The racer from Weissach, which has already notched up victories at the 12 Hours of Sebring and the Mid-Ohio race so far this season, tackles the infamously cutthroat GTLM class against strong opposition from BMW, Chevrolet and Ford. In the GTD class, Porsche’s customer team Wright Motorsports campaigns the 911 GT3 R, which recently celebrated its first win this year in the USA at Road America. The prototypes will be absent at the venerable 5.263-kilometre racetrack close to Alton in the US state of Virginia for the second time this season. This means that overall victory will go to a GT car.
The racetrack on the North Carolina state border can look back on an eventful history: In 1971, Porsche legends Hurley Haywood and Peter Gregg won the first ever IMSA GT race there with the Porsche 914-6 GT. As a consequence of the oil crisis, the racetrack closed its gates in 1974 and reopened in the year 2000 as America’s first motorsport venue offering a wide range of recreational facilities to racing fans and their families.
The cockpit of the #911 Porsche 911 RSR is shared by Patrick Pilet (France) and Nick Tandy (Great Britain), the winners of the 12 Hours of Sebring. The Mid-Ohio winners Laurens Vanthoor (Belgium) and Earl Bamber (New Zealand) share driving duties in the second 911 RSR (#912) fielded by the Porsche GT Team. In the GTD class, the Porsche customer team Wright Motorsports competes with the 911 GT3 R. Sharing driving duties in the #58 car are the works driver Patrick Long (USA) and Porsche Selected Driver Christina Nielsen (Denmark), who recently scored their first win of the season at Road America.
For the second race season, the 911 RSR was optimised primarily in the setup. Depending on the size of the restrictor, the motor, which is positioned in front of the rear axle, puts out around 375 kW (510 hp). The particularly large rear diffuser combined with a top-mounted rear wing provides strong downforce and aerodynamic efficiency. The ca. 368kW (500 hp) 911 GT3 R was designed for worldwide GT3 series. The vehicle is campaigned by customer teams, for whom Porsche has provided an evo-kit in 2018.
The race takes off on Sunday, 19 August, at 13.35 hrs local time (19.35 hrs CEST) and runs over 2:40 hours. The race can be viewed live outside the USA and Canada on www.imsa.com.
Dr Frank-Steffen Walliser, Vice President Motorsport and GT Cars: “With the race in Virginia we turn onto the finish straight of a gripping and hotly contested IMSA SportsCar Championship season. Although it looks as if we’re out of contention for the title, we are determined to underline the potential of our 911 RSR with a strong performance. After our victories at Sebring and Mid-Ohio, our aim is to bring home our third victory of the season with our 911 RSR.”
Pascal Zurlinden, Director GT Factory Motorsport: “The Virginia International Raceway is a circuit that demands a great deal of precision from the drivers. The tiniest error usually ends up in the grass. The team will do its utmost to again find the perfect setup for our 911 RSR for this race. The conditions aren’t easy for all competitors, not least due to the heat and high humidity we’re expecting.”
More quotes in the press release (see downloads).
The IMSA SportsCar Championship, a sports car race series contested in the USA and Canada, was run in 2014 for the first time. The series was formed from the merger of the American Le Mans Series and the Grand-Am Series. Sports prototypes and sports cars start in three different classes: GTLM (GT Le Mans), GTD (GT Daytona) and P (Prototype). The Porsche 911 RSR runs in the GTLM class, with the Porsche 911 GT3 R contesting the GTD class.
