Motorsport News June 26, 2018 No
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Motorsport News June 26, 2018 No. 47/18 Dear Journalist: Early each week, Porsche Cars North America will provide a weekend summary or pre- race event notes package, covering the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, Pirelli World Challenge (PWC), the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) or other areas of interest from the world of Porsche Motorsport. Please utilize this resource as needed, and do not hesitate to contact us for additional information. - Porsche Cars North America Motorsports Public Relations Team Porsche Motorsports Weekly Event Notes: Tuesday, June 26, 2018 This Week. • Porsche On Point. German Factory Team Enters Second Half of IMSA Season. • Christensen Continues. Le Mans Winner Scores World Challenge Victory at Road America. • Porsche Conquers the Peak. Porsche Cayman Class and Porsche Entries Finish Well at Pikes Peak Hill Climb. Next Porsche Event. IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Event: Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, Watkins Glen International Dateline: Watkins Glen, New York Date: Thursday – Sunday, June 28 – July 1, 2018 Track Length: 3.4-miles, 11-turn Race Duration: 6-Hours Public Relations Department 1 of 16 Public Relations Department Motorsport Communications Product Communications Dave Engelman David Burkhalter Phone +1.770.290.3617 Phone +1.770.290.3511 [email protected] [email protected] Motorsport News June 26, 2018 No. 47/18 Class: GTLM (Porsche 911 RSR) GTD (Porsche 911 GT3 R) Round: GTLM. 5 of 11 GTD. 5 of 11 Next Round: Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix, Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, July 8, 2018 IMSA Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. Event: Continental Tire 240 at The Glen, Watkins Glen International Dateline: Watkins Glen, New York Date: Saturday, June 30, 2018 Track Length: 3.4-miles, 11-turn Race Duration: 4-Hours Class: GS (Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR) Round: GS. 4 of 10 Next Round: Canadian Tire Motorsports Park 120, Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada, Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, July 7, 2018 IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama. Event: Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, Watkins Glen International Dateline: Watkins Glen, New York Public Relations Department 2 of 16 Public Relations Department Motorsport Communications Product Communications Dave Engelman David Burkhalter Phone +1.770.290.3617 Phone +1.770.290.3511 [email protected] [email protected] Motorsport News June 26, 2018 No. 47/18 Date: Thursday – Saturday, June 28 – 30, 2018 Track Length: 3.4-miles, 11-turn Race Duration: 2, 45-Minute Races Class: Platinum (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, MY 2017 - 2018) Gold (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, MY 2015 – 2016) Round: 7 – 8 of 15 Next Round: Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, August 5 – 6, 2018 Porsche Profile. Event Story Lines. Porsche On Point. German Factory Team Enters Second Half of IMSA Season. After winning the 24-hour classic in Le Mans, France, Porsche takes on the next challenge: the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen on July 1. The race at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York heralds the start of the second half of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season. Returning from its first race at Le Mans, the North American-arm of the Porsche GT Team fields two Porsche 911 RSR in the strongly represented GTLM class. After scoring victories at the 12 Hours of Sebring and the most recent all-classes round at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Porsche leads the manufacturers’ classification of America’s premier endurance sports car series. In addition to the long-distance races at Daytona, Sebring and Petit Le Mans, Watkins Glen counts towards the Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup (TPNAEC). Public Relations Department 3 of 16 Public Relations Department Motorsport Communications Product Communications Dave Engelman David Burkhalter Phone +1.770.290.3617 Phone +1.770.290.3511 [email protected] [email protected] Motorsport News June 26, 2018 No. 47/18 The championship-within a championship awards performance in the four endurance races – events of six-hours (Watkins Glen), ten-hours (Petit Le Mans), 12-hours (Sebring) and 24-hours (Daytona). Porsche enters the third-round of the TPNAEC leading the manufacturer’s standings in GTLM. The 3.4-miles, 11-turn Watkins Glen International racetrack was built around a forested hilltop and opened in 1956. Porsche holds the record for most class wins at Watkins Glen with 53 trips to the top step of the podium. The German brand’s first win came in a 300km race in 1963 when Bob Holbert drove a 718 RS61 to an overall title. Porsche’s first Six-Hour win came in 1969 with Jo Siffert and Brian Redman sharing a 908/02 to the overall victory while Hurley Haywood (St. Augustine, Florida) made his professional racing debut co-driving a Porsche 911S with Peter Gregg in the event. Haywood won his class (Grand Touring 2000) in his debut in the No. 58 Brumos Racing machine. It would start a legendary career with nine class wins at The Glen and six overall titles in The Six-Hour – a record. Porsche enters round five of the WeatherTech championship with its most recent victory in The Six-Hour coming in 2015 when Wolf Henzler and Bryan Sellers took the IMSA GTLM class with a Porsche 911 RSR. The customer RSR was just ahead of the factory-entered Porsche GT Team 911 RSR shared by Earl Bamber (New Zealand) and Jörg Bergmeister (Germany). The cockpit of the No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR is shared by Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring class winners, Patrick Pilet (France) and Tandy. The newly-crowned Le Mans winner Laurens Vanthoor (Belgium) joins forces with Bamber to drive the second 911 RSR (No. 912) fielded by the Porsche GT Team. The No. 912 won the Mid-Ohio round of the IMSA Championship. Public Relations Department 4 of 16 Public Relations Department Motorsport Communications Product Communications Dave Engelman David Burkhalter Phone +1.770.290.3617 Phone +1.770.290.3511 [email protected] [email protected] Motorsport News June 26, 2018 No. 47/18 Porsche customer teams will also contest the GTD class this weekend. Porsche factory driver Patrick Long (Manhattan Beach, California) and Porsche Selected Driver Christina Nielsen (Denmark) share the lone Wright Motorsports No. 58 Porsche 911 GT3 R. Long earned a fourth-place finish at Le Mans while Nielsen took sixth-place in another Porsche 911 RSR in France. Sharing the No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R at Watkins Glen will be Porsche works driver Bergmeister and Patrick Lindsey (Santa Barbara, California). The pairing is contesting the IMSA TPNAEC and the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) together. They finished in seventh-place in the LMGTE-Am class at Le Mans. For its second racing season, the 911 RSR was optimized primarily in the setup. Depending on the size of the restrictor, the motor, which is positioned in front of the rear axle, puts out approximately 510 hp. The particularly large rear diffuser, combined with a top-mounted rear wing, provides strong downforce and aerodynamic efficiency. For 2018, Porsche provides its customer teams competing in the GTD class with an evo-kit for the 911 GT3 R. The 500 hp customer sport racer was designed for worldwide GT3 series on the basis of the 911 GT3 RS production sports car. Dr. Frank-Steffen Walliser, Vice President Motorsport and GT Cars. “After our triumph at Le Mans, Porsche is by no means returning to everyday life. The next big challenge awaits us at the Watkins Glen race, one of the great sports car classics in the USA. We are looking good in the race for the North American Endurance Cup, not least thanks to our win at the 12 Hours of Sebring. At this prestigious long-distance event, our 911 RSR shone in terms of performance and reliability. We want to bring home a top result from Watkins Glen, not only to extend Public Relations Department 5 of 16 Public Relations Department Motorsport Communications Product Communications Dave Engelman David Burkhalter Phone +1.770.290.3617 Phone +1.770.290.3511 [email protected] [email protected] Motorsport News June 26, 2018 No. 47/18 our lead in the IMSA SportsCar Championship, but also to defend our chances to bring home the North American Endurance Cup title.” Pascal Zurlinden, Director GT Factory Motorsport. “After our phenomenal win at Le Mans we’re now turning our full attention to the six- hour Watkins Glen race. One of the big challenges at this classic is to find a perfect vehicle setup for this demanding track. The team and drivers have to make the most of the practice and qualifying sessions in order to line up on the grid with the best possible 911 RSR setup. If this is the case, our chances look good to secure our third win of the season in the USA after Sebring and Mid-Ohio.” Sebastian Golz, Project Manager 911 GT3 R. “The track suits our 911 GT3 R with the new evo-update. It’s a flowing circuit and is only driven using the third to sixth gear. The slightly banked Turn 1 allows early acceleration, and from there you pick up the pace to carry momentum through the ‘Esses’. Typical of Porsche, the weight [distribution] advantage makes it possible to brake very late into the chicanes in order to position the vehicle for the right-left-right combination. In Turn 11, you usually get slight lift. We’re curious to see if the curve can be taken at full speed with the evo-update.” Patrick Pilet, Driver, No. 911 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR.