The Porsche GT Team has wrapped up its preparations for the 2019 IMSA SportsCar Championship. On the occasion of the three-day official tests on the Daytona International Speedway in Florida, the two Porsche 911 RSR race cars covered a total of 2,120 kilometres under changeable conditions. The focus of this intensive work for the factory team was on improving the setup, on tyre comparisons as well as tests for the upcoming 24-hour race on the storied racetrack. The season-opening round of the North American sports car series takes place on 26/27 January.
Nick Tandy (Great Britain) and the two Frenchmen Patrick Pilet and Frédéric Makowiecki shared driving duties in the ca. 510 hp Porsche 911 RSR with the starting number 911. Last year the trio won the endurance races at Sebring and Road Atlanta.
For the tests, their brand colleagues Earl Bamber (New Zealand) and Mathieu Jaminet (France) shared the cockpit of the No. 912 sister car.
“Although the winter break was really short, you still have to work your way back into the procedures,” commented Bamber. “This applies as much to the mechanics and engineers as it does to us drivers. We got back into a really good rhythm during the test, and it didn’t take long at all for everything to fall into place again. We’re ready and well prepared to start the race week at Daytona.”
Regular driver Laurens Vanthoor (Belgium) missed the “Roar Before The Rolex 24” due to the birth of his first child. The Le Mans winner will be back in the cockpit for the start of the season in late January.
The Porsche 911 GT3 R made a successful debut at the test days and will face stiff competition in the GTD class in the 2019 IMSA season for the first time. At the official Daytona tests, the customer teams Pfaff Motorsports, Park Place Motorsports, NGT Motorsport and Black Swan Racing gained important insights for the first U.S. outing of the ca. 500 hp race car. Over the two test days, the four identical 911 GT3 R covered a total of 484 laps on the 5.73-kilometre racetrack.
Comments