The Porsche customer team Manthey 1st Phorm has won the GT classification at the 6-hour race of the FIA World Endurance Championship in Imola. Austrian works driver Richard Lietz and his teammates Ryan Hardwick from the USA and Riccardo Pera from Italy prevailed over BMW in a thrilling duel. The two Porsche 963 works cars fielded by Porsche Penske Motorsport finished eighth and eleventh in the top Hypercar class. The Iron Dames celebrated winning their first championship points with Porsche in the LMGT3 category in eighth place.

Under cloudy skies and around 20 degrees Celsius, the second round of the FIA World Championship WEC season started very orderly. Then two safety car deployments and several caution phases brought more excitement to the six-hour WRC race. After a difficult start, the Porsche Penske Motorsport works squad made maximum use of the opportunities that presented themselves in that phase. Thanks to an alternative tyre strategy, the number 6 car even completed numerous laps in the lead in the meantime.

In the final third of the race, however, Kévin Estre from France, Matt Campbell from Australia and Belgium's Laurens Vanthoor were unable to defend their top position against some much faster competitors. In the end, the trio reached eighth position and thus collected six world championship points on the Italian Grand Prix circuit. The sister car of the two Frenchmen Mathieu Jaminet and Julien Andlauer as well as the Dane Michael Christensen crossed the finish line in eleventh place. The Porsche 963 of Proton Competition finished the race in 14th place.

"We can't be satisfied with eighth and eleventh place," says Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President Porsche Motorsport. The whole team fought and did a good job. We now have to analyse everything calmly. The differences in the performance of the different hypercars gives us pause for thought. Congratulations to the team of Manthey 1st Phorm. That was a great performance. We are very happy about the victory of the Porsche 911 GT3 R!"

"A disappointing day. We didn't have enough pace to attack at the front," says Jonathan Diuguid, Executive Director Porsche Penske Motorsport. "The crew of the number 6 followed a good strategy and even led the race for a while, but they couldn't hold on to the lead until the end. The drivers acted flawlessly and our team worked optimally. Now we're looking forward to the next race in Spa and hope that things will go better there."

LMGT3 classification: Porsche 911 GT3 R from Manthey wins thrilling duel

In the LMGT3 class, the Manthey 1st Phorm customer team celebrated its first win of the season. Works driver Richard Lietz prevailed against the BMW at the wheel of the No. 92 Porsche 911 GT3 R in a thrilling finale. Its driver crew included Italian motorsport legend Valentino Rossi. Previously, Manthey 1st Phorm teammates Ryan Hardwick from the USA and Riccardo Pera from Italy had driven the nine-eleven into the leading group with strong stints. The Manthey team contributed to the class victory with an optimal strategy and perfect pit stops. The Iron Dames finished eighth with the 911 GT3 R with up to 416 kW (565 hp). This earned them the first points for the LMGT3 classification of the FIA WEC.

Round three of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season will take place at Spa-Francorchamps on 10 May. The 6-hour race in Belgium is considered an important preparation for the subsequent season highlight in Le Mans (14/15 June).

Drivers' comments after the race

Matt Campbell (Porsche 963 #6): "We had a squeaky clean race and were even in the lead at times. In the end, we scored some world championship points. Of course, we would have liked to have finished much further ahead, but the result reflects our performance compared to the competition. We really got the maximum out of it today."

Mathieu Jaminet (Porsche 963 #5): "It was difficult and ultimately disappointing. I had expected a slightly better result. We were on course for a top-5 result for a while, but it didn't work out. We now need to look at where we can improve in terms of performance and strategy."

Nico Pino (Porsche 963 #99): "It was difficult to survive in this competition. We have tried a lot in terms of strategy. I therefore had to defend myself fiercely against the attacks of the competition on old tyres for a long time. It wasn't exactly the best race for the Porsche Hypercar teams. Now we have to use our knowledge from Imola profitably at the next race."

Richard Lietz (Porsche 911 GT3 R #92): "That was very exciting and extremely close! There was a lot of stress in the race. While others made some mistakes, we got through the six hours very cleanly. That tipped the scales. One more lap would have been difficult for us in the tough and beautiful battle against the BMW. Thanks to Ryan, Riccardo and the whole team. Hopefully it will continue just as well – but please with a little less drama at the end."

Rahel Frey (Porsche 911 GT3 R #85): "Eighth place – first WEC points for us together with Porsche. We are happy to take them with us. We have taken a noticeable step forward. But we still make too many mistakes. We must work to avoid them. That is the goal for Spa-Francorchamps. Congratulations to the sister car: its victory shows the potential of the 911 GT3 R."

Results race

Hypercar class:
1. Pier Guidi/Calado/Giovinazzi (ITA/GBR/ITA), Ferrari #51, 212 laps
2. Van der Linde/Rast/Frijns (RSA/DEU/NLD), BMW #20, + 8.490 seconds
3. Schumacher/Gounon/Makowiecki (DEU/FRA/FRA), Alpine #36, + 12.450 seconds
8. Campbell/Estre/Vanthoor (AUS/FRA/BEL), Porsche 963 #6, + 41.280 seconds
11. Andlauer/Christensen/Jaminet (FRA/DNK/FRA), Porsche 963 #5, + 1m 14.220s
14th Jani/Pino/Varrone (SUI/CHL/ARG), Porsche 963 #99, + 1m 17.150s

LMGT3 class:
1st Hardwick/Lietz/Pera (USA/AUT/ITA), Porsche 911 GT3 R #92, 193 laps
2nd Al Harthy/Rossi/van der Linde (OMA/ITA/RSA), BMW #46, + 0.316 seconds
3rd Robin/Gehrsitz/Masson (FRA/DEU/FRA), Lexus #78, + 24.301 seconds
8th Frey/Gatting/Martin (SUI/DNK/FRA), Porsche 911 GT3 R #85, + 25.312 seconds