Porsche Motorsports Weekly Event Notes: Monday, July 17, 2017

Upcoming Events.
IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
Event: Northeast Grand Prix, Lime Rock Park
Dateline: Lakeville, Connecticut
Date: Saturday, July 22
Track Length: 1.47-miles, 7-turn
Race Duration: 2-Hours, 40-Minutes
Class: GTLM (Porsche 911 RSR)
GTD (Porsche 911 GT3 R)
Round: GTLM. 7 of 11
GTD. 8 of 12
Next Round: Continental Tire Road Race Showcase, Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, August 3 - 6, 2017

IMSA Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge
Event: Lime Rock 120, Lime Rock Park
Dateline: Lakeville, Connecticut.
Date: Saturday, July 22
Track Length: 1.47-miles, 7-turn
Race Duration: 2-Hours
Class: GS (Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR, Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport)
Round: 7 of 11
Next Round: Continental Tire Road Race Showcase, Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, August 3 - 6, 2017

Porsche Profile.
Event Story Lines.
Porsche Goes to the Rock. Porsche GT Team Aims for 911 RSR Overall Win.
After the successful trip to Canada, which yielded the first pole position for the new 911 RSR, Porsche now returns to the United States with the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Lime Rock Park hosts Round Seven of the popular sports car series on Saturday, July 22. With a length of just 1.47-miles, the seven-turn racetrack in the countryside of Connecticut is the shortest, as well as one of the oldest, on the championship calendar. The Porsche GT Team fields two 911 RSR in the GTLM class. At this weekend’s race, the GT-based machines will have their first of two opportunities – the second at VIRginia International Raceway on August 27 – to take overall race honors as the Northeast Grand Prix is an all-GT car event.

The 510 hp RSR racer is based on the seventh generation of the iconic 911 sports car and was a completely new development of Porsche Motorsport in Weissach, Germany. Two Porsche customer teams tackle the GTD class with the more than 500 hp 911 GT3 R, the winning car of the Rolex 24 At Daytona.

Sharing the No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR at Lime Rock Park will be Patrick Pilet (France) and Dirk Werner (Germany). Laurens Vanthoor (Belgium) and Gianmaria Bruni (Italy) man the second 911 RSR (No. 912) fielded by the Porsche GT Team. CORE autosport with drivers Jon Bennett (Charlotte, North Carolina) and Colin Braun (Harrisburg, North Carolina) campaign the No. 54 911 GT3 R while factory driver Jörg Bergmeister (Germany), who has clinched six victories at Lime Rock Park, joins Patrick Lindsey (Santa Barbara, California) in the No. 73 Park Place Motorsports car.

Dr. Frank-Steffen Walliser, Vice President Motorsport and GT Cars.
“This is the third IMSA SportsCar Championship race this month after Watkins Glen and Bowmanville. With such a schedule there’s not a lot of time to catch our breath. But after our strong performance in Canada, which unfortunately went unrewarded despite setting pole and the fastest race lap, the drivers and teams can hardly wait to continue. In Bowmanville the maiden victory for our new 911 RSR was within reach. Now we’ll do everything at Lime Rock Park to bring it home.”

Marco Ujhasi, Director GT Factory Motorsports.
“The recipe for success on this very short circuit is comparatively easy. You have to start from pole and drive a clean race. Overtaking is almost impossible here so a good qualifying result is paramount. In the very little time we have available over this two-day event, we need to concentrate.”

Sebastian Golz, Project Manager GT Customer Motorsport.
“The long sweeping corners of this right-hand track put a lot of stress on the left tires. The key to success is to carefully maintain the grip level of the tires over the entire stint, because there is no time to recover if you’re too tough on them initially. And the drivers have virtually no time to take a breath.”

Patrick Pilet, Driver, No. 911 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR.
“The Lime Rock Park circuit reminds me a lot of a go-kart track. It’s short and tight and that makes it special. This is the only track where we turn 70 laps in one stint. That’s unusual. Most of the time the cars are bunched up very close together and this treats fans to some gripping duels in every lap. I’m sure that this racetrack will suit our new 911 RSR very well.”

Dirk Werner, Driver, No. 911 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR.
“Only GT cars compete at Lime Rock so we can go for overall victory. That makes this race especially interesting. We’ve not yet competed there with the new 911 RSR, so we don’t have any practical experience and therefore we need to make sure we find the best possible setup for our car during the short practice session. I’m looking forward to Lime Rock. The critical phase of the championship now begins.”

Laurens Vanthoor, Driver, No. 912 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR.
“Lime Rock is a new racetrack for me and therefore it’s an interesting challenge. Instead of the usual three free practices, there are just two. And then there’s the qualifying. We don’t have a lot of time to set up the new 911 RSR for this very special circuit. Still, I hope that we can do well.”

Gianmaria Bruni, Driver, No. 912 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR.
“I haven’t yet been able to gain a lot of experience at Lime Rock. The last time I raced here was in 2010. I drove one of the practices and that was all. My teammate drove the second practice and the qualifying – and destroyed our car in the first race lap. Apart from that I like the New England states. I’m very much looking forward to the race and the special atmosphere of this racetrack in the middle of the countryside. Of course I’m hoping that I’ll have more luck this time than I did in 2010.”

Jörg Bergmeister, Driver, No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R.
“The track has everything that makes racing fun – very fast curves mixed with slow corners where we can use the 911 GT3 R’s great traction. Lime Rock Park has almost always been good turf for me. Of the eight times I’ve raced there I’ve won six of them. I’d be happy for that to continue.”

Home Victory. Porsche 919 Hybrid Celebrates One-Two at the Nürburgring.
After having achieved its third consecutive 24 Hours of Le Mans victory, Porsche has also managed a “hat trick” in the six-hour race at the Nürburgring. Like in 2015 and 2016, Timo Bernhard (Germany) and Brendon Hartley (New Zealand) climbed on to the top step of the podium. The duo is joined in 2017 by Earl Bamber (New Zealand). It was the second race triumph for the Porsche LMP Team in 2017 and the 15th in total for the 919 Hybrid since its debut in 2014.

The sister car, the No. 1, with reigning world champion Neel Jani (Switzerland), André Lotterer (Germany) and Nick Tandy (Great Britain) finished in second-place having led for much of the race. This outcome marks the fifth one-two finish in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) for Porsche. The most recent sweep of the top two spots came in 2015 at the Six Hours of China in Shanghai.

Porsche has now scored 154 points in the first four events of the nine-race manufacturers’ world championship. The German manufacturer holds a 39.5 point lead over Toyota. In the drivers’ rankings, Bamber/Bernhard/Hartley have 108 points in total, earning them an advantage of 30 points over the best-placed Toyota trio. Meanwhile Jani/Lotterer/Tandy move up to fourth position in the championship with 46 points.

After the summer break, the fifth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship will take place on September 3rd in Mexico City, followed by Austin, Texas just two weeks later.

Fritz Enzinger, Vice President LMP1.
“An Eifel hat-trick and the 15th overall race win for the 919 Hybrid only four weeks after our success at Le Mans – this is almost unbelievable. This outstanding result is another step towards our mission in defending both world championship titles. We managed to increase our points advantage and for me the most important thing is that the team can now enjoy a break and recover from the hard work over recent months. In Mexico, we will be refreshed and continue our mission.”

Andreas Seidl, Team Principal.
“A race like today is something you normally can only dream of. Either crew would have deserved to win today. We have had two impeccably prepared cars that worked perfectly over the entire distance. Our six drivers performed at the highest level and at the same time acted as excellent team players. More than once today we had problems with rubber pick-up that got stuck in the bodywork. This caused changing performances of our cars until we were able to clean the parts again at the pit stops. Therefore, our cars swapped positions several times and our drivers always did a great job. Congratulations and a big ‘thank you’ to everybody who was involved in getting our new high downforce aero kit in place. It made today’s one-two finish possible. The order at the end of the race is ideal for both championship standings and this has to be the priority for Porsche.”

Neel Jani, Driver, No. 1 Porsche LMP Team Porsche 919 Hybrid.
“I got into second but due to traffic lost that position to Brendon and chose not to defend too much. I was unlucky with traffic but that improved enabling me to attack, allowing me to have a nice clean but intense fight with the Toyota and Brendon. I got into the lead which I maintained despite a little [tire] degradation."

André Lotterer, Driver, No. 1 Porsche LMP Team Porsche 919 Hybrid.
“Initially I had a very good start and was on the better racing line but then Timo got ahead into Turn 1. During the first stint, Kamui Kobayashi, Timo and myself were all at the same speed and it was a lot of fun going through the traffic. It's been a good day for Porsche with both cars really strong, exchanging the lead many times. Maybe our car could have taken the race win but we worked as a team with the championship in mind.”

Nick Tandy, Driver, No. 1 Porsche LMP Team Porsche 919 Hybrid.
“I had a couple of decent stints and I brought the car in for André in the lead which was good. It was tough out there as the Nürburgring track configuration makes for a busy time behind the wheel. A double stint is hot work and pretty physical. We found that rubber debris caused some problems today which caused a fluctuation in the car's performance.”

Earl Bamber, Driver, No. 2 Porsche LMP Team Porsche 919 Hybrid.
“I had a good couple of stints – kept a steady pace and took no risks. The car's balance was really nice throughout – the guys gave us a great racecar today. I had to take avoiding action when an LMP2 spun in front of me but that was my only slight drama. It's been a nice Sunday afternoon drive.”

Timo Bernhard, Driver, No. 2 Porsche LMP Team Porsche 919 Hybrid.
“I had a good start and it was close fighting with Kamui and André. Advantages for one or another only came from traffic. Of course none of us wanted to risk too much in the first hour of the race. In the end it is a fantastic day for Porsche, recording a one-two race win on home soil. Either Porsche could have won today – it was very close from the start right through until the end.”

Brendon Hartley, Driver, No. 2 Porsche LMP Team Porsche 919 Hybrid.
“I was really happy with my first stint. I took over from Timo and came out right behind the sister car but got ahead within a few laps. The car was feeling really strong initially and I took the lead from the Toyota and pulled a good gap. But halfway through the stint we lost some performance, maybe caused by pick-up with regards the front aero, but then right at the end the balance returned.”

Strong Homecoming. 911 RSR Takes Two Podium Spots, Dempsey Proton Earns LMGTE-AM Win.
Porsche had a successful homecoming in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) over the weekend. The new for 2017, 510 hp Porsche 911 RSR, claimed two podium places in the LMGTE-Pro class at the Six Hours of Nürburgring in Germany. The 2015 model year 911 RSR gave Dempsey Proton Racing – co-owned by American Patrick Dempsey – its first LMGTE-Am victory of the year and added to the successful GT weekend for the German brand.

In the No. 91 factory 911 RSR, Richard Lietz (Austria) and Frédéric Makowiecki (France) secured second-place in the fiercely contested LMGTE-Pro class on the Eifel circuit. At the wheel of the second 911 RSR (No. 92) fielded by the Porsche GT Team, Michael Christensen (Denmark) and Kévin Estre (France) finished in third-place for the final spot on the podium in front of 52,000 spectators. In the LMGTE-Am class, the Porsche Young Professional Matteo Cairoli (Italy) celebrated his first win in the world championship with the 911 RSR run by the No. 77 Dempsey Proton Racing customer squad.

Despite taking the green flag from pole position, Christensen was unable to hold his front spot and fell back to fourth-place in the first lap. However, his teammate Makowiecki moved up into position two and later took the lead. After the first round of pit stops, Estre led the strongly represented GT field with the No. 92 car, with the No. 91 driven by Lietz running in third-place. Implementing different pit stop strategies, the team colleagues swapped positions several times over the course of the race, and by half way a 911 RSR was still holding its own at the front of the field. This changed only two and a half hours before the finish, when the Ferrari pulled ahead. From this point on, the 911 RSR put in consistent lap times to maintain commanding second and third-place positions, and remained out of reach for the rest of the GT field to the checkered flag.

In the LMGTE-Am class, in which Porsche customer teams fielded the previous iteration 911 RSR, Dempsey Proton Racing celebrated Porsche’s first WEC LMGTE class win of the season. Sharing the cockpit of the No. 77 racer was Cairoli with Christian Ried and Marvin Dienst, both from Germany. After their third-place at the season opening round at Silverstone in England and second at Spa Francorchamps in Belgium, they followed the progression up to the top step of the podium as the winners at Nürburgring.

Round Five of the WEC will be contested in Mexico City, Mexico on September 3, followed by Austin, Texas just two weeks later.

Dr. Frank-Steffen Walliser, Vice President Motorsport and GT Cars.
“We witnessed an excellent race today. The situation in the GT classes was extremely competitive, which was fantastic for the fans. In the GTE-Pro class, we’re talking about an average of less than three-tenths of a second per lap that made the difference. We’re very happy to have secured second and third-place. The first win for the new 911 RSR is within reach. We’re also particularly thrilled about our Young Professional Matteo Cairoli, who claimed his first WEC victory in the GTE-Am class with our customer team Dempsey Proton Racing. Considering the success of the 919 Hybrid this weekend, it was virtually a perfect Nürburgring weekend for Porsche.”

Richard Lietz, Driver, No. 91 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR.
“That was a good race for us. We had a perfect strategy. We wanted to start on used tires and finish with a double stint on fresh tires. Basically this strategy worked. Our team did a fantastic job. Second and third is more than we could expect. We’ve made huge improvements since the first races. I’m very pleased.”

Frédéric Makowiecki, Driver, No. 91 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR.
“It’s great to be back on the podium. That was a tough race. Even at Le Mans, our pace was good with the new 911 RSR, and we clocked consistent lap times again here. During my first stint I managed to take the lead. But in the second half of the race, the Ferrari was a little faster, particularly towards the end of the stint. That made the difference today. We’re very close to claiming our first victory with our new 911 RSR and we want to achieve this as soon as possible. Perhaps we can do it at the next round in Mexico?”

Michael Christensen, Driver, No. 92 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR.
“That was a good day for the team and for Porsche. Of course you always want to win, particularly on Porsche’s home turf here at the Nürburgring, but unfortunately that wasn’t possible today. Our 911 RSR ran excellently on the new tires, but over the double stints we weren’t the fastest today. We need to work on this and hopefully we’ll have taken a step forward by the next race.”

Kévin Estre, Driver, No. 92 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR.
“That was a good race for us, much better than the first three this season. We set pole position and were in the lead – but unfortunately that wasn’t enough to secure the first victory for the new 911 RSR. The Ferrari was too strong in the double stints. We put up a great fight against the rest of our rivals and we’re all very close. Our setup was good, there’s only minor things which we’ll now work on. The maiden victory is hopefully just a matter of time.”

Matteo Cairoli, Driver, No. 77 Dempsey Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR.
“To secure my first win in the WEC at Porsche’s home race is fantastic. I’m super happy and very grateful to Porsche and Dempsey Proton Racing for giving me the chance to compete in such a top-league championship with the 911 RSR. A dream came true for me today. The last laps with the Ferrari breathing down my neck were the toughest in my racing career. I knew that he was only seconds behind me. Thank you to the entire team and to my teammates for their tremendous support.”

Porsche Entries at Lime Rock Park.
A total of 11 Porsche Motorsport-built racecars across two series: the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Series and IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge are racing at Lime Rock Park this weekend.
IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Total Car Count: Four (4) Porsche entries will be competing in the IMSA WeatherTech Championship at the Northeast Grand Prix held at Lime Rock Park.

GTLM Class – Two (2) Porsche 911 RSR.
No. 911 Porsche GT Team Patrick Pilet (France)/Dirk Werner (Germany)
No. 912 Porsche GT Team Gianmaria Bruni (Italy)/Laurens Vanthoor (Belgium)

GTD Class – Two (2) Porsche 911 GT3 R.
No. 54 CORE autosport Jon Bennett (Charlotte, North Carolina)/ Colin Braun (Harrisburg, North Carolina)
No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Jörg Bergmeister (Germany)/ Patrick Lindsey (Santa Barbara, California)

IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge.
Total Car Count: Seven (7) Porsche Motorsport-produced entries will be competing in the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park.

All – Seven (7)
GT4 Spec – Two (2) Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR
Grandfathered GS Spec – Five (5) Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport
No. 4 Team TGM
Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR Ted Giovanis (Highland, Maryland)/ Hugh Plumb (Unionville, Pennsylvania)
No. 12 Bodymotion Racing
Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport Cameron Cassels (Canada)/ Trent Hindman (Wayside, New Jersey)
No. 21 Muehlner Motorsports America
Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport Cameron Lawrence (Windemere, Florida)/ Chuck Quinton (Windemere, Florida)
No. 28 RS1
Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR Dillon Machavern (Burlington, Vermont)/ Dylan Murcott (Ancram, New York)
No. 33 CJ Wilson Racing
Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport Till Bechtolsheimer (New York City, New York)/ Marc Miller (Grand Rapids, Michigan)
No. 35 CJ Wilson Racing
Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport Russell Ward (Seabrook, Texas)/ Damien Faulkner (Ireland)
No. 46 TeamTGM
Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport Ted Giovanis (Highland, Maryland)/ Guy Cosmo (Palm Beach Gardens, Florida)

Where to Watch:
All IMSA Series information, audio and live timing and scoring for each on-track session is additionally available on the IMSA App
IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Channel/Web Address
Qualifying Broadcast
Friday, July 21
5:05 p.m. – 5:55 p.m. ET IMSA.tv and IMSA App
Race Broadcast. Live
Sunday, July 9
2:55 p.m. – 5:45 p.m. ET
3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. ET

IMSA.tv and IMSA App
FS2

Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge.
Live Qualifying Streaming
Friday, July 21
3:55 p.m. – 4:10 p.m. ET IMSA.tv and IMSA App
Live Race Video Streaming
Saturday, July 22
10:15 a.m. – 12:25 p.m. ET IMSA.tv and IMSA App
Television Broadcast
Sunday, July 30
11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. ET FS1
Audio Streaming IMSA.tv and IMSA App
Live Timing and Scoring IMSA.tv and IMSA App

Social Media.
Porsche Cars North America. @Porsche
Porsche GT Team (North America) @PorscheNARacing
Porsche Motorsport – GT Cars. @PorscheRaces
Porsche Racing – 919 Hybrid. @Porsche_Team

Model Hashtags.
Porsche 911 RSR. #911RSR
Porsche 911 GT3 R. #911GT3R
Porsche 911 GT3 Cup #911Cup
Porsche 919 Hybrid. #919hybrid

Event Hashtag.
Northeast Grand Prix #NortheastGP

Series Hashtags and Handles.
GT3 Cup Challenge USA. #GT3USA
GT3 Cup Challenge Canada. #GT3CAN
PCA Club Racing Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport Trophy East @CaymanGT4CSEast #GT4CSE
Pirelli GT3 Cup Trophy USA @PirelliCupUSA

Future Porsche Events.
Pirelli World Challenge – Sprint – GT/GTA and GT4/GTS
Event: Pirelli World Challenge Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Dateline: Lexington, Ohio
Date: Saturday, July 29 and Sunday, July 30
Track Length: 2.4-miles, 15-turns
Race Duration: Sprint, GT/GTA. Two, 50-minute races
Sprint, GT4/GTS. Two, 50-minute races
Class: GT (Porsche 911 GT3 R)
GTA (Porsche 911 GT3 R)
GT Cup (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup)
GT4 (Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR)
Round: Sprint GT/GTA. Rounds 6 and 7 of 10
Sprint GT Cup. Rounds 5 and 6 of 10
Sprint GT4/GTS. Rounds 11 and 12 of 18
Next Round: PWC Grand Prix of Utah, Utah Motorsports Campus, Tooele, Utah, August 11 – 13, 2017

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
Event: Continental Tire Road Race Showcase, Road America
Dateline: Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
Date: Sunday, August 6
Track Length: 4.048-miles, 14-turn
Race Duration: 2-Hours, 40-Minutes
Class: GTLM (Porsche 911 RSR)
GTD (Porsche 911 GT3 R)
Round: GTLM. 8 of 11
GTD. 9 of 12
Next Round: Michelin GT Challenge at VIR, VIRginia International Raceway, Alton, Virginia, August 25 - 27, 2017

IMSA Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge
Event: Road America 120, Road America
Dateline: Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
Date: Saturday, August 5
Track Length: 4.048-miles, 14-turn
Race Duration: 2-Hours
Class: GS (Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR, Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport)
Round: 8 of 11
Next Round: Biscuitville Grand Prix, VIRginia International Raceway, Alton, Virginia, August 25 - 26, 2017

IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama
Event: Continental Tire Road Race Showcase, Road America
Dateline: Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
Date: Race 1. Saturday, August 6
Race 2. Sunday, August 7
Track Length: 4.048-miles, 14-turn
Race Duration: Two, 45-minute races
Class: Platinum (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, MY 2017)
Gold (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, MY 2014-2016)
Round: USA. 9 and 10 of 14
Next Round: VIRginia International Raceway, Alton, Virginia, August 25 - 26, 2017

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