“Racing improves the breed”. “Win on a Sunday, sell on a Monday”. “Technological transfer”. The well-worn cliches of motorsport. Yet, they remain vital to the success of our sport.

Automotive companies are spoilt for choice on how to spend their marketing dollars. However, in motorsport, virtues of relevant products can be exhibited in action. The 18th Petit Le Mans in 2015 will be remembered for two world famous automotive brands delivering a promotional slam dunk.

Porsche arrived at Road Atlanta for the annual ‘Petit Le Mans’ season finale with the form book in their favour. For the last two years, Team Falken Tyre, had triumphed with their privately entered 911 RSR. Patrick Pilet headed into the finale with a slender advantage over rivals from Corvette and BMW. Although Pilet and his Porsche colleagues ran on identical tyres to the Corvette, BMW and Ferrari crews, the Weissach squad had an ace card up their sleeve.

Since 1964, Porsche 911s have unapologetically housed their engine at the rear. Generations of Porsche engineers tirelessly honed the 911 recipe for racing, albeit with the same rear-engine ingredient. 2015’s 911 RSR was the latest iteration of Porsche’s iconic model. In wet conditions, the weight of the RSR’s engine lumbering over the rear wheels produced a significant advantage under acceleration from slow corners. This was the most devastating weapon in Tandy and Pilet’s armoury against the onslaught of Corvette and BMW.

On race day, Porsche fans rejoiced as rain poured down on a gloomy Road Atlanta. Normally, the grid at Petit Le Mans would be a hive of activity. Honoured dignitaries and wide-eyed children alike surrounding every car, wishing the drivers good luck and capturing photographs. However, as the downpour continued, even the permanently jubilant Michelin man huddled under an umbrella.

As the grid cleared, the entire field lined up in a formation ironically reminiscent of the animals preparing to board Noah’s ark. Eventually, the already drenched crews twirled their fingers, signalling their drivers to fire up their engines for the start. On command, the Georgian countryside became engulfed in a symphony of horsepower. Ten hours of racing beckoned.

A post qualifying penalty sent Tandy and Pilet to the back for a ride height infraction. However, it wouldn’t hold the #911 crew back for long.

Richard Westbrook led the field to the green flag, wiggling and squirming through the puddles in his Corvette Daytona Prototype. Immediately, the carnage began. A luckless Ben Keating couldn’t keep his gargantuan SRT Viper out of the wall after losing control at the downhill waterfall of turn four and five.

Porsche’s pair of RSRs endured no such peril. Starting from the back, both Earl Bamber and Nick Tandy swiftly dispatched with the #3 Corvette of Antonio Garcia. Within 25 minutes, Bamber and Tandy surged to third and fourth in class behind Ollie Gavin’s Corvette and Lucas Luhr’s BMW.

As conditions worsened, poor visibility compounded the challenge of evading the perilous puddles. Nevertheless, as the track became ever more treacherous, Tandy elevated to an unparralled pace.

Forty-five minutes into the championship showdown, Tandy accumulated a scarcely comprehendible advantage of seventeen seconds over his class rivals. With every passing lap, the Bedfordshire bullet swelled his advantage while others floundered far behind.

All seemed rosy for Porsche until a split wheel rim deflated a tyre on the #912 machine, sending Earl Bamber off the circuit at turn one. Beached in the gravel, the 2015 Le Mans winner needed assistance from the tireless Road Atlanta crew to reach terra firma. Bamber limped back to pit road for repairs, the damage was already done. Over to the #911 to bring home the silverware.

After a lengthy safety car period triggered by Bamber, Tandy burst into life once again from the restart. Relishing the unfamiliar proposition of overtaking the prototypes, Tandy swept by the #10 Konica Minolta Corvette DP of Ricky Taylor. On a waterlogged track, drivers of the stiffly sprung prototypes running on Continental tyres twitched and tweaked to stay out the barriers. Meanwhile, Tandy tracked ahead on a furrow to the front. However, a bitter rival had ambitions to spoil Tandy’s party.

Back at the Rolex 24 hour at Daytona in January, a feud between Tandy and BMW factory ace Bill Auberlen ignited. Unimpressed with Tandy’s aggressive driving style, the usually calm Auberlen unleashed a stinging tirade, branding the Briton “the worst driver in the paddock” on a live TV interview. Desperate to overhaul Tandy and Pilet in the championship, Auberlen brought the #25 BMW Z4 to life on its last race in IMSA GTLM competition. Auberlen promptly carved past both Corvettes and teammate John Edwards, moving to second in class. However, fifteen seconds was as close as the IMSA veteran could get to Tandy on his defining day.

Although logic suggested Tandy should focus on his GTLM class rivals further behind, the English star had higher ambitions. Clearly aware of the unique opportunity to win outright in a GT car, Tandy forged ahead in pursuit of overall leader, Richard Westbrook.

Approaching the two-hour mark, a spinning Christian Fittipaldi triggered another safety car intervention. Conditions continued deteriorating and drivers’ tempers continued flaring. IMSA officials took their opportunity to regroup and prepare the track for an eventual restart.

As the field chugged around behind the Mazda pace car, Tandy headed to pit lane. After a momentous stint, rivalling his overnight haul at Le Mans a few months before, Tandy handed over to Pilet. Immediately, the Fox Sports TV crew pounced to hear from the man of the hour: “Most of the time we were running, it was ok. It’s only when you get the standing water. When the rain starts falling heavily, you see it immediately when the cars go off. When you’re in the car you need to look for when the rain is coming and adjust your speed accordingly. It’s not easy” exclaimed a smiling, confident Tandy. “It’s a lot of fun fighting with the prototypes!” Tandy’s ambition for more than a mere class victory was obvious.

Throughout a stream of endless pace car interruptions sparked by various incidents, Patrick Pilet plodded on. However, tensions remained high within the paddock. A sudden red flag stoppage seemed imminent and no team could bear being caught out in this high stakes game of aquatic musical chairs.

Wayne Taylor - team owner and winning driver of the inaugural Petit Le Mans in 1998 – took a typically blunt stance: “If you listen to the feedback from the drivers, they all say it’s too dangerous. The track is not ready for racing” noted the South African.

When the field tipped toed back to the restart, the GTLM battle erupted as the weather began to relent. Porsche’s own entry of Patrick Pilet and the private Falken Tyre Porsche of Wolf Henzler led confidently out front. However, the drivers comfort levels differed greatly. Running on Michelin tyres, Pilet looked a model of calm, guiding his Porsche through the monsoon with serene inputs. Henzler, on bespoke Falken tyres, wrenched at the wheel of his mint green and blue car, trying to catch Pilet.

Improving track conditions opened the door for another rival to challenge Porsche and Pilet’s prominence. Particularly in the hands of Tommy Milner, the pair of ever-present yellow Corvette’s rumbled back into contention. Using the same magical Michelins as Porsche, both Corvette’s eased by Chip Ganassi’s Ford prototype, driven by Scott Dixon. Even the all-star Kiwi couldn’t hold off the relentless ascent of the Corvettes.

Approaching half distance, Pilet looked unruffled in the overall lead. Neither was the Gallic superstar threatened by the Corvettes close behind. Three GTLM cars now led this bizarre contest overall as the horrid weather swamped the fickle prototypes.

Much to the exclusive delight of Porsche, the dark clouds continued lurking over Road Atlanta. During every successive safety car period, marshals toiled for relief. However, the rain refused to relent.

Capitalising on the worsening conditions, Pilet disappeared out front. Particularly on corner exit, no one could touch the Weissach machines. Porsche’s nemesis, Bill Auberlen, needed no reminder: “We need to wait for the Porsches to make a mistake. They are so good in the rain right now. We just need to keep doing laps and not throw it away. I think the class of the field right now is the Porsche” sighed the BMW stalwart.

Ticking past halfway, Pilet’s stronghold on the GTLM category continued. However, the pursuit of outright victory was back under threat. Corvette Prototype drivers, Sebastian Bourdais and Jordan Taylor streaked away from Pilet in their own fight for the overall lead.

Five and a half hours into an exhausting ordeal, IMSA threw in the towel, calling the entire field to pit lane under a red flag.

Despite possessing an advantage over his GTLM championship rivals, even Patrick Pilet appeared relieved to park up his 911 RSR: “It’s tricky. It’s a lot of aquaplaning and the track is changing a lot. They are trying to clean the track with machines, but it’s still coming back with big lakes and rivers on the track. Sometimes the prototypes are better and sometimes we are better. Overall, it’s difficult for everybody and there was a lot of crashes. I think it was the right decision” stated the race leading Frenchman.

After a lengthy wait, the remaining cars re-emerged onto a stubbornly hazardous track barely illuminated by rapidly diminishingly daylight. Once again, a frustrating succession of safety cars froze the order, with the #911 car stuck behind the pair of Corvette C7.Rs.

Mercifully, racing resumed with three hours remaining. Stepping into an unknown abyss through plumes of spray, Tandy plotted his attack on the Corvettes. Swooping by the #3 car of Garcia at turn one, Tandy tightened the vice further with an audacious manoeuvre on Ollie Gavin in the #4 machine at turn four. As the Englishman vanished up the road, the Corvettes squirmed to keep up, but to no avail.

On a day when the virtues of the 911’s unique rear-engine layout were overwhelmingly obvious, the ambitious Porsche privateers in the GTD class hammered the point home. In a world above the rest, Andy Lally and Spencer Pumpelly duelled for class honours at a supreme pace. In Porsche’s number one market, the 911s were showing that maybe the old dog’s tricks still do the job.

Back at the front, Tandy reeled in the leading #31 Whelen Daytona prototype at the rate of three seconds per lap. Embarking upon the final two and half hours, Tandy’s 911 filled the mirrors of the overall leader. Charging down into the chicane at turn ten A and B, Tandy teed up a move. Splashing through the streams running across the circuit, Tandy pointed the nose of the RSR up the steep climb to turn eleven. Applying the power of the revered Porsche flat six motor, Tandy’s 911 RSR hunkered down and rocketed past the #31 prototype with ease.

As the rain continued beating down from a navy-blue sky, Tandy turned the screw on the competition and pulled away in the overall lead. The inevitable arrival of the night promised to enhance Tandy’s advantage. However, yet another safety car threatened to turn this rollercoaster race around once again.

Reacting to yet another destroyed race car stranded on the circuit, the #31 Whelen and #25 BMW team played an apparent strategical masterstroke. Predicting another safety car intervention, which duly arrived, the #31 and #25 crew completed their service before the pits closed. Thus, gaining a potential advantage. Now with Bill Auberlen back on board, the #25 BMW vaulted back into contention with Tandy and Pilet.

Agonisingly, the #31 Whelen prototype and #25 BMW’s seemingly genius ploy imploded almost immediately. While the field trundled behind the pace car, a marshal appeared onto the main flag stand and revealed a checkered flag with over two hours remaining. The 18th Petit Le Mans was over.

Sitting in the prime spot at the front of the field, was the #911 Porsche RSR. Nick Tandy and Patrick Pilet had pulled off a feat believed to be impossible in contemporary endurance racing. Amongst a packed grid of sophisticated prototype machinery, Tandy and Pilet took their GT class machine to outright victory on a sodden Georgian afternoon.

Under the most extreme conditions, Tandy and Pilet overdelivered on their responsibility to promote Porsche cars via the medium of motor racing. Even a casual observer could marvel over the exceptional traction of the 911 in wet weather, demonstrated by the world’s fastest car salesmen on a damp October day. Furthermore, the exhibition of Michelin’s extraordinary wet weather tyre would unquestionably influence the fans struggling to unearth their vehicles from the waterlogged Road Atlanta car parks.