The Penske-run factory Porsche 963 LMDh the Frenchman shared with Laurens Vanthoor and Andre Lotterer had sustained serious bodywork damage over the final hours of the Qatar 1812Km, which meant he was worried that a stop for repairs would wipe out his lead over the chasing Peugeot.
“The car was tough to drive, but the gap stayed pretty constant, so I was confident that we could finish the race like this,” said Estre.
“When I was told to box, I thought, come on! But I was told not to worry, it is only going to be a short stop and everything is under control.”
The Porsche Penske Motorsport did not try to effect repairs to the #6 entry during the pitstop made with seven laps to go. It affixed a new adhesive race number at the rear of the left sidepod because the original had been removed along with a section of bodywork.
Estre lost 47s as a result of the stop, which meant he still emerged with a lead of just under 40s over Jean-Eric Vergne in the #98 Peugeot 9X8.
The Porsche had become increasingly difficult to drive as the result of damage caused by three separate contacts with LMGT3 class machinery over the final two and a half hours of the race.
“Some incidents made my life very difficult in the car and on the pitwall for everyone,” he said.
“I was told the underfloor was smashed, that there was a hole in the bodywork, and it felt like it. I had a lot of understeer: on my own it was kind of okay, but with a bit of vibration, but when I was following another car I was definitely struggling.”
Estre ended up taking the first WEC victory for the 963 — and the first by an LMDh car — by 33s from the privateer Jota Porsche shared by Will Stevens, Callum Ilott and Norman Nato after the Peugeot ran out of fuel at the start of the penultimate lap.
The clashes with LMGT3 machinery – Estre identified the cars he tagged as a Lexus RC F GT3s and a Ford Mustang GT3 – removed the bodywork behind the front wheel on the left-hand side.
This carries one of the race numbers on the car, which the WEC sporting regulations decree “must remain visible in all circumstances”. It also incorporates the race leader lights, which show whether a car is running in the top three in class.
The rules on whether these have to remain fully functional is less clear-cut. “The leader light system must be operational at all times during the competition,” the regulations state, however adding that in the case of any malfunction, “a penalty is applied at the stewards’ discretion”.
