After the withdrawal of the #63 Corvette was confirmed last night following Jan Magnussen’s big shunt at the Porsche Curves, (the car was being loaded onto a truck this morning), the car of next most concern was the #67 Team AAI Porsche
The Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (997) stopped on approach to the first Mulsanne chicane after the fire had apparently started in the Forest Esses, and even though driver Alex Kapadia had brought the car to rest against the left hand barrier in a position of relative safety, the rear end fire quickly set in before fire crews could reach the car. This brought out the red flags and no doubt gave diners at the adjacent Hunaudieres restaurant some unexpected late night entertainment.
Alex was quickly out of the car and was unhurt.
Following the inevitable all night session stripping the car’s rear end back to its charred body shell, the car is fundamentally OK from the rear bulkhead forward, though the Porsche’s engine, transmission, and all rear end components are being worked on and / or replaced. Though a number of parts are awaited from Germany the team is working flat out to bring the car back from the brink.
Team owner Rudi Penders was resolute but upbeat, “Fire is a very serious thing and the main point is that Alex is OK. It was a new engine but we had noticed the car was using a little too much oil and that the oil pressure had started to drop. So we brought the car in for a top up, but soon after we had the fire in the engine, which took hold very quickly.”
“It’s a big challenge for the guys, but we have successfully re-built the whole car before in the same time. As long as the parts arrive soon we should be OK.”
