Porsche newsletter 2010-06-01

Nurburgring 24 Hours: Porsche swift but no happy ending

For eight hours, the Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid led the Nurburgring 24 hour race, until almost two hours before the flag when engine damage halted the spectacular charge of the 'rolling race lab' fielded by Manthey Racing. Up until that point, the innovative hybrid 911 demonstrated its efficiency impressively. On one tank of fuel it turned, more often than not, one to two laps more than its rivals. Manthey Racing's 911 GT3 R was punted out of the lead by a competitor seven and a half hours after the start. Huge success for the standard 911 GT3 RS: claiming 13th overall it exceeded all expectations. Manthey Racing had amassed four straight overall wins with Porsche from 2006 to 2009.

American Le Mans Series: Victory and points' lead for Porsche pilots

A gripping finale at race three of the ALMS in Laguna Seca (22 May): Just before the finish, Patrick Long overtook the leading BMW at the restart after the last full course yellow in his Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR to win by just 0.3 seconds after six hours. Long shared the cockpit with Joerg Bergmeister. With two victories this season, the works drivers are now the sole points' leaders. In the Le Mans Prototypes (LMP), Klaus Graf, Sascha Maassen and Memo Gidley finished second overall in the Muscle Milk Cytosport RS Spyder.

In the ALMS GT Challenge class for matched Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars, Black Swan Racing, in only their second race with their new 2010 race car, went flag-to-flag with Tim Pappas, and Dutch brothers Jeroen and Sebastiaan Bleekemolen to score an impressive win over some serious competition. The Black Swan Porsche led all six hours and ended up a lap ahead of TRG's Porsche of Andy Lally, Rene Villeneuve and Henri Richard. The class points leaders, the Car Amigo/Mission Foods Porsche of Butch Leitzinger/Juan Gonzales/Rudy Junco, Jr. finished third.

Patron GT3 Challenge by Yokohama - Ross Smith with all the wins

Ross Smith, from Cresson, Texas, easily sailed across the finish line in first position at Laguna Seca for the fourth time in a row this year in the Platinum Class of the Patron GT3 Challenge by Yokohama. These two top-of-the podium finishes came after two identical results during the series opener at the storied Sebring International Raceway back in March. Aside from winning all four races so far this season, Ross has also qualified on pole all four times.

Le Mans Series: Lieb and Lietz masterfully pocket victory number two

Cool, calm and brilliant: Marc Lieb and Richard Lietz demonstrated their craft at the second round of the Le Mans Series in Spa (9 May). Several rivals skidded off the track in rain. A power outage of almost resulted in the interruption of the race, rendering strategies ineffective. Unperturbed, the two works drivers brought home their second victory of the season in the Felbermayr-Proton 911 GT3 RSR.

FIA GT3 European Championship: Win and podium for Bergmeister and Cunill

The FIA GT3 European Championship kicked off the new season with a thriller in Silverstone (2 May): After a wild three-way fight, Tim Bergmeister snatched the lead in the penultimate lap at the wheel of Trackspeed Racing's 911 GT3 R and went on the win with Supercup pilot Siso Cunill. The duo clinched third at race two. At the rain-sodden second FIA GT3 weekend in Brno (22/23 May), the fastest Porsche was the 911 GT3 R of Pro Speed Competition, driven by Marco Holzer and Paul van Splunteren. The pair finished race four in sixth.

International GT Open: Two Porsche teams in top three at halfway mark

After six of twelve races, Richard Lietz and Gianluca Roda rank second with their 911 GT3 RSR fielded by Autorlando Sport. Recently at race five in Imola (22 May), the Austrian and the Italian climbed the podium in position three. Their Porsche colleagues Patrick Pilet and Raymond Narac rank a close third in the points. The greatest success for the two Frenchmen at the wheel of their IMSA Performance Matmut 911 GT3 RSR this season was a victory at race three on the Nurburgring (1 May).

Championnat de France FFSA GT: Larbre Competition celebrates first win

An excellent weekend for the long-established Larbre Competition squad: After securing second at the fifth race of the French GT Championship (8 May) in Dijon, the next day Patrick Bornhauser and Laurent Groppi snatched their first win of the season at race six. The Porsche pair currently ranks second in the drivers' classification.

Campionato Italiano Gran Turismo: Gianluca Roda tops the points

With two fourth places at the second race weekend of the Italian GT Championship (9 May), local matador Gianluca Roda defended his lead in the GT3 drivers' classification. Roda shared the cockpit of his Autorlando Sport 911 GT3 R with Wolf Henzler.

Porsche Mobil1 Supercup: Siedler wins in Barcelona, Rast dominates Monaco

With a flag-to-flag victory from pole position on the legendary GP circuit of Monaco (16 May), Rene Rast wrested the points' lead from Dutchman Jeroen Bleekemolen at round four with his Al Faisal Lechner Racing-Porsche. A week previously, Austria's Norbert Siedler had celebrated his first win in this brand trophy series on the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona.

Carrera Cup Asia: Christian Menzel triumphs in Beijing

Christian Menzel remains unbeaten in the 2010 Carrera Cup Asia. The German won races three and four in his StarChase 911 GT3 Cup on the Goldenport International Circuit in Beijing (22/23 May).

Carrera Cup Deutschland: Nick Tandy continues winning streak

Nick Tandy is the man to beat in the Carrera Cup Deutschland. Nicolas Armindo was able to maintain the Briton's pace in the early stage of the second race on the Circuit Ricardo Tormo near Valencia (23 May), until deteriorating tyres forced the Frenchman to reduce speed. Tandy won by more than eleven seconds. Robert Lukas (22 years) finished third after starting from ninth and was the first Pole in the history of the Carrera Cup Deutschland to climb the winner's podium.

Matmut Carrera Cup France: Frederick Makowiecki rules Spa

Everything ran perfectly for Frederick Makowiecki (Luxury Racing) at the third race weekend of the Matmut Carrera Cup France in Belgium's Spa (8/9 May), with two pole positions, two fastest race laps and two wins planting him at the top of the points. Kevin Estre finished in second place twice. Estre is Makowiecki's toughest rival in the fight for the title and currently heads the junior classification.

Carrera Cup Great Britain: Michael Caine halts Tim Harvey's string of wins

In torrential rain at Brands Hatch, Michael Caine (Motorbase Performance) relegated reigning champion Tim Harvey to finish in position two with a ten second gap at race five of the Carrera Cup Great Britain (2 May). At race six held on the same day, Tim Harvey (Red Line Racing) notched up his fifth win of the season on a drying track ahead of Caine.

Carrera Cup Japan: Maiden victory for rookie Yasuoka

At race three of the Carrera Cup Japan in Fuji (2 May), reigning champion Y. Shimizu and newcomer H. Yasuoka continued their duel at the top. Although Shimizu took up the race from pole position, it was Yasuoka in his Garmin-911 GT3 Cup who claimed his maiden victory. Two points separate Shimizu at the top of the drivers' standings from Yasuoka in second.

Carrera Cup Scandinavia: Four races, four different victors

Action-packed thrills in the Carrera Cup Scandinavia. With eight races already contested, Robin Rudholm (Xlander Racing) leads the standings one point ahead of Fredrik Larsson. Four drivers won at the last four races. Edward Sandstrom and Rudholm were victorious in southern Sweden's Knutstorp (8/9 May). Reigning champion Jocke Mangs dominated in rain at Karlskoga (21 May), with Fredrik Larsson winning one day later.

-source: porsche