Porsche ready to defend Le Mans Series GT2 title with strong line-up

Stuttgart. Porsche factory drivers Marc Lieb (Germany) and Richard Lietz (Austria) take off into the new season of the Le Mans Series on 11 April at Le Castellet in France as the reigning champions in the GT2 class. At the wheel of a Felbermayr-Proton 911 GT3 RSR they face strong opposition – even from their own camp. In the sister 911 GT3 RSR of the championship-winning team, Porsche works driver Patrick Long (USA) shares driving duties with former Porsche junior Martin Ragginger (Austria) and team principal Christian Ried (Germany). France’s Equipe IMSA Performance Matmut again put their trust in the proven crew of Porsche factory pilot Patrick Pilet and team owner Raymond Narac (both France). Joining the LMS for the first time is Belgium’s Porsche team, Prospeed Competition, the winners of the 2009 FIA GT Championship drivers’ title. With Porsche junior Marco Holzer (Germany) and FIA GT champion Richard Westbrook (Great Britain), the Prospeed outfit has also signed on two strong drivers for their 911 GT3 RSR.

Five races make up the season, which takes off with a highlight: Instead of the usual six hour races of around 1,000 kilometres, the season opens on the 5.791 kilometre Circuit Paul Ricard in southern France with an eight hour event.

“Our aim is to defend the title of course, but it won’t be easy,” says triple GT2 driver’s champion Marc Lieb. “I reckon our class is the toughest of the whole field. This makes the race even closer and more dramatic. We face new rivals this season and five or six of those cars are good for a win. And if you take a look at the driver pairings you’ll see just how difficult it’s going to be to win the title. With just five rounds to the championship you can’t afford a DNF if you want to secure the title.” His teammate Richard Lietz adds: “We are well prepared in all respects. Porsche has improved many details in this winning 911 GT3 RSR. At the official tests in early March we tested a new shock and differential set-up as well as new, wider front tyres. Our entire team is strong. Marc and I have worked together brilliantly since the beginning of 2009 and we’re now completely on the same wavelength. And during the winter months our Felbermayr crew has worked hard to get the most out of the pit stops as they can.”

IMSA Performance Matmut has already experienced a positive start to the new year: Mid January, Patrick Pilet and Raymond Narac won the Dubai 24 hour race. “Such a result is tremendously motivating. And we are so much looking forward to Le Castellet – after all, it’s a home race, even if the team headquarters is in Normandy up in the north and the race track in down south in Provence,” says Patrick Pilet. “I very much like this track. It’s refreshingly diverse with a couple of really fast corners and several slow ones. There are plenty of chances to overtake, particularly towards the end of the unusually long straight.”

Another driver eager to get racing is Porsche junior Marco Holzer. After spending two years in various Carrera Cup series, the FIA GT Championship and 24 hour races, the 21-year-old is now ready to tackle the Le Mans Series for the first time. Teaming up with Richard Westbrook, two-time champion of the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup and reigning FIA GT champion, Holzer now joins the top Belgian team Prospeed Competition. “I can hardly wait to get going,” he says. “I even found the test days exciting. For our team they were very important to familiarise ourselves a little to the new series. Many things are new for me. Firstly, I have to get used to sharing the circuit with many significantly faster prototypes. You have to be constantly on full alert. And the competition in the GT2 class is incredibly tough. But I can’t wait to race against such big-league names like ex-Formula 1 pilots Jean Alesi and Giancarlo Fisichella.”

TV station Eurosport broadcasts the race live on Sunday, 11 April, from 11.15 to 12.00 hours and from 14.00 to 14.30 hours as well as the final phase delayed from 19.00 to 19.30 hours. On Tuesday after the race, 30 minutes of highlights will be televised from 23.45 hours. The race can be seen with an English commentary via Live Timing on the official website www.lemans-series.com.

The 2010 races

11.04. Le Castellet/France
09.05. Spa-Francorchamps/Belgium
17.07. Portimao/Portugal
22.08. Hungaroring/Hungary
12.09. Silverstone/Great Britain

Facts and Figures – The Le Mans Series

Contested for the first time in 2004, the Le Mans Series (LMS) is open for sports prototypes and GT vehicles. The regulations are based on the rules of the Le Mans 24 hour race. Five championship rounds are contested this season on circuits throughout Europe. The races run over a distance of 1,000 kilometres, with the eight hour race in Le Castellet as the only exception.

The starting field consists of two different sports vehicle categories: Sports prototypes and standard sports cars. They are divided into four classes:

LMP1 class: Sports prototypes with up to 750 hp and a minimum weight of 900 kilograms (petrol vehicles) or 930 kg (diesel vehicles). Power to weight ratio: approx. 1.2 kg/hp.

LMP2 class: Sports prototypes with around 440 hp and an 825 kilogram minimum weight. Power to weight ratio: approx 1.8 kg/hp.

GT1 class: Considerably modified standard sports cars with up to 600 hp and a minimum weight of 1,200 – 1,250 kilograms.

GT2 class: Slightly modified standard sports cars with up to 460 hp and a minimum weight of 1,145 kilograms. The Porsche 911 GT3 RSR competes in this class.

All race cars start together but are classified separately according to the class. Points are only allocated for placings in each class. Championship titles are awarded for drivers, manufacturers and teams in all four classes. Porsche works drivers Marc Lieb and Richard Lietz won the GT2 driver’s title in 2009. In 2008, Porsche won the LMP2 title for drivers, manufacturers and teams.

Porsche Motorsport – March 2010

It’s racing season all around the globe – Porsches are out in full force in a variety of championships

24 Hour Race Nuerburgring: Successful dress rehearsal
A perfect outcome for Porsche at the season-opener of the Long Distance Championship Nuerburgring (27 March) which was used by all top teams to prepare for the 24 hour race in May. At its first race, the new Porsche 911 GT3 R scored the overall win. Timo Bernhard, Marc Lieb and Manthey team’s Marcel Tiemann finished the race 14.5 seconds ahead of the best Audi R8 and 63.6 seconds ahead of the top BMW M3. The innovative 911 GT3 R Hybrid piloted by Joerg Bergmeister, Richard Lietz and Martin Ragginger clinched sixth overall at its first outing. Double world rally champion, Walter Roehrl, celebrated a successful comeback to racing after a 17-year break, driving a road-going 911 GT3 RS to third place in the class and 22nd overall.

American Le Mans Series: Class victory and environmental award win
A successful start into the new ALMS season for Porsche: At the Sebring 12 hour race (20 March) the Cytosport team won the prototype LMP2 class with an RS Spyder. With this, Cytosport is the first customer team to secure a win in the ALMS with the Weissach prototype. Klaus Graf, Sascha Maassen and Greg Pickett shared driving duties. Joerg Bergmeister and Patrick Long took up the race for GT2 honours from pole position in their Flying Lizard Motorsports 911 GT3 RSR. However, the reigning champions fell back to fourth after they were hit by another Porsche’s run-away wheel. The two Flying Lizard Porsche 911 GT3 RSR vehicles secured positions one and two in the prestigious environmental classification – the Michelin Green X Challenge.

Grand-Am: Brumos Porsche takes second after nail-biting finale
Drama at round two of the Grand-Am Sports Car Series in Homestead, Florida (6 March). Pole-sitter and race leader Darren Law pitted for the scheduled driver change halfway through the 2:45 hour race with the Brumos Porsche-Riley prototype, only to have David Donohue stuck in the pits because another race car had caught fire. After a furious charge through the field, the duel for victory against Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas (BMW-Riley) saw Donohue finish in second 0.255 seconds behind Pruett. Next round: The Porsche 250 in Birmingham, Alabama on 10 April.

Le Mans Series: Marco Holzer quickest GT2 driver at official tests
At the official pre-tests of the Le Mans Series in Le Castellet (7/8 March), Porsche junior Marco Holzer clocked up the fastest GT2 time with the 911 GT3 RSR of Prospeed Competition from Belgium. Marco Holzer teams up with Richard Westbrook to contest this year’s five endurance races. Marc Lieb and Richard Lietz with support from Christian Ried are back as reigning champions with Felbermayr Proton. Raymond Narac and Patrick Pilet compete for IMSA Performance Matmut. With 17 race cars entered, the GT2 class of the Le Mans Series enjoys strong support.

UAE GT Championship: Muehlner-Porsche grabs second straight win
Andrew Donaldson won the sixth round of the UAE GT Championship in the Dubai Autodrome (19 March) with the Cytech Porsche 911 GT3 Cup fielded by Muehlner Motorsport. At the flag, ten seconds separated the Briton from second-placed Karim Al Azhari’s Corvette. Four weeks earlier, René Rast had dominated at round five with a Muehlner Motorsport 911 GT3 Cup S.

Porsche Mobil1 Supercup: René Rast snatches double win in Bahrain
A perfect start to the season for René Rast: From the double-header on the Bahrain International Circuit (13/14 March), the 2009 vice-champion brought home two pole to flag victories for Al Faisal Lechner Racing. Reigning champion, Jeroen Bleekemolen, finished fifth and second in the races held as support to the FIA Formula 1 World Championship to rank third in the drivers’ standings behind Stefan Rosina. In temperatures of nearly 40 degrees Celsius, Britain’s Nicholas Tandy was the best rookie with third place at race two.

Carrera Cup Asia: Christian Menzel aims to defend title
After becoming the first German to claim overall victory at the Carrera Cup Asia last year, Christian Menzel is eager to repeat this feat in 2010 with the StarChase team. The 2005 Carrera Cup Deutschland champion faces an interesting year: At the test day in Sepang, Porsche Asia Pacific announced a record starter field with 23 competitors, including New Zealand’s champion Craig Baird. The season takes off on 16/18 April as support to the Formula 1 Grand Prix of China in Shanghai.

Carrera Cup Great Britain: Season kicks off with capacity grid
On 17 March, at the official pre-tests of the Carrera Cup Great Britain in Silverstone, Cup Manager Marion Barnaby was pleased to announce: After achieving a record number of 28 participants, Porsche Cars Great Britain has closed entries to ensure that all participants can start on all tracks of the year. The Carrera Cup Great Britain opens its eighth season on 3/4 April in Thruxton.

Carrera Cup Italia: New rules and huge chance for talented youngster
Italy’s Carrera Cup takes off into the new race year on 24/25 April in Misano with a bunch of innovations. There are now two vehicle classes: ‘Gold’ for the latest 450 hp GT3 Cup and ‘Silver’ for older models. Moreover, all drivers fight for overall victory. The team classification is also new. And of particular interest to talented youngsters under the age of 25: the best of them will travel to Weissach for a GT test drive.

GT3 Cup Challenge Brasil: Impressive start in Curitiba
With the world’s largest turn-out of 49 Porsche, the GT3 Cup Challenge Brasil launched into the 2010 season. 27 race vehicles of the 997 GT3 Cup model lined up on the grid to contest two ‘997’ races at the season-opener in Curitiba (6/7 March). The reigning champion Miguel Paludo won the first, with GT specialist Leo Burti taking the second. André Posses dominated the race in the 22-strong 996 category with the fastest lap and victory.

GT3 Cup Challenge New Zealand: Craig Baird celebrates double title
New Zealander Craig Baird celebrated no less than two championship titles at the final race weekend of the New Zealand Motorsport Championships in Taupo (19/21 March). For the sixth consecutive time, the 39-year-old professional won the championship of the well-supported GT3 Cup Challenge New Zealand. No other driver has collected as many titles in all of the Porsche brand trophy series around the globe as the Gold Coast resident. And to make things perfect, Baird also secured overall victory in the New Zealand V8 Series on the same day and circuit.

GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East: Prince Abdulaziz Al Faisal champion
Ten starts, seven wins: Prince Abdulaziz Al Faisal from Saudi Arabia was the dominating driver of the first season of the GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East. At the tenth race on the Reem International Circuit close to Riyadh (25 March), the 26-year-old wrapped up the title with second place in a Porsche run by Al Faisal Racing. The race was won by Fahad Algosaibi, a 16-year-old charger from Saudi Arabia. The fight for the runner-up and third place in the championship is decided with a double-header at Reem on April 1 and 2.

The 48th running (2009) of the Rolex 24 at Daytona marked the 42nd anniversary of Vic Elford’s victory in the Porsche 907, Porsche’s first 24 hour endurance win. To celebrate the occasion, David Donohue piloted a 2010 Porsche GT3 around the Daytona road course while Vic Elford, the Grand Marshal for the 2009  race, tells the story of his victory for Porsche.

ATLANTA – 110 years after Ferdinand Porsche developed the world’s first hybrid, the Lohner-Porsche, Porsche engineers are now expanding this visionary drive concept with a production-based GT race car: Over the past 45 years, Porsche 911 race cars have recorded more than 20,000 victories and on March 4, a Porsche 911 GT3 featuring an innovative hybrid drive will make its debut at the Geneva Motor Show, opening a new chapter in the history of Porsche.

This innovative hybrid technology has been developed especially for racing, differentiating itself from conventional hybrid systems by way of its configuration and components. In the case of the 911 GT3 R Hybrid, the front axle features two electric motors, each developing 60 kW and supplement the 480 hp, naturally aspirated four-liter flat-six that drives the rear wheels. Instead of the heavy batteries usually found in a hybrid road car, an electrical flywheel power generator is installed inside next to the driver delivering energy to the electric motors.

The flywheel generator is also an electric motor, with its rotor spinning at speeds of up to 40,000 rpm while mechanically storing energy. The flywheel generator is charged whenever the driver applies the brakes, as the two front axle electric motors reverse their role and act as generators. Then, when accelerating out of a bend or while overtaking, the driver can use the extra energy from the charged flywheel generator, sending up to 120 kW of stored kinetic energy to the motors. This additional power is available after each charge for approximately six to eight seconds.

Energy formerly converted into heat upon each brake application, and therefore wasted, is now converted into additional drive power in a very efficient manner.

In addition to increasing available drive power, depending on racing conditions, the hybrid drive can also be called upon to save fuel. By increasing the efficiency and, accordingly, the performance of the 911 GT3 R Hybrid, reductions can be made to the weight of the fuel tank or the car can make less frequent pit stops, for example.

After its debut in Geneva, the 911 GT3 R Hybrid will be tested in long-distance races on the Nürburgring. The highlight of this test program will be the 24 Hours on the Nordschleife of Nürburgring, May 15-16, 2010. The focus is not on the 911 GT3 R Hybrid winning the race, but rather spearheading technology as a “racing lab.” The intent is to provide hands-on know-how for the subsequent use of hybrid technology in road-going sports cars.

The 911 GT3 R Hybrid is a perfect example of the Porsche Intelligent Performance philosophy, a principle to be found in every Porsche: More power on less fuel, more efficiency and lower CO2 emissions – on the track and on the road.

Strong Porsche contingent at the upcoming 2010 Florida classic

Stuttgart. As title defender and the most successful manufacturer in the history of the Daytona 24 hour race, Porsche returns to the long distance classic in Florida on the last weekend in January with yet another strong line-up. Spearheading the contingent is the Porsche Riley of Brumos Racing, who last year pocketed the 21st overall victory for Porsche. At the time-honoured season-opener of the American Grand-Am Series, a total of six Porsche works drivers compete for various customer teams.

Brumos Porsche/Riley At Daytona 2009

Traditionally, Porsche is well represented with the 911 GT3 Cup in the fiercely-contested GT class. Last year’s winners Joerg Bergmeister (Germany) and Patrick Long (USA) have good chances to again grab victory. The Porsche factory pilots share driving duties with Seth Neiman (USA) and Johannes van Overbeek (USA) for the TRG/Flying Lizard Motorsports team. “This race is a fantastic start to the new season,” says Joerg Bergmeister. “In Daytona, drivers gather from a wide range of race series and that makes it particularly exciting.”

The TRG #67 Porsche GT At Daytona 2009

TRG brings two 911 GT3 Cup racers for Porsche factory pilot Wolf Henzler (Germany, #66), and his works driver colleagues Timo Bernhard (Germany) and Romain Dumas (France, both starting number 71) to tackle the long distance classic that was run for the first time in 1962. Their factory driver colleague Richard Lietz (Austria) competes for Magnus Racing, teaming up with the winner of the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup, Jeroen Bleekemolen (Netherlands). Porsche claimed its first victory at Daytona back in 1968 with Vic Elford, Jochen Neerpasch, Rolf Stommelen, Jo Siffert and Hans Herrmann at the wheel of the Porsche 907.

In the Daytona Prototype class, Brumos Racing is again regarded as one of the favourites for overall victory. At the wheel of the Porsche Riley run by the successful customer team based in Jacksonville/Florida sit David Donohue (USA) and Darren Law (USA) with Hurley Haywood (USA), Butch Leitzinger (USA) and Raphael Matos (USA). Joao Barbosa (Portugal), who last year clinched third at Daytona with Brumos Racing, now drives the Porsche Riley of Action Express Racing – with Audi works driver Mike Rockenfeller as one of his team mates. The Spirit of Daytona Racing squad fields the third Porsche-powered prototype. With former Indy500 champion Buddy Rice (USA) and Antonio Garcia (Spain), one of last year’s winning drivers in the Brumos quartet, this team also has a top class driver line-up.

Hurley Haywood With His 2009 Co-Drivers (L to R: JC France, Joao Barbosa, Haywood, and Terry Borcheller)

One driver, however, travels to the 48th running of the long distance classic in America’s sunshine state with a touch of melancholy: For Hurley Haywood, one of the most successful sports car pilots in the world, this is the last time he contests his favourite race. “At some point you have to step aside and make room for younger and faster drivers,” says the five-time Daytona victor and multiple winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours and the 12 Hours of Sebring for Porsche. On 4th May he celebrates his 62nd birthday. For his Daytona farewell he has one wish: “It would be wonderful to close this chapter of my life with a victory.”

The 24 Hours of Daytona takes off on Saturday, 30th January, at 15.30 hours local time (21.30 hours CET).