FIA World Endurance Championship, Bahrain, 30/11/2013

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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