Sport is often a spinning wheel, even more so if we are talking about motoring, given that it is what makes vehicles walk.
And even the infamous Balance of Performance takes turns hitting someone. This time it was Porsche’s turn, which in the last round of the FIA World Endurance Championship found itself having to deal with something that had been on his side up until that moment.
The wheel turns, we said, so at the 6h of Monza it could also have been unfavorable to the 911 RSR-19 prepared by the Manthey team, unable to compete with Ferrari and Corvette for the success in the LMGTE PRO class.
But it is also a little smile to hear the complaints of those who, until last weekend, had benefited from the FIA and ACO system to level performance, which had allowed the cars from Weissach to dominate at Sebring, fly to Spa-Francorchamps ( where Ferrari only won thanks to the rain) and to win the 24h of Le Mans.
# 92 Porsche 911 RSR19 of Team Porsche GT by Michael Christensen, Kevin Estre
Photo by: Morgese / Gandolfi
“Our cars had a very good set-up, the drivers did their best and the choice of tires was the ideal one,” explains Alexander Stehlig, Director of Porsche Motorsport for the FIA WEC.
“The good news ends here though, the rest was a big disappointment. Before the race weekend, the cars were reclassified by the BoP and we didn’t agree with this change right from the start.”
“We were right, as we clearly saw in qualifying and in the race. Because of this choice, we had little chance. In these conditions, we couldn’t get more than fourth and fifth places.”
# 91 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR – 19 by Gianmaria Bruni, Fred Makowiecki
Photo by: Eric Le Galliot
Clearly today is the turn of the Germans to sacrament, something that from Bahrain 2021 had fallen to Ferrari. The cars # 91 of Gimmi Bruni / Frédéric Makowiecki and # 92 of Kévin Estre / Michael Christensen return home without a podium and with the bitterness of having only dreamed of it for some situations.
“At the beginning we found it difficult, but then our pace improved a bit. But we were still far from the times of our rivals – says Bruni – However we gained at least a few points for the championship. Thank you Fred, who gave me a great support”.
Makowiecki, called to replace the unavailable Richard Lietz (hit by Covid), adds: “We simply didn’t have the pace to keep up with the leaders. And neither was the strategy with our car ideal. We did the exact opposite of. everyone else. The chances of being the only ones who got it right weren’t very high, but we had to prove something. “
# 92 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR19 by Michael Christensen, Kevin Estre, # 51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE EVO by Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado
Photo by: Morgese / Gandolfi
Estre, protagonist of a wheel-to-wheel duel with Alessandro Pier Guidi’s Ferrari, punished by the judges with a Drive Through, is the one who chews bitterly: “I fought as much as possible. We simply didn’t have the necessary speed today. But we pulled out everything we could and we managed to stay at a safe distance for long stretches “.
“I don’t agree with the penalty towards the end of the race: it was a tough but respectful race, but not enough for a podium”.
Christensen comments: “We did everything well, but the conditions were not suitable for us today and so we didn’t have the chance to get on the podium. It was very disappointing for us.”
#WEC #BoP #Porsche #cry #Cut