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Daytona 24: Porsche race report

Porsche Top Nine GT Finishing Positions at Daytona 24 DAYTONA BEACH, FL - February 6 - Porsche added to its record as the most success car manufacturer in the history of the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona by grabbing the top nine GT class positions in ...

Porsche Top Nine GT Finishing Positions at Daytona 24

DAYTONA BEACH, FL - February 6 - Porsche added to its record as the most success car manufacturer in the history of the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona by grabbing the top nine GT class positions in the 43rd running of the event at the Daytona International Speedway.

The #71 German-based Farnbacher Racing USA Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car of Germans Wolf Henzler and Dominik Henzler teamed with Californians Shawn Price (Santa Clara) and Pierre Ehret (Santa Rosa) led the majority of race laps and scored a six-lap GT win over the #37 Manuel Matos (Puerto Rico)/Mike Fitzgerald (Phoenix)/Emil Assentato(Locust Vally, NY)/Nick Longhi (Locust Valley, NY)/TPC Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. TPC, based in Maryland, won the team championship in 2004 in Rolex Grand-Am SGS class with drivers Marc Bunting/Andy Lally.

Porsche has now scored 59 class victories - 34 by a 911 model - to add to its 20 overall wins at the Daytona endurance classic.

Finishing third was the #61 TRG East Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car of Robert Nearn (England), and David Lacey/David Shep/Greg Wilkins/Mark Wilkins (all from Toronto). TRG East is based in Stuart, Florida. Fourth was the #73 Jack Baldwin/Robin Liddell/Craig Stanton/Jim Tafel, Baldwin/Tafel Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, while the #65 TRG Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car driven by Andy Lally (Dacula, GA)/Kevin Buckler (Novato, CA)/Marc Bunting(Monkton, MD)/Carlos de Quesada (Coral Gables, FL), TRG Auto Gallery, Porsche GT3 Cup was fifth. Kevin Buckler, owner of the TRG team (formerly known The Racer's Group), has won the Rolex 24 overall (2003) and in class (2002 and 2003).

In the Daytona Prototype class, the two Brumos Porsche Fabcar entries - #58 Red Bull Brumos Porsche Fabcar (David Donohue, Malvern, PA/Darren Law, Phoenix, AZ/Sascha Maassen, Belgium/Lucas Luhr, Monaco) and #59 Brumos Porsche Fabcar (Hurley Haywood, Ponte Vedra, FL/J.C. France, Daytona Beach, FL/Timo Bernhard, Germany/Romain Dumas, France/Mike Rockenfeller, Germany) - both gave chase to a top ten finish, but bad luck and mechanical problems sidetracked their efforts.

The #59 car crashed in the practice before Thursday qualifying, and the Brumos crew had to rebuild the entire car, resulting in a back-of-the-pack start. The car then ran well, moving up to as high as seventh overall in the standings before a failed master brake cylinder resulted in a high-speed crash in hour #16, bending the suspension and putting the car out. The #58 car had several small problems, including a blocked radiator from a spin off course, subsequent overheating, and loose bodywork, but rallied to an eighth place finish. The car ran as high as second during a pit stop exchange early in the race.

Other Porsches notes for the 2005 Rolex 24:

The #29 Brumos Porsche Fabcar, driven by Josh Vargo/Tim Vargo/Jake Vargo from Tennessee, retired due to engine problems. The Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche was running in the top five early in the event when it was hit by slower car. They fixed the problem, but lost too much time, finishing 13th in GT.

Other cars that were running in the top five, but had a disappointing finish including the #41 Orison Planet Earth Porsche (accident); the #00 Aussie Assault Porsche (transmission); the #36 TPC Porsche (accident), and the #51 Red Bull Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car (accident).

Team 16, the TRG Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car driven by instructor Ross Bentley, and 16 year-olds Brad Coleman/Colin Braun/Adrian Carrio, finished seventh in class .

-porsche-

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