LE MANS, France (June 16, 2016) - WeatherTech Racing drivers Cooper MacNeil (Hinsdale, Ill.), Leh Keen (Charleston, S.C.) and Marc Miller (Holland, Mi.) will start the Le Mans 24 Hours from the fifth row in the LM GTE AM category for Saturday's 3 p.m. CEST (3 p.m. ET) start.
Behind the wheel of the No. 89 WeatherTech Racing Porsche 911 RSR LM GTE AM car MacNeil, Keen and Miller put in maximum laps over the two days of practice and qualifying. The team worked through changing conditions all week to get the WeatherTech Porsche handling around the 8.4-mile Circuit de la Sarthe located southwest of Paris. The trio was able to gel with the Proton Competition team and get a comfortable set-up on the Porsche RSR inspiring confidence in wet and dry conditions. The team will start the twice around the clock classic from the tenth position.
"We had some issues during Q1 yesterday that we worked very hard to resolve overnight," MacNeil said. "We put a plan together as a team and immediately the car was a second faster today than yesterday and comfortable to drive. Twenty-four hours is a long time on the track so you need a car that you have a lot of confidence in and that is what we have going into the race on Saturday. Myself, Leh and Marc along with our engineer from Alex Job Racing, Greg Fordahl, have created a working relationship that is resulting in a good car."
"Today was a much better day than yesterday," Keen said. "I am happy with how the practice went tonight. After yesterday's last session we are on the right path. After sitting down and reviewing everything we put a good set-up on the car. I was able to go out and go a second quicker comfortably. We never really had a qualifying program. We just focused on having a car that would be comfortable for the race. Rain is expected for Saturday, so we have a rain package too. We have our engineer Greg here and everyone is working toward the goal of getting a result. We have a day off and we will rest, do the traditional driver parade tomorrow night and be ready to go on Saturday."
"It was an improvement overall from yesterday," Miller said. "We were all a little frustrated yesterday. The overall balance of the car is very much improved, which is exactly what we needed. Leh is the only one who got in some dry running today, but he went a second a faster, which was encouraging for the whole team. I got the opportunity to run in the wet today, which is always a good for confidence going into the race. The car is the best it has felt since the test. The WeatherTech Porsche is ready for the start on Saturday."
The 84th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans will take the green flag at 3 p.m. CEST (9 a.m. ET) on Saturday.
