Daytona 24 Porsche 9 hour notes

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - February 2 - The #57 Seikel Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 RS of Plumb/Collin/Burgess/Shep, the #66 Racers Group Porsche 911 GT3 RS of Bernhard/Bergmeister/Buckler/Schrom, the #79 Fitzgerald/Jackson/Matos/Franchitti Porsche 911 GT3 RS, a nd the #43 Orbit Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RS of Kyle Petty/Peter Baron/Leo Hindery/Mike Borkowski are the top four cars in the GT class - all less than a minute apart at the nine-hour mark of the Rolex 24.

In GTS, the #00 Empringham/Spenard/Bytzek Porsche GT1 has passed the Gentilozzi Jaguar to gain the lead in the class. Two subsequent yellow flags has kept the Canadians in the lead.

In the overall event, the #38 Champion Lola Porsche, with Andy Wallace/Sascha Maassen/Hurley Haywood/Lucas Luhr, has clawed its way back to 19th overall and fifth in the prototype class after losing 25 laps at the beginning of the event

"We feel like we've been pushing uphill all day," said Haywood, who has won this race more than any other driver - six times.

"But now we have a bunch of GT cars ahead of us, and only Judd-powered prototypes in the SRP class, and we should have better reliability then they do," said Haywood.

Porsches that were running well early, but have either fallen way back or dropped out include the #86 Freisinger Porsche (broken suspension), the #39 Autosport Design Porsche (broken radiator), the #34 Zip Racing Porsche (cracked cylinder head), and the #7 Red Bull GTS Porsche (radiator hole).

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (February 2, 2002) - End of Hour #9- GTS and GT Tops Team Overall leader completed 275 lap s

GTS

1.(00) David Empringham, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Richard Spenard, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, GTS, Bytzek Motorsports Porsche GT1 - 260 laps.

2.(3) Paul Gentilozzi, Lansing, Mich.; Brian Simo, Carlsbad, Calif.; Scott Pruett, Auburn, Calif., Michael Lauer, Greenwich, Conn., GTS, Rocketsports Racing Jaguar - 260 laps.

3. (08) Duncan Huisman, Cor Euser - both from The Netherlands, and Calum Lockle, from Great Britian, Marcos, GTS, Marcos Racing International - 254 laps.

GT

1. (57) Hugh Plumb, Chadds Ford, Pa.; Tony Burgess, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Philip Collin, Chicago, Ill., David Shep, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, GT, Seikel Motorsport Porsche GT3 RS - 253 laps

2.(66) Kevin Buckler, Sonoma, Calif.; Michael Schrom, Ghent, N.Y.; Timo Bernhard, Germany, Jorg Bergmeister, Germany, GT, The Racers Group Porsche GT3 RS - 252 laps

3. (79) Michael Fitzgerald, Fountain Hills, Ariz.; Justin Jackson, Alpharetta, Ga.; Manuel Matos, , Marino Franchitti, Scotland, GT, J3 Racing Porsche - GT3 R - 252 laps.

4. (43) Peter Baron, San Mateo, Calif.; Leo Hindery, Hillsborough, Calif.; Kyle Petty, Randleman, N.C., Mike Borkowski, Scottsdale, Ariz., GT, Orbit Racing Porsche GT3 R - 252 laps.

5. (68) Robert Nearn, Great Britain; BJ Zacharias, Cincinnati, Ohio; Larry Schumacher, West Chester, Ohio, Robert Nagel, Clearwater, Fla., GT, The Racers Group Porsche GT3 R - 251 laps.

6. (44) Gary Schultheis, Boca Raton, Fla.; Anthony Kester, Michigan City, Ind.; Sylvain Tremblay, Sunrise, Fla., Selby Wellman, St. Petersburg, Fla., GT, Orbit Racing Porsche GT3 R - 248 laps.

7. (24) Joao Barbosa, Portugal; Thierry Perrier, France, Michel Neugarten, Monaco, GT, Perspective Racing Mosler MT900R - 243 laps.

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