Le MANS, FRANCE (June 5, 2016) - WeatherTech Racing drivers Cooper MacNeil (Hinsdale, Ill.), Leh Keen (Charleston, S.C.) and Marc Miller (Holland, Mi.) put in a full day behind the wheel of the No. 89 WeatherTech Racing Porsche 911 RSR LM GTE AM in the 24 Hours of Le Mans test run today at the Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans, France.
WeatherTech Racing is partnering with German Porsche stalwarts Proton Competition for its return to Le Mans. The all-American WeatherTech Racing trio took off from Detroit Metropolitan Airport at 4 p.m. Saturday following a race day in the IMSA WeatherTech Championship on Detroit’s Belle Isle Grand Prix Circuit. Landing in Le Mans at 7 a.m. the three were wisked to a personal driver’s meeting and fitted into the Porsche RSR. Turning a fast time of 4:01.258, good for a top ten in class. Greg Fordahl, WeatherTech Racing engineer, came away with a full to-do list when the team returns to the track in 10 days.
“About 24 hours ago we were in Detroit getting on the plane to come to Le Mans and now I am ready for bed,” MacNeil said. “Everyone was ready for us and the car ran great all day. Leh, Marc and I all got solid laps and the car never missed a beat. We need to get some more speed out of the car, but that comes down to really putting our set-up on the car. Greg knows what we like in the car and we will have it that much better when we come back in 10 days to run again. It was a good day in France.”
“What a day!” Keen said. “I was going down the Mulsanne and thinking, yesterday I was racing at Detroit in a GT3 R. But at this point Detroit seems like weeks ago. I really enjoyed driving the WeatherTech RSR around Le Sarthe. We made some good progress and more or less had an event-free day. Marc and Cooper got some good time in the car and we ended the day pretty close to the competition. It's an honor to be doing this race and representing America and WeatherTech. Can't wait for race week to be here. It's not far away!”
“Overall it was a good day for the Weathertech Porsche at Le Mans,” Miller said. “We were all tired from a direct flight and have some work to do to get the car more comfortable to race, but our goal was to complete everyone's minimum requirements, get more comfortable and begin preparing for the official test next week. I think we are on the right track and I'm happy to be a part of the team.”
The team will return to Le Mans on Monday, June 13 when the No. 89 WeatherTech Porsche goes through scrutineering at 11: 30 a.m. CEST. The car will hit the track again on Wednesday, June 15 at 4:00 p.m. Le Mans local time.