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Porsche pilots aim to also win season final

The six hour race on the Shanghai International Circuit wraps up the maiden season of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) on 28 October. Porsche's works drivers Marc Lieb (Germany) and Richard Lietz (Austria) hope to score their third win of the season on the Chinese Grand Prix circuit with the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR fielded by Felbermayr-Proton.

The race
This marks the first time that China hosts the fastest sports cars in the world. The 5.451 kilometre Shanghai International Circuit was opened in 2004 and is located about 30 kilometres northwest of the Chinese economic metropolis.

The Porsche drivers
At the wheel of the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, Marc Lieb and Richard Lietz, the winners of the Spa and Fuji races, take on Ferrari and Aston Martin in the fiercely competitive GTE Pro class. In the GTE Am category, Christian Ried (Germany) and his Italian teammates Gianluca Roda and Paolo Ruberti drive last year's 911 fielded by the Felbermayr-Proton squad. The JWA Avila Racing team fields a 911 GT3 RSR manned by Joel Camathias (Switzerland), Paul Daniels (Great Britain) and Markus Palttala (Finland).

The vehicle
The Porsche 911 GT3 RSR is the top model of Porsche Motorsport's range of customer race cars. For the 2012 racing season, the vehicle received extensive modifications and has featured a new front splitter and an adapted rear wing since the race in Le Mans.

The schedule
The six hour race starts on Sunday, 28 October, at 11.00 hours local time (04.00 hrs CET). Eurosport broadcasts highlights at midnight on 30 October. The race can also be seen on www.fiawec.com.

Quotes before the race
Hartmut Kristen, Porsche Head of Motorsport: "Everyone heads to the last race of the season feeling particularly motivated. After our win in Fuji our drivers also have good reason to be confident. The spectators will surely get to see some exciting racing at the finale."

Marc Lieb: "We learned a lot from the last races in Sao Paolo, Bahrain and Fuji. We can adapt better to different temperatures which are of great important for our car. Now we are excited to see what awaits us in Shanghai. We want to make the most of our chances."

Richard Lietz: "With the win in Japan, our Asian adventure began very well for us. Hopefully success will follow us to China. We aim to win this race, too."

The World Endurance Championship
Sports prototypes and GT vehicles race in four different classes in the World Endurance Championship: LMGTE Pro, LMGTE Am, LMP1 and the LMP2. They start together but are classified separately.