Porsche teams hit with Covid-19 concern, withdraw entries
IMSA
Porsche has withdrawn its pair of works GT Le Mans cars from this weekend’s IMSA SportsCar Championship round at Mid-Ohio after its works drivers were exposed to Covid-91 positive people in the team.
Of Porsche’s four IMSA GTLM drivers, three – Nick Tandy, Frederic Makowiecki and Laurens Vanthoor – were present at Le Mans, and their last-minute withdrawal makes it impossible for the pair of CORE Autosport Porsches to race at Mid-Ohio.
24 Hours of Nurburgring
Porsche has withdrawn nine racing drivers who competed at the Le Mans 24 Hours from taking part in this weekend’s Nurburgring 24 Hours race in Germany.
The manufacturer is still taking part but in a much-reduced capacity.
Three people who worked at the Le Mans 24 Hours in France have tested positive for Covid-19 and they could have spread the virus to the entire team.
Both the works Porsche Motorsport team and customer teams are affected.
The popular Manthey-Racing #911 car has already been withdrawn entirely from the event.
Porsche had entered a total of six 911 GT3 R racers; the team is working with affected to teams to make sure the remaining cars can compete.
“People’s health comes first for us,” said Porsche Motorsport VP Fritz Enzinger.
“We put the needs of many ahead of our sporting goals.
“We’ll do everything we can to give our customer teams the best possible support in the upcoming race by providing operational personnel and available works drivers.”
Affected teams and drivers:
- KCMG #18: Richard Lietz, Patrick Pilet, Romain Dumas
- KCMG #19: Romain Dumas
- Fricadelli Racing #31: Matt Campbell, Michael Christensen, Kevin Estre
- Falken Motorsport #33: Thomas Preining
- Falken Motorsport #44: Matteo Cairoli
- Manthey-Racing #911: Julien Andlauer, Matt Campbell