Photo: Jurgen Tap/Porsche
Kevin Estre has accused his Porsche Penske Motorsport stablemate Felipe Nasr of violating team orders in the closing stages of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, after the Brazilian driver made a on-track pass on Estre to claim victory for himself and co-drivers Julien Andlauer and Laurin Heinrich.
Estre, who alongside Matt Campbell and Laurens Vanthoor finished second aboard the No. 6 Porsche 963, made the claim in a tense post-race press conference in which he said a call by the team for Nasr to stay behind in the No. 7 car “was not respected.”
The move by Nasr on the final corner with 1 hour and four minutes to go in the race followed an enforced swap of positions between the two Penske Porsches just seven minutes earlier, as Estre was on fresher Michelin tires at the time.
“We were on similar strategies, we stopped pretty much at the same time, just at some points on different tires,” said Estre. “We were back and forth but definitely at some point there was a call from a pit stand which was not respected on the other end.
“I was driving the car, respecting what we were saying, trying to optimize our strategy and trying to get to the end because we needed to save some fuel, so that’s what I did. But somehow Felipe did something else. That’s when the pass happened.
“Towards the end he had the pace in clean air and he was fast enough that I couldn’t attack. I would definitely have done it, but there was no opportunity.
“On pace, for sure towards the end they were there, but we had a brilliant race and we had a shot, and somehow just one hour before the end something happened that was not too fair from my side.
“That’s why we are all very frustrated and it’s not nice. But it’s the way it is.”
Asked to further explain the situation from his perspective, Estre added he had “confirmation” from the team that Nasr had been given the same instruction as him, with both cars having made their final scheduled pit stops and needing to save fuel in case there were no more full-course yellows.
“We had some calls from the pit stand and while driving you assume that both cars have the same call,” he said. “I got confirmation that we had the same call, and Felipe decided to do something else that brought him the race. That’s it really.
“I just respected what the team told me. It was not to play or anything; it was just to save fuel towards the end because we didn’t know the amount of yellow. In the end there was a lot of yellow, we didn’t need to pit again, otherwise we would have been tight on fuel.
“Felipe can say what he feels, I just know what I felt, what was the rule, what was the communication.
“It was clear on both sides from what I understood, but in the end it didn’t happen that way, so that’s the way it is.”
For his part, Nasr simply reiterated his desire to win, as he, Andlauer and Heinrich backed up their success in January’s Rolex 24 at Daytona in what he called a “dream start” to the No. 7 crew’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship title attack.
“There are going to be different versions, right?” said Nasr. “My version, the team’s version, the other driver’s version… but I stand for what I’m here for. I signed up for this program because I believe I can win for the program and I can win for the team.
“My teammates did everything perfectly today. We built the race ahead, we did everything we needed to do to be in front at all times. These guys deserve all the credit, for the whole race that they’ve done.
“I can only say it’s another dream start. Last year we had the chance to do it, and now again winning here at Sebring is fantastic.
“I love winning for Roger [Penske], for Penske, for our sponsors and that’s what I’m here for.”
Pressed further to respond to Estre’s accusations, Nasr said: “I don’t think I have much to say honestly. I am here to win at the end of the day, and I won for the team. It’s a 1-2 in the end, a big points day for the whole organization.”
Penske Racing President Jonathan Diuguid acknowledged speaking to IMSA Radio’s Ryan Myrehn post-race that the team had tough choices to make with its cars having battled fiercely for the win between them.
“I think the best way to describe it that we had to make some difficult decisions today but we made the right decisions to make sure we finished 1-2,” said Diuguid. “That was the goal, to make sure Porsche won first.
“If we could finish 1-2 after that, that’s the goal and that’s what we did.”
Diuguid was not made available for further comment post-race.
John Dagys contributed to this report
Jamie Klein is Sportscar365’s Asian editor. Japan-based Klein, who previously worked for Motorsport Network on the Motorsport.cоm and Autosport titles, covers the FIA World Endurance Championship and SUPER GT, among other series.
