AND PORSCHE WINS IN GTE AM

Porsche was able to make it a double GTE victory thanks to a dominant display by the #77 Dempsey-proton machine (pictured) driven by Julien Andlauer, Matt Campbell and Christian Ried, who never looked back after grabbing the lead in the third hour.

The sheer speed of 18-year-old Le Mans debutant Andlauer and Aussie Porsche ‘young professional’ Campbell allowed the #77 trio to build up a considerable lead into the night, while the super-experienced Ried never put a foot wrong in his stints.

Ried took the car to the chequered flag, having had an advantage of more than three minutes cut down to 1m39s in the closing stages by a charging Giancarlo Fisichella in the #54 Spirit of Race Ferrari.

“We were able to get the lead around 5.30 [on Saturday evening] and hold it all the way through to the end of the race,” said Campbell post-race. “Absolutely crazy to hold a lead like that all race; to hold onto it is something I’ll never forget.”

Fisichella and teammates Thomas Flohr and Francesco Castellacci were able to take advantage of drama for another Ferrari, the #85 Keating/risi car, to ultimately come out on top in the fight for second in class.

Jeroen Bleekemolen described his third-place finish as “bitter” after Ben Keating got stuck in the gravel at Mulsanne in the late stages, costing the pair, plus young gun Luca Stolz, the chance to take the fight to the winning Dempseyproton Porsche.

Another Ferrari that had been in contention for a spot on the podium was the #84 JMW Motorsport car, which ultimately had to settle for fifth after Jeff Segal got the car beached in the gravel in the morning hours.

Two of the fancied class runners failed to finish. The #88 Dempsey-proton Porsche, which had qualified on pole in Matteo Cairoli’s hands, was on course for a podium when the Italian hit the tyre barriers at the Ford chicane with an apparent suspension issue, while Paul Dalla Lana crashed the #98 Aston Martin at the Porsche Curves.