THE SYNERGY OF MOTORSPORTS AND PHOTOGRAPHY

Porsche Club of America Club racing - 48 Hours of Sebring

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 09:05:58 -0500

First Club Race of the Season

2010 ROLEX 24 PREVIEW

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 20:52:49 -0500

Time for another race season to get underway and that must mean the historic Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway. Started as the Daytona Continental 3-hour race in 1962 and finally the first Daytona 24 hour race in 1966, this current Grand-Am Series event continues the tradition of one of the longest running endurance races in America. Among the 14 Daytona Prototypes (DP) and 28 GT entries, Porsche is making a strong showing this year with 3 Porsche-powered DP’s and 13 911 GT3 Cup cars.

The Brumos #59 is the favorite Porsche among the DP’s. Current team principal Hurley Haywood is an endurance racing legend and plans to step back in the car for a few stints. Hurley has three wins in the Le Mans 24 and is the most winning driver in the Daytona 24 with five wins. Other Porsche-powered DP’s are the #9 Action Express Racing and #90 Spirit of Daytona, both of which utilize Cayenne sourced V8’s.

The strongest lineup of Porsche GT cars have to be the four entries of Kevin Buckler’s The Racing Group (TRG), with the #67 TRG/Flying Lizards Motorsports the favorite by most accounts. The #67 911 GT3 Cup car will be piloted by ALMS Series regulars (and GT2 class champions) Patrick Long and Joerg Bergmeister. Johannes Van Overbeek and Flying Lizards Team Principal Seth Neiman round out the driver lineup.

Its good to see the return of Alex Job Racing this year fielding a 911 GT3 Cup with Foametix and Battery Tender as the primary sponsors. The #23 features a strong driver lineup with much Porsche experience including Jack Baldwin, Claudio Burtin, Dominik Farnbacher, Mitch Pagery, and Martin Ragginger.

The stars are out again as usual for the Rolex 24, with several Indy and NASCAR series regulars and at least one TV/Movie star. NASCAR three time defending Sprint Cup series champion Jimmie Johnson will assist with the driving duties of the #99 Gainsco DP. Indy Car champs of 2009 and 2008, Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon will pair up in the #02 Target/Ganassi DP. Dr. McDreamy (aka Patrick Dempsey) has transitioned from part-time sports car racer to team owner with the #’s 40 and 41 Dempsey Racing Mazda RX-8’s. The Mazda’s are Porsche’s biggest nemesis, so watch closely.

Fellow Space Coast PCA member, Christian Funk will have a front row seat for the weekend. Christian will be busy in the garage and pits helping look after the #31 911 GT3 of Matt Connolly Motorsports. Christian has been very active in Autocross and Drivers Ed events and now gets to see the “skill” events from a different angle.

And if that’s not enough excitement for all you Porsche racing fans, stay tuned for more information on exclusive tours for PCA members of the TRG and Alex Job Racing garages. This will probably take place on Sat. morning of the race.

The race start is planned for 3:30pm, Sat. January 30. Plan to get to the track early for the garage tours and to make sure you get an infield parking spot. Zone 12 of the PCA is sponsoring a Porsche Car Corral located in the infield approx. between Turns 5 and 6. Just look for the big Ferris Wheel. All you need is a ticket that includes infield parking. However, parking is first come, first serve. DId I say, get there early?

Stay tuned for more information. Hope to see you there!
www.grand-am.com

Tickets - www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com
1-800-PITSHOP

Porsche & Flying Lizards Clinch ALMS GT2 Championships

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:08:58 -0400

Even with the rain shortened Petit Le Mans, Porsche captured the GT2 Manufacturers Championship with a 3rd place finish of the GT3 RSR of Farnbacher-Loles. The combination of the flooding rains from the previous week in Atlanta and a downpour that started little more than four hours into the scheduled 1000 Mile/10 Hour race, caused serious flooding of the Road Atlanta circuit. So much that the LMP and GT2 cars, slowed behind the pace car and shod with rain tires, were having a challenging time just staying on the racing surface. This led to the ALMS officials red-flagging the race at 4:49 hours. The conditions had not improved by 8 pm which forced the officials to wave the checkered flag.

The Flying Lizards #45 finished 5th due to a late call into the pits to change to rain tires. Without clinching the championships but still in the points lead, the Lizards carried the pressure into the last race of the season at Laguna Seca.

A bright spot in the otherwise wet Saturday was the return of a lone #6 Porsche RS Spyder LMP2 entry by Team Cytosport. Although starting in pit lane, Klaus Graf piloted the ex-Dyson car to first place in class and even giving the LMP1 Acura’s a hard time, reminding everyone just how dominate this platform can be.

The season ending race at Laguna Seca turned out to be a “Battle Royale” according to Porsche Factory and #45 Flying Lizard driver Patrick Long. With a finish reminiscent of the last lap of Sebring ’07, Joerg Bergmeister in the #45 GT3 RSR found himself yet again bumper-to-bumper, door-to-door as he clawed towards the checkered flag. This time against a new GT2 antry, the factory run #3 Corvette piloted by Jan Magnussen. Joerg was surely having flashbacks of Sebring and didn’t give any ground. Magnussen didn’t give up as well, which resulted in his hard contact with the wall, sliding across the finish line in 2nd place and in pieces. Visions of NASCAR finishes with cars upside down and on fire anyone?

Joerg’s 1st place finish clinched the GT2 Driver’s Championship for himself and Long, and the Team Championship for the Flying Lizards. Looking forward to the 2010 season, the LMP class has not firmed up yet. Weissach is keeping its options close to the vest and most say it will be 2011 before we see a new LMP entry from Porsche. However, the GT2 class is looking even stronger than this past season. Hope to see all you race fans at Sebring in March 2010!