With the Porsche 911 RSR, Frenchmen Patrick Pilet and Frédéric Makowiecki take up the last round of the Sports Car World Championship WEC (World Endurance Championship) on the Bahrain International Circuit on Saturday from the third GT grid row. In qualifying on the Grand Prix circuit in the desert, they posted the fifth quickest time with the 470 hp racing version of the iconic 911 sports car. Their teammates Richard Lietz (Austria) and Michael Christensen (Denmark) tackle the six-hour race in the sister 911 RSR fielded by the Porsche Manthey squad from the seventh grid spot. Richard Lietz currently leads the GT FIA World Endurance Cup drivers’ championship, with the Porsche Team Manthey ranking first in the GTE-Pro team classification.

Qualifying quotes
Marco Ujhasi, Overall Project Leader GT Works Motorsport: “This qualifying result is not a surprise. We’ve remained true to our path and have put our complete focus on preparing for the race. For this reason we’ve only used one set of tyres. Now we need to do everything we can to get the most out of tomorrow’s race.” 

Richard Lietz (911 RSR #91): “My lap was pretty good and the balance of our 911 RSR was better than in the free practice beforehand. This gives me confidence for the race.”

Michael Christensen (911 RSR #91): “It’s not easy to prepare optimally for this track. We have tried our best, and we’ll see in the race if that’s enough.”  

Patrick Pilet (911 RSR #92): “The qualifying wasn’t bad. I only drove one lap; afterwards Fred performed very well on my tyres. We’re feeling optimistic for the race.”

Frédéric Makowiecki (911 RSR #92): “The key to success on this circuit are the tyres. We’ve saved a fresh set for the race and we hope we’ll benefit from this.”