Dateline. Austin, Texas
Circuit. Circuit of the Americas (COTA)
Track Length/Turns. 3.4-mile, 20-turn Road Course
Round. TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. Round 11 of 12
Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama. Round 14 and 15 of 17
FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). Round 4 of 8
Next Round.
TUDOR Championship. Petit Le Mans, Road Atlanta, Braselton, Georgia, October 1-4
Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama. Petit Le Mans, Road Atlanta, Braselton, Georgia, October 1-3
FIA World Endurance Championship. 6 Hours of Fuji, Mt. Fuji, Japan, November 11-12
Porsche Events.
TUDOR United SportsCar Championship
Date. Saturday, September 20, 11:35 a.m. CT/ 12:35 p.m. ET/ 9:35 a.m. PT
Race Duration. Two-Hours, 45-minutes
Classes. GT Le Mans (Porsche 911 RSR), GT Daytona class (Porsche 911 GT America)
Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama
Date. Race #1: Friday, September 19, 8:00 a.m. CT/ 9:00 a.m. ET/ 6:00 a.m. PT, Race #2: Friday, September 19, 7:25 p.m. CT/ 8:25 p.m. ET/ 5:25 p.m. PT
Race Duration. 45-minutes
Classes. Platinum (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, M.Y. 2014), Gold (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, M.Y. 2013 and earlier)
FIA World Endurance Championship
Date. Saturday, September 20, 4:56 p.m. CT/ 5:56 p.m. ET/ 2:56 p.m. PT
Race Duration. Six-Hours
Classes. LMP1 (Porsche 919 Hybrid), GTE-Pro (Porsche 911 RSR)
Porsche Profile. Event Story Lines
Thank You Hartmut Kristen. Vice President of Motorsport for Ten Years
Thos weekend’s TUDOR United Sportscar Championship and World Endurance Championship doubleheader will mark the end of ten-years of leadership for outgoing worldwide head of Porsche Motorsport, Hartmut Kristen. Mr. Kristen, who will retire on October 1, joined the company in 1983, and since 1994 has been responsible for customer racing activities and GT vehicles. In 2004, he took over as Vice President of Porsche Motorsport. In this role he made his mark at the highest levels of sports car racing, from the Porsche RS Spyder LMP2 prototype in the American Le Mans Series to the innovative 911 GT3 R Hybrid. The Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, which won races from 2004 to 2013, was one of the most successful racecars in history, with customer teams all over the world winning championships and scoring many class victories – most notably at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In addition to expanding Porsche’s customer racing activities worldwide, which Kristen regarded as the “backbone of Porsche motorsport“, the promotion of talented young race drivers has also been very close to his heart. Under his direction, arguably the most comprehensive youth development program in motor racing emerged. Today, five former Porsche juniors bolster the current works driver line-up. In 2013, he led the new Porsche 911 RSR works campaign to a victory and second-place at Le Mans. For Kristen and his team at Weissach, Germany, the 2014 season began with the successfully modified 911 RSR clinching wins in the TUDOR Championship’s Rolex 24 at Daytona and Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. Mr. Kristen will retain a relationship with Porsche, working with the Research and Development Board in an advisory role.
Taking over the Vice President of Motorsports position is Dr. Frank Walliser. A former manager for Kristen, Walliser went on to become project manager for the Porsche 918 project. With a doctor’s degree in mechanical engineering specializing in combustion engines and technology management, Walliser held the position of General Manager of Motorsport Strategies reporting to Kristen from 2003 to 2008, and played a major role in developing and implementing the Porsche RS Spyder program. As the Vice President of Porsche Motorsport, he is responsible for the worldwide motorsport activities in the GT field as well as for GT production sports cars. He will retain his position as project manager for the Porsche 918 as well.
One of Dr. Walliser’s first duties – even before he takes the post officially – will be to take part in a Green Racing technology transfer panel at Circuit of the Americas. The event, open to the public, will begin at 5 p.m. local, Thursday, September, 18. The one-hour panel discussion starts at 6 p.m. at the Velocity Lounge at Circuit of The Americas.
What’s In a Number? Why the Third Factory Porsche 911 RSR is Number 910.
Porsche North America has chosen its car numbers for specific reasons. The No. 911 is to recognize the core of the Porsche brand, the Porsche 911 which is the baseline for all the premier Porsche GT road and racecars past and current in Porsche history. The No. 912 represents the road-going Porsche 912, which was produced alongside the 911 from 1965 through 1976. With the introduction of a third works racer in the GTLM class for this weekend at the Circuit of the Americas, Porsche again draws from its history highlighting the Porsche 910.
The Porsche 910 racecar is based on the Porsche 906. The 910 was produced and entered in 1966 and 1967 by the Porsche factory in world championship and hill climb events. Overall, the 910 were lighter and shorter than the 906 and used 13-inch wheels and a single central retaining wheel nut. The Porsche 910 was first raced in 1966 at a hillclimb from Sierre to Crans-Montana in Switzerland. Powering the 910 was either a 2000cc 6-cylinder with 200 hp or the 2200cc 8-cylinder with up to 270 hp depending on application. Six Porsche 910 factory cars were raced at the 1000 km Nürburgring in 1967, sweeping the podium.
Perfect Pairing. Co-driving the Porsche 911 RSR.
Driver pairings are not decided easily. When you have access to the best sportscar drivers in the world, determining who drives with whom can make the difference between a championship season and a dud. Balancing the different styles, experience and temperaments of drivers is a daring high-wire act. A small group of Porsche Motorsport managers make the decision as to which of the 18 factory drivers compete in which series, with which team and which combination. The ultimate decision has rested with Harmut Kristen, Vice President of Motorsport at Porsche AG, for the past ten years. While it may seem black magic that has created legendary driver pairings like “Bergmeister-Long” or “Bernhard-Dumas”, it all comes down to the “fit”. Driving style, on- and off-track personality and relative experience levels all play a role in matching drivers. Respective physical size, perhaps surprisingly, does not.
For Porsche North America, the driver pairing of Nick Tandy (Great Britain) and Richard Lietz (Austria) in the No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR were combined with their complementary driving styles being a leading reason. In the No. 912 Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR, veteran Patrick Long (Playa del Rey, California) was paired with first-year works driver Michael Christensen (Denmark) in part for Long’s ability to mentor the new driver. For endurance events, the third driver is brought in from the smaller pool of unassigned drivers but the process is the same. This weekend, Bergmeister was brought in as support to Lietz who is nursing a fractured arm. The German is considered the perfect supplement because he has already raced, and won, in the TUDOR Championship in 2014 and his success and experience in North American sports car racing is unmatched.
Pro-Am, the Model of GTD. The Porsche 911 GT America is the Backbone of the Class.
The GT Daytona (GTD) class is the traditional model for professional sports car racing mandating the combination of professional and amateur drivers. The Porsche 911 GT America is the backbone of the class and the teams which campaign the bespoke TUDOR United SportsCar Championship derivative of the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car is an example of why. While the driver lineups may have an amateur element, the teams are all professional. Alex Job Racing, which has been in business since 1988 under the stewardship of Alex and Holly Job, enters two Porsche 911 GT Americas owned by outside individuals: the No. 22 of WeatherTech Racing and the No. 23 of Team Seattle. Bernhard Muehlner, a veteran team owner in Germany, has formed Muehlner Motorsports America and is preparing two Porsche – the No. 18 and No. 19 911 GT America – with the intent to accommodate gentleman drivers as well as one-off professional rides. NGT Motorsports, which took a mid-summer hiatus from the class, is back for Austin with the No. 30 MOMO Porsche 911 GT America. This entry supplements NGT’s main business of preparing multiple Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars for the IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup USA by Yokohama series. Patrick Dempsey’s team – Dempsey Racing – includes veteran team manager Joe Foster and has taken in Snow Racing’s owner Martin Snow and crew chief John Wright in an alliance helping all parties of the No. 27 and No. 58 Porsche. John Potter’s Magnus Racing had been a steady force in Rolex GT since 2010, and its management and driver lineup has been steady going into GTD this season with championship aspirations for the No. 44 FLEX-BOX Porsche entering the last two events of the year. For the GB Autosport brain trust, experienced partners Michael Avenetti and Bob Faieta have been joined by team manager Cole Scrogham to campaign the season with the No. 81 Tully’s Coffee Porsche 911 GT America. In a sport where teamwork and job coordination is key to success, putting together the right professional approach to run for the championship is as critical as the right driver lineup.
Porsche Point of View.
Jens Walther, President/CEO, Porsche Motorsport North America
“At no time in recent Porsche history have we assembled, in one place, such a significant representation of our current factory and customer efforts. A year ago, when we announced the Porsche North America works Porsche 911 RSR program for competition in the Tudor Championship, it was hard to picture this moment. But, now we have seven Porsche factory cars – five Porsche 911 RSR and the pair of 919 Hybrid – racing for wins. On the customer side, I would be challenged to find a higher quality, or quantity, of private Porsche programs than the group racing here this weekend. It is a proud moment for Porsche to be at this place in our history. This has to do entirely with the effort of the teams, both works and customer, and with Porsche’s commitment to motorsport as a real asset to our road cars. Additionally, the strengths of IMSA here in North America and the WEC worldwide have provided us with the platform we need to display these efforts in the very best way.”
Nick Tandy, Driver, No. 911 Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR – Tudor United SportsCar Championship, GTLM Class
“It will be my first time at COTA but it looks like a great circuit. We’re likely to struggle a little compared to our competitors in the fast sweeps of the first sector, but we should be strong in the high, top-speed and heavy braking areas later in the lap. If Richard [Lietz] isn’t able to race in Austin, I will be doing double-duty with the Tudor Championship and WEC. If it happens, actually doing the two races on the Saturday will probably not be too stressful. It’s likely to be more in the practice days when a lot of time will be spent in briefings, track time and other commitments between the two teams that will be more challenging. Jörg [Bergmeister] is scheduled to start with me in the Tudor race, again if Richie is unable to compete. I have no worries either way. I shared a car with Jörg at Le Mans and Silverstone this year already and, of course, he knows how to race in an American sports car championship. The cars we drive are very similar so there will be no problem switching between the two series for any of us.”
Patrick Lindsey, Driver, No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche 911 GT America – Tudor United SportsCar Championship, GTD Class
“The Austin race is really important for the Park Place Motorsports team as it is within driving distance for the dealership’s customers from Dallas. We will be hosting customers, especially our Porsche 918 buyers, in the Porsche Cars North America hospitality suite, and the team really wants to put on a good show for them. We have been competitive all year; we were within a couple of minutes of winning one race [Canadian Tire Motorsports Park]. It would be a great time for that to combine with good luck for a top finish. We are also motivated to do well to pump up all the kids we have met over the last two years with the Children’s Tumor Foundation. We don’t just meet and greet them at the track; we keep in touch with everyone during the year on social media, and they are all pulling for us to win.”
Porsche History. Texas Events
Texas World Speedway
1971 – Peter Gregg/Hurley Haywood – Porsche 911S – IMSA/Camel GT – GTU winner
1996 – Larry Schumacher/Andy Pilgrim – Porsche 911 Carrera RSR – IMSA – GTS-2 winner
San Antonio Street Circuit
1987 – Derek Bell/Chip Robinson/Al Holbert – Porsche 962 – IMSA/Camel GT – GTP and overall winner
1988 – Price Cobb/James Weaver – Porsche 962 – IMSA/Camel GT – GTP and overall winner
Texas Motor Speedway
2000 – Bruno Lambert/Randy Pobst – Porsche 911 GT3 R – American Le Mans Series – GT winner
2001 – Sacha Maassen/Lucas Luhr – Porsche 911 GT3 RSR – American Le Mans Series – GT winner
Houston Street Circuit
2006 – Mike Rockenfeller/Klaus Graf – Porsche 911 GT3 RSR – American Le Mans Series – GT2 winner
2007 – Romain Dumas/Timo Bernhard – Porsche RS Spyder – American Le Mans Series – LMP2 and overall winner
Social Media.
Porsche Cars North America. @Porsche
Porsche North America. @PorscheNARacing
Porsche AG and Porsche Team Manthey Twitter. @PorscheRaces
Race Weekend Schedule. (All times CT)
Thursday, September 18, 2014
IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge USA Practice Session 1 – All Classes – 8:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.
IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge USA Practice Session 2 – All Classes – 10:35 a.m. – 11:15 a.m.
IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge USA Qualifying – All Classes – 2:10 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
FIA WEC Free Practice 1 – All Classes – 2:45 p.m. – 4:15 p.m.
TUDOR Championship Practice Session 1 – All Classes – 5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
FIA WEC Free Practice 2 – All Classes – 7:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Friday, September 19, 2014
IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge USA Race 1 – All Classes – 8:00 a.m. – 8:45 a.m.
TUDOR Championship Practice Session 2 – All Classes – 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
FIA WEC Free Practice 3 – All Classes – 10:20 a.m. – 11:20 a.m.
TUDOR Championship Practice Session 3 – All Classes – 3:20 p.m. – 4:20 p.m.
TUDOR Championship Qualifying – GT Daytona Class – 4:30 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.
TUDOR Championship Qualifying – GT Le Mans Class – 4:50 p.m. – 5:05 p.m.
FIA WEC Qualifying – LMGTE-PRO/LMGTE-AM Classes – 6:00 p.m. – 6:25 p.m.
FIA WEC Qualifying – LMP1/LMP2 Classes – 6:35 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge USA Race 2 – All Classes – 7:25 p.m. – 8:10 p.m.
Saturday, September 20, 2014
TUDOR Championship Warm-Up – All Classes – 8:40 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
TUDOR Championship Driver Autograph Session – 9:30 a.m.– 10:15 a.m. – Team Transporters
FIA WEC Driver Autograph Session – 9:30 a.m.– 10:15 a.m. – Paddock Garages
TUDOR Championship Pre-Race Activities/Recon Laps – 10:30 a.m. – 11:35 a.m.
TUDOR Championship Lone Star Le Mans – All Classes – 11:35 a.m. – 2:20 p.m. (Two-Hours, 45-Minutes)
TUDOR Championship Post-Race Activities – 2:30 p.m.
FIA WEC Race – All Classes – 5:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. (Six-Hours)
FIA WEC Race Post-Race Activities – 11:15 p.m.
Porsche Entries.
TUDOR United SportsCar Championship (15).
GT Le Mans (GTLM) Class: (4) Porsche 911 RSR
No. 910 Porsche North America Frédéric Makowiecki (France)/Patrick Pilet (France)
No. 911 Porsche North America Nick Tandy (Great Britain)/Jörg Bergmeister (Germany)/Richard Lietz (Austria)
No. 912 Porsche North America Patrick Long (Playa del Rey, Calif.)/Michael Christensen (Denmark)
No. 17 Team Falken Tire Wolf Henzler (Germany)/Bryan Sellers (Braselton, Ga.)
GT Daytona (GTD) Class: (11) Porsche 911 GT America
No. 18 Muehlner Motorsports America Mark Kvamme (Columbus, Ohio)/TBA
No. 19 Muehlner Motorsports America TBA/TBA
No. 22 Alex Job Racing Cooper MacNeil (Hinsdale, Ill.)/Leh Keen (Atlanta)
No. 23 Team Seattle/Alex Job Racing Ian James (Phoenix)/Mario Farnbacher (Germany)
No. 27 Dempsey Racing Patrick Dempsey (Malibu, Calif.)/Andrew Davis (Athens, Ga.)
No. 30 MOMO NGT Racing Henrique Cisneros (Venezuela)/Kuba Giermaziak (Poland)
No. 44 Magnus Racing John Potter (Salt Lake City, Utah)/Andy Lally (Dacula, Ga.)
No. 58 Snow Racing Madison Snow (Lehi, Utah)/Jan Heylen (Tampa)
No. 71 Park Place Motorsports Mike Vess (Witchita, Kansas)/Mike Skeen (Charlotte, North Carolina)
No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Patrick Lindsey (Santa Barbara, Calif.)/Norbert Siedler (Austria)
No. 81 GB Autosport Damien Faulkner (Ireland)/Ben Barker (Great Britain)
Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama Entries (36).
Platinum Class (20) Gold Class (16)
http://www.imsa.com/races/circuit-americas-4
FIA World Endurance Championship Entries (6).
Le Mans Prototype 1 (LMP1) Class: (2) Porsche 919 Hybrid
No. 14 Porsche Team Romain Dumas (France)/Neel Jani (Switzerland) /Marc Lieb (Germany)
No. 20 Porsche Team Timo Bernhard (Germany)/Mark Webber (Australia)/Brendon Hartley (New Zealand)
Le Mans GT-Pro (LMGTE-Pro) Class: (2) Porsche 911 RSR
No. 91 Porsche Team Manthey Jörg Bergmeister (Germany)/Nick Tandy (Great Britain)/Richard Lietz (Austria)
No. 92 Porsche Team Manthey Patrick Pilet (France)/Frédéric Makowiecki (France)
Le Mans GT-Am (LMGTE-Am) Class: (2) Porsche 911 RSR (1) and Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (1)
No. 75 Prospeed Competition Porsche 911 GT3 RSR Francois Perrodo (France)/Emmanuel Collard (France)/Matthieu Vaxivière (France)
No. 88 Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR Christian Reid (Germany)/Klaus Bachler (Austria)/Khaled AL QUBAISI (United Arab Emirates)
Porsche North America Livery Delineation.
No. 910 Black windshield banner with red lettering, Black rear wing
No. 911 White windshield banner with red lettering, White rear wing
No. 912 Black windshield banner with red lettering, Black rear wing
Source. Porsche
