Marc Lieb believes Porsche will struggle to match the pace of the BMWs in the GTE-Pro class at this weekend's Le Mans 24 Hours and will have to rely on reliability.
Lieb won the GT2 category last year, sharing with the same Felbermayr Porsche teammates Richard Lietz and Wolf Henzler that he will drive with this weekend. He was quickest Porsche driver in qualifying this year, in seventh, but was more than two seconds behind the polesitting BMW M3 of Augusto Farfus.
"They have more horsepower and more downforce," he said. "I think the organizers are a little bit off with the balance of performance.
"In qualifying on Thursday night they were consistently 1.5 seconds faster. We're not expecting to match them on pace. We've got to do the same thing as last year – have a consistent run – to get a podium finish."
Lieb also believes the new Ferrari 458, which has been close to the BMWs in qualifying, could also be a contender, despite the fact it is in its first Le Mans.
"Ferrari is always strong," he added. "It depends on the reliability of the new 458, but we are expecting it be quick. It is the benchmark car, with the fewest performance waivers, and our goal is to beat that when we build our new car [likely to appear in 2013]."