News

The Porsche 911 GT3 R fielded by the Seattle/Alex Job Racing team takes up round six of the IMSA SportsCar Championship on Sunday from pole position in the GTD class. In the qualifying in the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park at Bowmanville the former Porsche Junior Alex Riberas (Spain) set the fastest time in the 500 hp customer sport racer from Weissach, which he shares with Mario Farnbacher (Germany). The duo have already won the race in Laguna Seca this season with their #23 Porsche 911 GT3 R.

In the GTLM class, the two 911 RSR racers campaigned by the Porsche North America works team finished the qualifying on eighth and ninth. Earl Bamber (New Zealand) and Frédéric Makowiecki (France) take up the race from the fourth grid row, with their teammates Patrick Pilet (France) and Nick Tandy (Great Britain) on the fifth row. The race on the former Mosport International Raceway is the only IMSA SportsCar Championship round in Canada.

Qualifying quotes (GTD)
Alex Riberas (911 GT3 R #23): “To be honest, we didn’t expect to claim pole. It was somewhat of a surprise because we hardly had a chance to drive yesterday due to the terrible weather. Luckily we had a dry practice run this morning, where we made good progress thanks to the untiring work of our team. Now we have the best starting position for the race and just one goal: we want to win.”

Qualifying quotes (GTLM)
Steffen Höllwarth, Program Manager IMSA SportsCar Championship: “After clinching pole on this racetrack last year and then winning the race, this qualifying is rather sobering. We knew that we didn’t have the speed, so we focussed on the race from the very beginning. Tomorrow we will try to make the most of our strengths as a team and again deliver a faultless performance. Congratulations to Alex Job Racing on pole position in the GTD class.”
Nick Tandy (911 RSR #911): “We took a risk with the choice of tyres in the hope that we are stronger in the race tomorrow. I hope it works out.”
Earl Bamber (911 RSR #912): “I drove a good quali lap, perhaps one of the best I’ve ever driven. I really tried everything. There’s simply nothing you can say about such an outcome.”

Qualifying result
GTLM class
1. Garcia/Magnussen (E/DK), Chevrolet Corvette, 1:15.198 minutes
2. Hand/Müller (USA/D), Ford GT, + 0.038 seconds
3. Briscoe/Westbrook (AUS/GB), Ford GT, + 0.232
4. Edwards/Luhr (USA/D), BMW M6, + 0.248
5. Auberlen/Werner (USA/D), BMW M6, + 0.303
8. Bamber/Makowiecki (NZ/F), Porsche 911 RSR, + 1.032
9. Pilet/Tandy (F/GB), Porsche 911 RSR, + 1.278

GTD class
1. Riberas/Farnbacher (E/D), Porsche 911 GT3 R, 1:18.245 minutes
2. Liddell/Davis (GB/USA), Audi R8, + 0.377 seconds
3. Pumpelly/Lewis (USA/USA) Lamborghini GT3, + 0.427
4. Curtis/Klingmann (USA/D), BMW M6, + 0.428
5. Bergmeister/Lindsey/ (D/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 R, + 0.500
13. MacNeil/Keen (USA/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 R, + 2.024

The race in the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park takes off on Sunday, 10 July, at 11:05 hrs local time (17:05 hrs CEST) and runs over 2:40 hours. The race is broadcast live outside the USA on www.imsa.com.