A taste of unfinished business at COTA for Marc Lieb

The United States, cursed land for the crew of the Porsche 919 Hybrid n°2? We would be tempted to believe it, as the American meeting of COTA has never smiled on Romain Dumas and his teammates Neel Jani and Marc Lieb.

Both in 2014 and 2015, technical problems prevented the current leaders of the general classification from finding the path to victory in Texas. Problem with the powertrain two years ago, while the German LM P1 was aiming for victory against Audi, then electronic failure last year, which wiped out the last hopes of victory for the trio.

This year, it is as favorites that the three winning accomplices of the last 24 Hours of Le Mans will present themselves on the other side of the Atlantic, they who remain in two fourth places at the Nürburgring and in Mexico.

« COTA retains a taste of unfinished business for us and this year, we want to be on the podium, admits Marc Lieb. The fast corners in the first and last sector make the Austin circuit demanding a lot of downforce, and I think that should suit our car. Ambient temperatures and humidity are always extreme and difficult for us pilots. In 2014 and 2015, the 919 Hybrid was very competitive in Texas. »

Added to this is a possible instability in the weather, as evidenced by the violent downpour in 2014 which disrupted the debates. Conditions which do not overly worry the Porsche clan, which is mainly looking at the tightening of performances in LM P1.

“This year's World Championship showed extremely close competition, underlines Fritz Enzinger, LMP1 vice-president of Porsche. In Mexico, the top four LMP1 cars qualified in three tenths and after the race all three manufacturers were on the podium. We are the hunted and under no circumstances can we relax in the defense of our titles. »