The title chances of IMSA Performance Matmut were buried when the rear left suspension of the Porsche GT3-RSR #76 failed and Markus Palttala had to pit for lengthy repairs. During the first 4 hours, Palttala, Narac and Vernay had been racing consistently in the top 3, which would have been enough to bring the FIA WEC GTE-Am championship title to the French team. After returning to the race, the Matmut trio crossed the line 6th securing 3rd in both the team and drivers’ championship.
“We were going well and had the team title practically in our pocket. To win also the drivers’ title for JK and Raymond, we would have needed to pass one car and we were on it. When I felt something was wrong during my 2nd stint, I hoped it was just a tyre going flat but unfortunately it was more serious. It became a real handful as the car wouldn’t go straight anymore and kept snapping left and right unexpectedly, but I kept fighting to keep our chances alive. The guys did a great job to get us back on track quickly but on this level, there’s no margin for delays. Porsche is probably the most reliable GT car out there so it’s a real shame we now got this problem, but that’s part of racing. In any case, everyone at IMSA Matmut can be proud of what they achieved this year. 3rd in both WEC championships and Le Mans win is a great debut in the world championship. It was great to be a part of it and I’d like to thank the team and Porsche for their confidence in me.”
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Markus Palttala finished 5th overall and 4th in class in the traditional 6-hour race held in Vallelunga Circuit near Rome. Palttala shared the Porsche GT3-RSR with long-time friend and JWA-Avila team owner Paul Daniels.
“It was good to be back with Paul and see all the guys from the team. They haven’t been racing since finishing the WEC program end of 2012, so it was more about getting out there and have fun racing. We drove the 2008-spec RSR instead of the newer one we ran last year and it was clear that the modern GT2 and GT3 cars are quite a lot faster. Still, it was good fun and I got my share of track time doing almost 5 hours of driving in the race and it was pretty tough without a drink system. We kept it going and did no mistakes and getting into top 5 was great. Of course, it would’ve been even better with a class podium which was real close.”
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Markus Palttala took the chequered flag in 2nd position in the penultimate round of the FIA World Endurance Championship keeping the title chances of IMSA Performance Matmut and teammates Raymond Narac and Jean-Karl Vernay alive until the final round in Bahrain end of this month.
“With Fuji becoming a non-starter, it was great to be back in real action in the WEC. I’m obviously delighted to stand on the podium with my teammates and to have helped them to take a step forward in their title challenge. We got this result due to faultless work by everyone in the team and all 3 drivers but we still need to improve our outright performance to be able to win in Bahrain. Everyone at IMSA Performance Matmut is very motivated and I’m happy to be part of this successful team sharing the Porsche GT3-RSR #76 with two great drivers. Just 9 points separate the 3 top teams and driver crews, so it’ll be an interesting fight in 3 weeks!”
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Markus Palttala and Stefan Landmann won the final race of the season finishing 6th overall in the process. After a season filled with bad luck and accidents, the entire RTR powered by SIMFYmusic team was happy to finish on a high.
“Finally! We’ve lead several times this season but this was the first time we crossed the line first. I’m really happy for everyone in the team, because we kept pushing until the end and it paid off. The race was tough as it started wet and then went from mixed to dry. I took the lead in the first lap and pulled away. However, we stayed on wets a bit too long and after the first round of pitstops I had dropped to 3rd in class, over a minute behind the leaders. I pushed like crazy to come back and after the next pitstop, Stefan started his stint just a couple of seconds behind the leading duo. He did a great run passing our competitors and during the last hour I just had to manage the gap and avoid trouble. The Simfy Porsche #110 handled well, pitstops by the RTR crew were spotless and we both drove without mistakes. It was nice to confirm that when all pieces fall together, we are on top.”
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Markus Palttala was called to return in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Le Mans winning French outfit IMSA Performance Matmut for the remaining 3 races in Japan, China and Bahrain. The quick Finn shares the Porsche 911 GT3-RSR #76 with regular drivers Raymond Narac and Jean-Karl Vernay who are in contention for winning the LMGTE-Am title.
The Japanese round of the FIA WEC was a disappointment for all the teams and fans as the race ran just 16 laps, all behind the Safety Car, and was red flagged due to torrential rain. The IMSA Matmut Porsche finished 5th in class after gaining 3 positions in the early race pitstop shuffle.
“It’s fantastic to be back in WEC which is the top level of sports car racing in the world. IMSA Matmut is one of the top teams with a couple of Le Mans wins and LMS titles under their belt and I’m always happy to jump in a Porsche. Raymond and JK are great drivers so when the team called me to support their title challenge, the decision was really easy. The weekend started well with P1 in FP1 and 2nd in FP2, but then we messed up the qualifying. We were a bit too conservative with the setup, chose the harder tyre with the race in sight and the car was a real handful with nearly no grip at all when the peak was gone. I made it worse trying to compensate by pushing too hard and we ended 8th. We were not that worried because the race is long and forecast said rain, which always suits the Porsche. Unfortunately, that rain was too hard and the green light never came and we had no opportunity to fight back to the front. It’s a shame they handed out points for a race that never started and it’s especially a shame for us because Fuji is the calendar’s best circuit for Porsche and the tricky weather was what we were hoping for. I want to thank the thousands of Japanese fans for sticking with us throughout the day, you are the best! It’s going to be a tough fight to challenge for the title as the Aston Martin is so much quicker than any of the other cars, but I’m looking forward to Shanghai where we will give it everything we have.”
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Markus Palttala, Stefan Landmann and Henrik Still retired with an empty fuel tank on the last lap while running 2nd in class and 7th overall. Palttala had qualified 11th, 2nd in Cup, in the mixed conditions and took the lead on the opening lap. Fight for the lead went on for hours but in the end, the fuel strategy didn’t work out and the Finn had to park the car half way through the final lap.
“It is really frustrating because we were right there in the fight for the top spot. The overall leaders crossed the line just before the flag fell and it surprised us that there was one more lap to go. We knew it was going to be risky but decided to try all or nothing. It came to nothing but good news is I was able to take the lead in the beginning and pull away for a while so we are on the right way. I also had lots of fun because we started in the middle of the faster cars due to the wet qualifying session. The Cup class is so tough that you can’t win without pushing it to the limit. We learned a lot again and have one more chance in 2 weeks to challenge for the win.”
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Markus Palttala, Stefan Landmann and Henrik Still finished 2nd in the Porsche Cup class and 10th overall – the strongest class result of the RTR / Simfy Porsche #110 this season.
“I really enjoyed the opening stint. I was fighting like crazy and moved from 19th to top 10 and from 4th in class to 2nd. It was a good stint full with fair battles. I was catching the class leading Manthey Porsche but eventually lost a bit in traffic and pitted a few seconds behind it. Henrik took over and did a decent stint considering it was his first race in our Porsche. Stefan did a solid job in the end but we were too far away from the leaders and had to settle for 2nd. Anyway, after the disappointment of the last few races, this was a nice reward for the team for their hard work. Two races to go and we really want to win.”
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Markus Palttala, Henri Moser and Nick Catsburg finished 6th in Pro Cup after a brake failure lead to a longer pitstop, which dropped the Marc VDS BMW Z4 GT3 #4 trio from podium contention. The sister car of Martin, Leinders and Buurman finished 2nd securing the Team Championship title for Marc VDS Racing Team.
“We really were not lucky this year in BES. Again, we were one of the strongest cars out there and were on the way to finish on the podium. However, one of the brake pads failed leading to unscheduled service and we had to settle with 7th overall, 6th in the Pro class. Still, we won the Team Championship and that was our main target this year. In car #4, we did our part for it during the season and we are all very happy with the first title the Marc VDS Racing Team has won during its 5-year existence. Congratulations and thank you to Marc van der Straten and every single member of our team. Thanks also to Henri and Nicky for being awesome teammates and to the amazing car #4 crew for pushing with us.”
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For a second time in a row, the RTR powered by Simfy Porsche #110 was forced to retire due to accident damage before Markus got a chance to jump in. Stefan Landmann crashed out aquaplaning on slicks in difficult conditions resulting in a damaged front water cooler and ending the race of RTR’s Porsche-trio.
“It’s frustrating when you know you have a competitive package but something always goes wrong. It was a lottery with tyre choices because the weather kept changing rapidly. We got it wrong and Stefan was out on slicks when it was poring down with rain. He simply lost it aquaplaning and tapped the wall. The damage was not big but the cooler was leaking, so it was impossible to bring the car back to pits and Stefan had to park it.”
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Markus Palttala won today’s RCN round at the Nürburgring Nordschleife driving Team Schirmer’s BMW M3 V8 GT defeating the opposition when the conditions turned tricky in the end of the 2-hour race.
“I got a last-minute call to race for Schirmer to replace their regular driver who couldn’t make it and I was happy to give it a go. The car they have developed is really nice and we proved it today by beating quite a few quick GT cars. To be honest, though, when it started raining and everyone stayed on slicks, I was just trying to make sure I stayed first in our category and 2nd overall, but it turned out I was so much quicker than the leading Porsche that we got to the lead on the last lap despite them starting it with almost 1 minute advantage.”
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