The boys are back in town
In motor racing, the concept of a ‘teammate’ can be contradictory. Racers may drive seemingly identical cars, report to the same boss, and cash the same pay cheque. However, make no mistake, these ruthless competitors are sworn enemies. Any contrary statement on camera, or alongside a stern PR representative, is simply false.
For endurance racing teams, collaborating inherently selfish racing drivers effectively is essential to success. Over six, twelve or even twenty-four hours, a cast of drivers must all take their turn in the spotlight. All in the hope of their car crossing the line first.
There have been many exceptional endurance racing combinations. Hurley Haywood, Peter Gregg and their Brumos Porsches were feared by the IMSA paddock. At Le Mans in the 1980s, the sight of Derek Bell or Hans Stuck in a Rothmans 956 sent shivers down many a spine. Twenty years later, Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhard continually spoilt the Audi ALMS party in their Team Penske RS Spyder. Individually, these drivers are all exceptional. As pairings, they were nigh on unbeatable.
For the 2017 World Endurance Championship season, Porsche formed a new pairing to drive its #92 911 RSR. Although Kevin Estre and Michael Christensen shared impressive junior careers, Porsche’s latest duo possessed a collective hunger to prove their world class credentials.
“We’d both had a rough 2016. Kevin was determined to show what he was about. As was I. I knew how fast and talented he was. There were just a few things that didn’t work out for him in 2016. My 2016 was horrible as well, so we were on a level playing field. We grew well together from the same point” explains Christensen.
One could argue, combining two confident racing drivers hell bent on winning is a recipe for conflict. Sharing an identical car provides an ideal opportunity to discover who is quickest. However, Porsche’s perfect pairing possess an impressive intellect which guided them away from this dangerous path. “For sure, both of us have an ego and we both want to win” acknowledges the Danish star. “However, we both understand that we need one another in order to win.”
After their first full season sharing the cockpit, Estre and Christensen still craved that elusive first win together. Nevertheless, in 2018 these smiling assassins struck a gold rush that streamed on for three wonderful seasons.
On the 17th of June 2018, Estre and Christensen faced immense pressure to win the 24 hours of Le Mans. Their employer had a seventieth birthday to celebrate, and failure was inconceivable. To commemorate such a momentous occasion, Porsche decorated their #91 machine in the distinctive Rothmans war paint that brought bountiful success to Weissach in the 1980s. For Estre and Christensen, the instantly recognisable pattern of the ‘Pink Pig’ covered the flanks of the #92 car they shared with Laurens Vanthoor.
Although the ‘Pink Pig’ is esteemed so affectionately by Porsche fans worldwide, the original car was a total flop in the 1971 24 hours of Le Mans. Disowned by its own entrant, Count Gregorio Rossi of the Martini Racing Team, the runt of the 917 litter crashed out of the race with Reinhold Joest onboard. Estre and Christensen had no intention to commemorate this part of the ‘Pink Pig’ story.
Notwithstanding the obvious honour of starting such a prestigious race in his homeland, Estre carried enormous responsibility on his shoulders. “It was the seventieth year of Porsche with a special livery, a lot of people, a lot of marketing, and a lot of pressure. Just before the start one of the board members came over to me and said ‘Look, don’t make any mistakes at the start. We need to finish this race and win, but don’t make a mistake at the start.’ When you hear this, it’s quite stressful” reveals the Lyon native. “However, I have to say, when I put on the helmet and went on the formation lap, it was just a normal race.”
Against a tranche of ruthless competitors with “a knife between their teeth”, Estre, Christensen and Vanthoor delivered under the most severe pressure. A year after the anguish of abandoning their highly successful 919 LMP1 project, Porsche toasted a milestone with yet another Le Mans triumph.
Buoyed by breaking their Le Mans duck, Estre and Christensen’s partnership continued flourishing. By the end of 2019, the French-Danish duo were World Endurance Champions and winners of the highly coveted 24 hours of Spa. To any onlooker, the Estre/Christensen alliance appeared to be copper bottomed for the future.
Despite clinching an extraordinary win in changeable conditions at the 2020 six hours of Spa, this highly fruitful partnership would be split up at the end of the World Endurance Championship season. After shuttering its IMSA program in North America, Porsche found itself with an abundance of world class drivers and not enough seats to make full use of its squad. In December 2020, the news of Christensen’s departure eventually broke.
A model of magnanimity, Christensen looked ahead to 2021 with admirable optimism: “I didn’t take it too harshly. Of course, it hurt me a little bit that I wasn’t going to be part of the (WEC) line-up. However, good things will come!” Even for a man who wouldn’t be out of place on the international Poker circuit, Christensen couldn’t contain a knowing grin. Although a world championship assault was off the cards for 2021, a relentlessly focused program to tick a box on both Christensen and Estre’s CV had been formed behind the scenes. A week later, the news dropped. The dream team were back together for the toughest endurance race in the world – The Nurburgring 24 hours.
Joining Matteo Cairoli and Lars Kern, Christensen and Estre were confirmed as the crack team to pilot the #911 ‘Grello’ Manthey Racing Porsche to a record seventh overall victory.
Five months after a win Bahrain on their WEC swansong, Estre and Christensen reignited an alliance that appeared to have been abandoned in the Middle Eastern desert. At the first time of asking, a win in the opening round of the Nurburgring’s NLS series proved yet again that the recipe of Estre and Christensen was a winning one not to be tampered with.
Heading into the gruelling Nurburgring 24-hour race, Estre and Christensen could be quietly confident of their chances to win. However, at least fifteen other world-class crews arrived in the Eifel Forest with similar optimism. On top of conquering the infamous racetrack, winning the Nurburgring 24 hour involves toppling a bulging line up of top teams from Audi, BMW, Mercedes and more.
Despite the constant hurdle of changeable weather conditions, practice and most of qualifying passed without incident for the Manthey squad. In a high-speed game of bluff, only on race day would each team’s true pace be fully revealed.
On Friday night, a sodden top twenty shootout for pole position set the grid for the 49th running of this day-long classic. With excessive standing water engulfing the track, the best GT racers on earth had only two laps each to show their pace.
These dramatic situations are usually Kevin Estre country. However, even the supernatural grip of a Michelin wet tyre and the otherworldly talent of Estre were pushed beyond their limits. On a flying lap, Estre tumbled into the Adenauer Forst chicane after the full throttle run through the ‘Fox hole’. Leaning on the 911 GT3 R’s brakes and clattering down the gearbox, the Frenchman fought to keep the ‘Grello’ Porsche on the road, but to no avail. Skating over the top of the puddles, Estre lost control and spun backwards. Thankfully, heavy contact with the nearby barrier was averted, much to the delight of the mechanics who could now enjoy a good night’s rest.
Starting eleventh, deep in the lap one mosh pit, the #911 Manthey crew had plenty of work to do. However, panic isn’t a word you’ll find in Estre or Christensen’s vocabulary. When race day finally arrived, the teams maintained a fraught stare to the skies, trying to predict the inevitable weather front looming over the circuit. Much of the 25.3-kilometre circuit was dry, however sporadic sections received their own acute spurts of showers.
As usual, the Nurburgring start line was a hive of activity. Mechanics darted back and forth to the garage with stacks of tyres, desperately hoping their car would have the optimum rubber. For the drivers, wet weather isn’t necessarily a concern. Part wet, part dry is a nightmare. With paymasters loitering, the pressure to deliver is immense.
For this highly charged opening phase of the race, Estre took the wheel. Pulling on his specially painted ‘Grello’ Spark helmet, the Porsche superstar prepared for another draw dropping masterclass of driving. From eleventh on the grid, Estre immediately carved through his adversaries with surgical precision.
Arriving at the terrifying charge through Flugplatz, spits of rain on the windscreen quickly morphed to a downpour. While Estre’s adversaries slithered through Aremberg and the ‘Fox Hole’, the world champion inflicted several psychological blows as he continued overtaking in unfathomable parts of the circuit. By the end of the opening lap, Estre had surged to fourth. Before long, the #911 Manthey Porsche led the way.
Approaching nightfall, fog submerged the Nurburgring and threatened to halt a magnificent contest. Eventually, the notorious Eifel weather became too much to ignore. Red flag. It would be well into Sunday morning before action resumed.
As the garage doors opened to an atmospheric Sunday morning, the Manthey crew pushed their #911 machine into pit lane, ready to restart in sixth place. On the roof of the green and yellow Porsche, sat Estre’s Spark helmet. A clear signal to their opponents confirming who would be driving the opening stint of a three-hour sprint to the flag.
Akin to the initial race start, changeable conditions presented another perilous challenge for the drivers. Race fans watching worldwide poised for a dogfight to the finish. Once again, Estre pushed to the front in spectacular fashion. Meanwhile, Manthey Racing’s opponents began to fade. First to falter, was the pace setting #4 Mercedes-AMG. A high-speed clash with the fan favourite Opel Manta sent Maro Engel hard into the wall at the Tiergarten, ending the chances of a repeat Nurburgring 24-hour victory. Next to perish was the #1 Rowe BMW when an electric fault thwarted a challenge for the first consecutive Nurburgring 24-hour win for a team in the GT3 era.
Following Estre’s Hollywood heroics, Christensen took the reigns of the #911 machine. Totally unfazed by the acute intensity of the situation, Christensen got down to business with typical Scandinavian serenity. Negotiating a constant and frantic stream of slower traffic, Christensen turned the screw tighter on his opponents with every rapid lap.
With under two hours remaining, Manthey Racing faced a choice between Italian young gun Matteo Cairoli, or depend on the exceptional Estre once again. Despite Cairoli’s impressive pace earlier in the race, there could only be one choice. Despite a valiant charge from the #98 Rowe BMW driven by Sheldon van der Linde, Estre flawlessly coaxed the #911 Porsche to the finish to secure victory. A seventh overall win for Manthey and the first ever at the Eifel classic for Estre, Christensen, and Cairoli.
Estre and Christensen were back in victory lane once more. Most importantly, they had done it their way. Estre grabbing the headlines with trademark flamboyant precision and aggression. Christensen peacefully dispatching his devastating pace with a cunning stealth that sneaks up on any opponent.
In reaction to the agony of being split up against their will, Estre and Christensen scored the most significant win of their career. No one outside the Porsche Motorsport realm will know the reasons why this perfect partnership was severed at the end of 2020. This successful reunion to claim one of motorsport’s grandest prizes proves that Kevin Estre and Michael Christensen deserve to continue their legacy as a truly exceptional endurance racing duo.
