Press Release March 7, 2014 No. M 09/14 Tudor United SportsCar Championship, round 2: 12 Hours of Sebring, USA Porsche pilots eager to defend points lead Stuttgart. Next up on the Tudor United SportsCar Championship calendar after the season-opener in Daytona is another classic: At the 12 Hours of Sebring on March 15th, Porsche factory pilots and Daytona winners Richard Lietz (Austria), Nick Tandy (Great Britain) and Patrick Pilet (France) tackle round two as the points’ leaders of the new race series, in which the Porsche North America works squad fields a pair of Porsche 911 RSR sports cars in the GTLM class. Eighteen overall victories and 66 class wins make Porsche the most successful manufacturer in the history of Amer- ica’s oldest sports car race. The race The inaugural 12 hour race on the Sebring International Raceway, a notoriously bumpy 5.954 kilometre airfield circuit, was run on March 15th, 1952. Immortalised on the winners’ list are racing legends like Juan Manuel Fangio, Phil Hill, Dan Gurney, Jacky Ickx and Mario Andretti. Hollywood stars Paul Newman and Steve McQueen, who finished second overall in 1970 with a Porsche 908, have also fulfilled their rac- ing dreams here. The Porsche drivers Six Porsche works drivers compete in Sebring for the Porsche North America squad. Richard Lietz and Nick Tandy share the cockpit of the number 911 vehicle with Patrick Pilet (France), who had supported the duo in their winning drive at Daytona. Contesting the 62nd running of the sports car classic in the #912 car are Patrick Long (USA) and Michael Christensen (Denmark), with Joerg Bergmeister (Germany). Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche Aktiengesellschaft 1 of 1 Public Relations and Press Porscheplatz 1 Motorsport 70435 Stuttgart Oliver Hilger Tel +49 (0) 7 11 9 11 – 2 65 09 e-mail [email protected] Press Release March 7, 2014 No. M 09/14 Customer squad Falken Tire celebrates its season debut in Sebring with the two German Porsche works drivers Wolf Henzler and Marco Holzer as well as American Bryan Sellers piloting the 911 RSR. In the GTD class, numerous Porsche customer teams field the new Porsche 911 GT America sports car, which was specifically built for the Tudor United SportsCar Championship. Amongst them is Dempsey Racing with Patrick Dempsey (USA) as the driver, as well as the Seattle/Alex Job Racing outfit with Porsche Junior Alex Riberas (Spain). The Porsche vehicles The Porsche 911 RSR and the Porsche 911 GT America, which are run in the Tudor United SportsCar Championship, are based on the seventh generation of the iconic 911 sports car. As the successor to the winning 911 GT3 RSR, the 470 hp 911 RSR celebrated its race debut last season and scored a brilliant double victory at it first outing at the Le Mans 24 Hours. For 2014, the winning racer from Weissach has re- ceived improvements in many areas. The Porsche 911 GT America, built specifically for the GTD class of the Tudor United SportsCar Championship, features a four-litre, six-cylinder engine and also produces 470 hp. The vehicle is an improved version of the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, the most successful and widely-produced race car in the world. Porsche victories The first outright victory for Porsche in Sebring came in 1960 courtesy of Hans Herrmann and Olivier Gendebien in the Porsche 718 RS/60; the most recent in 2008 was clinched by Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas and Emmanuel Collard with the Porsche RS Spyder. In addition to 18 overall victories, Porsche’s list of successes also includes 66 class wins at this race. The schedule The 12 hour race in Sebring starts on Saturday, 15th March, at 10.30 hrs local time (16.30 hrs CET) and can be seen live on www.imsa.com. Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche Aktiengesellschaft 2 of 2 Public Relations and Press Porscheplatz 1 Motorsport 70435 Stuttgart Oliver Hilger Tel +49 (0) 7 11 9 11 – 2 65 09 e-mail [email protected] Press Release March 7, 2014 No. M 09/14 Comments before the race Hartmut Kristen, Porsche Head of Motorsport: “There is no other sports car race series in the world that kicks off the season with two long distance classics like Daytona and Sebring. It’s an exciting challenge for drivers and teams. At Daytona, the newly-formed Porsche North America team managed to win at its first outing with the modified version of the 911 RSR. For Sebring the motivation and the pressure are high.” Richard Lietz (#911): “Our win in Daytona was exactly how we like to start a season. Everything worked perfectly. Although the distance in Sebring is half that of Daytona, the challenges are just as extreme. You can’t afford to make the slightest mistake, if you do you have no chance.” Nick Tandy (#911): “Daytona was a great introduction to the Porsche 911 RSR for me. It would be amazing if we could further extend our points lead in Sebring.” Patrick Pilet (#911): “Sebring is a fantastic race. I’ll do my best to support Richard and Nick as much as possible. I hope that it works in Sebring like it did for our win at Daytona.” Patrick Long (#912): “At Daytona, we managed to match the pace of the front- runners with our 911 RSR for quite some time. Unfortunately we weren’t able to keep it up to the finish line. We’re now setting our sights on a top result in Sebring so that we have a chance to fight for the championship. I’m feeling very optimistic.” Michael Christensen (#912): “My first race as a works driver with the 911 RSR in Daytona was a great experience. Now I’m looking forward to Sebring.” Joerg Bergmeister (#912): “Sebring is one of the real classics. It’s a very special race on a very special circuit. Despite the tough competition, I think we still have a good chance to win.” Wolf Henzler (#17): “Sebring is the first race of the season for our Falken Tire team. We’re all happy to finally go racing. Our preparations have gone well, and we’re now quite curious to see where we stand compared to the competition.” Marco Holzer (#17): “Sebring is tough, it demands everything from a driver, but it’s also great fun. I hope I can contribute to a great start to the season for Falken Tire.” Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche Aktiengesellschaft 3 of 3 Public Relations and Press Porscheplatz 1 Motorsport 70435 Stuttgart Oliver Hilger Tel +49 (0) 7 11 9 11 – 2 65 09 e-mail [email protected] Press Release March 7, 2014 No. M 09/14 The Tudor United SportsCar Championship The Tudor United SportsCar Championship is a new sports car race series contested in the USA and Canada, formed from the merger of the American Le Mans Series and the Grand-Am Series. Sports prototypes and sports cars start in four different classes: GTLM (GT Le Mans), GTD (GT Daytona), P (Prototype) and PC (Prototype Challenge). The Porsche 911 RSR runs in the GTLM class, with the Porsche 911 GT America contesting the GTD class. GO Please note: Photos of the Tudor United SportsCar Championship are available for accredited jour- nalists on the Porsche Press Database under https://presse.porsche.de. On this website you can also activate the Porsche Motorsport SMS Info Service to receive the latest news and information from race tracks around the world. Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche Aktiengesellschaft 4 of 4 Public Relations and Press Porscheplatz 1 Motorsport 70435 Stuttgart Oliver Hilger Tel +49 (0) 7 11 9 11 – 2 65 09 e-mail [email protected] .