Porsche Motorsport Weekly Event Notes: Monday, September 7, 2020

This Week.
• Wright Step. Porsche Claims Podium with Wright Motorsports at Road Atlanta. • Support Series. Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta • Sim Setting. Sebastian Job Wins at the Nürburgring Setting Stage for Title. • Super Champ. Larry ten Voorde Controls Porsche Supercup Finale to Win Title.

Porsche Profile.
Event Story Lines.
Wright Step. Porsche Claims Podium with Wright Motorsports at Road Atlanta.
The Porsche customer team Wright Motorsports claimed a podium result at the six-hour TireRack.com Grand Prix At Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta race of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Driving a Porsche 911 GT3 R, the American works driver Patrick Long (Manhattan Beach, California), Ryan Hardwick (Atlanta, Georgia) and Belgium’s Jan Heylen secured a third-place in the GTD class. With fluctuating temperatures in Braselton, Georgia, the Porsche GT Team struggled. Britain’s Nick Tandy and his French teammate Frédéric Makowiecki achieved a fourth-place in the GTLM class with the No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR-19. Their brand colleagues Earl Bamber from New Zealand and Laurens Vanthoor from Belgium came home in sixth-place in the No. 912 sister car.

Privateer entrant Wright Motorsports scored its first podium result of this season. In qualifying, Heylen planted the 500+hp Porsche 911 GT3 R race car in third-place on the class grid and retained this position in the first stint of the race. In the fierce competition of the GTD class, the vehicle dropped back to tenth-place at one point. Thanks to flawless teamwork and an impressive performances from Long, Heylen and local hero Ryan Hardwick, they were rewarded with the third podium step.

After six-races, Porsche is in third-place in the GTLM manufacturers’ classification. In the drivers’ championship, the two crews Makowiecki/Tandy and Bamber/Vanthoor are tied for points in fourth-place.

Round seven of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is scheduled for September 27 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio.

Steffen Höllwarth, Head of Operations IMSA Championship.
“As expected, this race was a tough nut to crack. And as feared, we struggled with the temperatures. From the midway mark of the race we were leading with our number 911 car for quite some time, but ultimately, we couldn’t maintain the pace. After two mistakes in the pits and a defect in the No. 912 car, the gap was so large that we simply couldn’t catch up. That’s disappointing. We’re now preparing meticulously for the next round so that we can strike back.”

Frédéric Makowiecki, Driver, No. 911 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR-19.
“I was so surprised at how our competitors were suddenly able to improve in the last stint. We simply couldn’t match such a fast pace. We tried everything, but in the end, we couldn’t do more than fourth. All in all, our performance is nothing to be ashamed of. We did a great job as a team – and that includes the mechanics, engineers, strategists as well as us drivers.”

Nick Tandy, Driver, No. 911 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR-19.
“It was almost the perfect weekend for us. We were ahead in free practice, in the lead in qualifying and also over long stretches of the race. Unfortunately, when the track conditions changed, we couldn’t quite maintain the pace in the end. In fact, the competition even managed to improve. Obviously, the result is disappointing, but our performance has once again underlined that our maiden victory with the new Porsche 911 RSR is sure to arrive soon.”

Laurens Vanthoor, Driver, No. 912 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR-19.
“We can forget about today. We made two minor mistakes during pit stops which resulted in drive-through penalties. That alone would have been enough to throw us out of contention for a class win. Unfortunately, on top of that, we had a problem with the brakes. The repairs cost us several laps. That was the final straw.”

Earl Bamber, Driver, No. 912 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR-19.
“This race was a disappointment from start to finish. The penalties were annoying, but that happens sometimes. What was worse was the damage to the brakes, which was probably caused by driving over debris on the track. That relegated us so far back that we no longer had a chance.”

Patrick Long, Driver, No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R.
"It feels amazing to get up on to the podium. It has been a few weeks coming. Unfortunately, track position was the name of the game at the end. We executed the plan on an overcut, and we were able to come out of the pits in front of the 48. I did everything I could to keep Bryan Sellers behind me. In the end, that was the race for second, or maybe first. I’m not sure if the Acura was saving for the end, but he was coming back to us and we had a lot of speed in clean air. Third is where we finished, and we’ll use this as momentum for building to the end of the year. Jan was great to have this weekend, and hopefully we can get him back in the car for Petit Le Mans and Sebring International Raceway and finish this year strong."

Support Series. Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta
IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge.
With two Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport race cars in the field, the customer entry list for the four-hour IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta was not large but the pair of Porsche race cars in GS class had formidable driver lineups. With a limit of only one professional – “silver” level driver – the No. 7 Archangel Motorsports car again combined Porsche Young Driver Academy North America graduate Trent Hindman (Long Branch, New Jersey) with 2019 Porsche Cup winner Alan Brynjolfsson (Tampa, Florida). Hindman sat the car on the outside of the front row in qualifying and, ultimately, finished in third-place. The podium was in question until the closing minutes when, following extensive pressure from the young driver, the third-place runner ran out of fuel allowing the mid-engined Porsche to drive past and onto the final step of the victory roster.

The No. 38 BGB Motorsports Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport saw Jan Heylen (Belgium) as the pro in the pairing with Tom Collingwood (Canada). Heylen, a hero in Saturday’s WeatherTech race driving in the No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R, has been pushing hard for the 2020 Porsche Cup racing GT3 and GT4-spec Porsche machinery around the world, He, Collingwood and team owner John Tecce (Ormond Beach, Florida) raced to 15th-place in class.

IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA.
The exciting duel between Canadian Jeff Kingsley and Texan Riley Dickinson (New Braunfels, Texas) continued in the IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama. Dickinson sat on the pole position for Race 1 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta and lead for much of the show. However, with 15-minutes remaining in the 45-minute race, a broken shock hampered Dickinson’s speed and Kingsley passed the 2020 Hurley Haywood Scholarship winner. Kingsley then pulled away to take the win. Sean McAlister – the 2019 Hurley Haywood Scholarship recipient – came across the line in third-place. Like so many times this season, Sunday’s second race was a mirror image of Race 1. Dickinson again sat on the pole position with the No. 53 Moorespeed entry while Kingsley was just outside in the No. 16 Kelly-Moss Road & Race Porsche 911 GT3 Cup racer. On Sunday, despite another battle between the two up-and-comers, the one-two held with Dickinson crossing the finish line in first, ahead of Kingsley for Race 2. McAlister again finished in third-place. Kingsley continues to hold the points lead in the Platinum Cup.

Sim Setting. Sebastian Job Wins at the Nürburgring Setting Stage for Title.
Sebastian Job has taken an important step towards claiming the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup title at the 24-hour version of the Nürburgring – a combination of the Grand Prix circuit and the Nordschleife. At the eighth of ten virtual one-make cup races run on the iRacing simulation platform, the Briton managed to pull well clear of his title opponents in the interim standings. His rivals experienced a disastrous race Saturday with the digital version of the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race car on the storied track in Germany’s Eifel region. Reigning champion Joshua Rogers (Australia) lost top finish after becoming entangled in a collision in the sprint race. Heading to the penultimate round at Le Mans, Job now leads the standings with an 84-point advantage.

Mitchell DeJong (Temecula, California) finished in third-place in the Sprint race to start out the day of racing.

The misfortune of his main rivals for the title has given Job a healthy lead in the overall rankings. He now tops the leaderboard with 521 points, followed by Rogers (437) and Alejandro Sánchez (407).

On September 26, the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup sim racers will compete on the virtual Circuit des 24 Heures of Le Mans – exactly one week after the real French endurance classic.

Sebastian Job, Driver, Red Bull Racing Esports.
“I took a very cautious approach and tried not to do anything that would jeopardize my position. As the points’ leader I didn’t want to take any risks. That patience paid off in the end. The duel with Patrik Holzmann was great fun. Like in a practice race, we often drove wheel-to-wheel – although his braking maneuver for turn 1 gave me a bit of a fright.”

Super Champ. Larry ten Voorde Controls Porsche Supercup Finale to Win Title.
Game, set and match to Larry ten Voorde (Netherlands) who completely controlled the final round of the 2020 Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup in Monza, Italy. Starting the race from pole position, the 23-year-old Dutchman scored a commanding starting lights-to-flag victory and secured the title in the international one-make cup series with the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race car. The previous points leader Dylan Pereira (Luxembourg) in the BWT Lechner Racing Porsche finished in fourth-place behind Florian Latorre (France) and rookie Leon Köhler (German). With this result, Pereira concluded the season as runner-up in the overall standings ahead of Porsche Juniors Ayhancan Güven (Turkey) and Jaxon Evans (New Zealand).

On his way to the title, ten Voorde won three of the eight rounds of this season’s Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup. His victory at the final in Monza only came under threat twice. First, after the start and at the restart following a safety car phase, Lattore attempted to overtake him, but was unable to make the move either time.

Porsche Junior Jaxon Evans (New Zealand) concluded the 2020 season in fifth-place at Monza, beating rookies Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer (France) and Jordan Love (Australia). The second Porsche Junior Ayhancan Güven (Turkey) had to retire shortly before the flag with a tire puncture.

Victory in the team classification went to the Austrian squad BWT Lechner Racing. The ProAm title was claimed at the previous round in Spa-Francorchamps by Roar Lindland. The Norwegian also won this category at Monza, finishing the race in 18th overall.

The 2020 season also included rounds at the Grand Prix circuits of the Red Bull Ring Spielberg (Austria), Hungaroring (Hungary), Silverstone (Great Britain), Barcelona (Spain) and Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium).

Oliver Schwab, Project Manager Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup.
“Thanks as well to our long-standing partnership with Formula One, we managed to run the 28th Supercup season at the usual high level, despite the restrictions. Eight races over ten weekends – I’m impressed by how the teams mastered this huge challenge. The fact that the title decision was made at the last race underlines the balanced competition among the top drivers. Congratulations to the overall winner Larry ten Voorde as well as the winners of the Rookie, ProAm and Team classifications.”

Larry ten Voorde, Driver, No. 25 Team GP Elite Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.
“My dream has come true. I didn’t think this would’ve been possible at the start of the season. My team improved from race to race. I didn’t want to risk too much interfering with the title decision. Second-place is sensational; it’s my best result for my team by now.”

Social Media.
Porsche. @Porsche
Porsche GT Team (North America). @PorscheNARacing
Porsche Motorsport – GT Cars. @PorscheRaces
Porsche Racing. @PorscheTeam
Porsche Motorsport North America. @PorscheMotorsportNorthAmerica (Instagram)
Porsche Formula E. @PorscheFormulaE (Twitter)
@porsche.formulae (Instagram) Porsche Newsroom. @PorscheNewsroom (Twitter)
@porschenewsroom (Instagram)

Model Hashtags.
Porsche 99X Electric. #99XElectric
Porsche 911 RSR. #911RSR
Porsche 911 GT3 R. #911GT3R
Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. #911Cup
Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport. #GT4Clubsport
Porsche 935. #Porsche935
Porsche 911 GT2 RS Clubsport. #GT2RSClubsport

Series Hashtags and Handles.
GT3 Cup Challenge USA. #GT3USA
GT3 Cup Challenge Canada. #GT3Canada
Porsche Sprint Trophy USA West. @PorscheSprintTrophyUSAWest (Instagram)
IMSA @IMSA
SRO America @SROAmerica
SRO GT4 America #GT4America
FIA World Endurance Championship. @FIAWEC
Intercontinental GT Challenge. @IntercontGTC
FIA ABB Formula E Championship. @FIAFormulaE

*Image courtesy of Porsche.

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