Estre: Porsche Carrying “Good Momentum” into Brazil

Photo: Porsche

Kevin Estre believes Porsche Penske Motorsport is carrying “good momentum” into this weekend’s 6 Hours of Sao Paulo and the second half of the FIA World Endurance Championship season following their runner-up finish in last month’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Estre, Laurens Vanthoor and Matt Campbell delivered the best-ever result for the Porsche 963 at Le Mans, in what came as a perfectly executed race for the No. 6 crew, which came up short to the race-winning No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P.

It came after a disappointing start to their drivers’ world championship defense season, which saw the No. 6 Porsche fail to score a top-five finish prior to its Le Mans podium.

“To be honest, over the course of [last] season, we were probably the car that executed, on average, the race best,” Estre told Sportscar365. “That’s what brought us the world championship.

“The beginning of the year was not the case but we were also not bad. We just didn’t have the pace and there was maybe one or two little things we could have done better. But I would still say we were on a high average compared to the competition.

“Le Mans was again a benchmark for everyone. I’m proud of that. But in WEC you need that and the performance, and if one is missing, you’re not going to win the race.

“Or some people can, but then you need a big, proper advantage on performance, which is not going to be the case this weekend.”

Estre believes Sunday’s fifth round of the season will be a much closer-fought battle between a number of manufacturers.

Porsche Penske, however, topped the time charts in both of Friday’s Free Practice sessions, with Estre leading the way.

“I don’t see anyone really flying,” he said.

“You’ll have to be good on all of the details and for sure [Le Mans] was good for the momentum for the whole team, to show that we are capable to fight up front in the biggest race in the world and consistency and not doing any mistake on strategy, pit stop and that.

“Le Mans was very good for the mindset of the team. Although I think everyone knew what we were capable of but it’s always good to prove it.”

Two-Driver Lineup “Makes Life Easier” in Free Practice

Both of the factory Porsches are running two-driver lineups in the WEC for the first time this weekend, as part of a wider plan from the German manufacturer that saw a slimmed down Porsche Penske driver roster.

“It makes life easier in the Free Practices because you have more laps per driver,” said Estre. “It’s easier for the setup changes because you don’t have to change drivers and have a new read.

“In the race, I don’t think it’s a big downside. But being three drivers in the race is more comfortable, let’s say. But two drivers is OK, especially I think on a track like this, which is not easy but it’s not super, super physical.”

Porsche Penske has yet to determine if it will utilize two or three-driver lineups for the next round at Austin in September, with Estre pushing for the return of its third pilot, Campbell.

“Austin is definitely another story,” said Estre. “I think we’ll see after here but to have Matt back in the car would not be bad because of the heat and it’s also a tough track.

“It’s not a downside. The downside of being three is for sure in practices to have a bit of a compromise. On the other hand you have another sort of feedback.

“With Matt, we all work well together. It’s good to have him. Let’s see. We’ll see this race but Austin we might see Matt coming back, we’ll see.”

Porsche LMDh factory director Urs Kuratle said they will seek feedback from both management and drivers on whether to have three drivers per car or remain with its core two-driver squads for Austin, with ‘time still to decide.’

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John