifth place in qualifying amongst the professional drivers. I might also rush around everywhere during the week but it is for my business! Thankfully our results match our partners’ level of support. I am going to follow it up with the 10,000 Tours classic car event in the CER class at Le Castellet before Petit Le Mans where we are taking on a great challenge with the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR.”
Source : IMSA Performance Matmut