Porsche newsletter 2010-04-01

Porsche Motorsport around the world

Stuttgart. The Motorsport Newsletter regularly provides information on Porsche Motorsport around the world. More detailed information and additional photographs are available for accredited journalists from the press database.

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. Two-time world rally champion, Walter Roehrl, celebrated a successful comeback to racing after a 17-year break, driving a street-legal 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. Alex Job Racing led a 1-2-3 sweep with his Porsche 911 GT3 Cup racers in the ALMS GTC class, while Ross Smith took both races in the Patron GT3 Challenge by Yokohama's opening weekend at Sebring in his 2010 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.

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, Rene Rast had dominated at round five with a Muehlner Motorsport 911 GT3 Cup S.

Porsche Mobil1 Supercup: Rene Rast snatches double win in Bahrain

A perfect start to the season for Rene 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. Andre 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.

-source: porsche