The Porsche GT Team heads to the storied Road America racetrack in the US state of Wisconsin this coming weekend (2-4 August) to contest round eight of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
With five wins and a 24-point lead in the manufacturers’ championship, the team is aiming for more podium results with its works drivers in the number 911 car, Patrick Pilet and Nick Tandy, as well as Earl Bamber and Laurens Vanthoor (No. 912).
In addition to the factory squad’s two ca. 510 hp Porsche 911 RSR contesting the GTLM class, three customer teams will field three Porsche 911 GT3 R in the GTD class.
Aside from Park Place Motorsports und Pfaff Motorsports, Wright Motorsports aims to build on last year’s success at Road America. Last year, John Wright’s squad won there. As the winners of the previous round at Lime Rock, Pfaff Motorsports also travels to Elkhart Lake feeling confident.
The race
At 6.515-kilometres in length, the Road America racetrack, which was opened in 1955, is the longest track on the IMSA SportsCar Championship calendar. The racetrack is located two hours by car north of Chicago in Elkhart Lake, a town in the US state of Wisconsin with a population of around 1,000. Traditional road races were held here in the fifties.
In 2015, Porsche celebrated a one-two victory in the GTLM class at Road America. Last year, Porsche’s works driver Patrick Long (USA) and Christina Nielsen (DK) clinched victory in the Porsche 911 GT3 R campaigned by Wright Motorsports.
The Porsche drivers
The winners of the Sebring and Watkins Glen races, Patrick Pilet (France) and Nick Tandy (Great Britain), share the No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR. The pair currently ranks second in the drivers’ classification.
Their works driver colleagues in the No. 912 sister car, Earl Bamber (New Zealand) and Laurens Vanthoor (Belgium), lead the class after victories at Long Beach, Mid-Ohio and Bowmanville, Canada.
“Road America is my all-time favourite racetrack in the USA,” commented Bamber. “It’s fast and packed with challenges. We had some difficulties achieving good results here in recent years, but this season has been going really well. Second place at the most recent race at Lime Rock enabled us to extend our lead in the championship. I’m looking forward to Road America.”
In the GTD class, three 500+hp Porsche 911 GT3 R will compete. The customer team Pfaff Motorsports (No. 9) tackles the race with Porsche Young Professional Matt Campbell (Australia) and Zacharie Robichon from Canada.
Porsche works driver Patrick Long (USA) shares the cockpit of the No. 73 vehicle run by Park Place Motorsports with his compatriot Patrick Lindsey. The No. 91 Porsche 911 GT3 R campaigned by Wright Motorsports is shared by Porsche Young Professional Dennis Olsen (Norway) and Anthony Imperato (USA).
The schedule
The race over 2:40 hours takes off on
Sunday, 4 August, at 2:35pm local time (9:35pm CEST) and can be viewed
live outside the USA and Canada on www.imsa.com.
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