Daytona 24: TRG Porsche preview

TRG Porsches Ready for Daytona

Petaluma, Californa -- TRG's four Porsches are prepared and ready go for the 44th running of the Grand American Rolex Series Presented by Crown Royal Reserve Rolex 24 At Daytona on January 28th and 29th. Driver of the number 66 Comfort Systems/TRG/Porsche 997 Robert Nearn is happy with his teammates and their new car. "We have a great driver team. We had a incident during the practice three weeks ago with some damage by a competitor and then hitting a ditch off track. The car is good, but the traffic will play a role and we just need to keep the 997 under us for the first half of the race and then see where we are at when the sun comes up Sunday morning."

#66 TRG Porsche 997
Steve Johnson
Robert Nearn
Cyrille Sauvage
Stephane Ortelli

The number 67 team suffered a set back at the test days, losing use of their new 997 for the race. The car was damaged on the last day of the weekend and parts are not available to repair the new 997 in time for the race. TRG will replace that entry with a proven 996 from the team's arsenal. Bill Keith has faith in the team and is going into the race weekend positive. "I think it is safe to say that our goal for the #67 car is to be safe, consistent, and smart. The hopeful result of that will be to finish the 24 hours with a minimal amount of downtime. We believe, this strategy, if successful will significantly impact our final standings. Personally, I will try to be in the best physical and mental condition possible for the event. Concentration is a key ingredient. We had more than planned downtime with the car in the test days so we are going into the race with a different car, with minimal Daytona practice time for the drivers. This has been a big concern for the drivers, but obviously one which we have no control over at this point. We are relying on the team's expertise and dedication to get us in the best position possible for the race."

#67 Porsche 997
Marc Bullock
Bohdan Kroczek
Bill Keith
Pat Flanagan
Dave Master -- posthumously

"Our goal in the #68 car is a podium finish in the GT class," said Revere Greist. "We hope to do that by driving consistent laps and avoiding unscheduled pit stops. The test was instructive. As far as driving went, I started to get a handle on dealing with traffic while losing the minimal amount of time. I also learned that we've got a great team in TRG, a tested car in the 996 Porsche, and co-drivers who are focused on finishing the race. I think physical fitness will be important. I race bicycles and used my training to prepare for the Rolex 24."

#68 Porsche 996
Jim Pace
Jim Lowe
Revere Greist

Josh Vargo and the number 69 team knows you must first finish to win the class. "Our first goal is to win the GT class; however, one must first finish the race. At the test three weeks ago we got along great with the TRG guys. None of us have raced this particular car before, so we are still feeling our way around. With the new tire and wheel combination, we learned a lot about cars set up. We still would like to make some suspension changes during the practice days, overall, the car is really hooked up. The crew has done a great job with the car. We will try to get plenty of sleep in preparation for the race."

#69 Porsche 996
Josh VargoJJake Vargo
Mark Herrington
Brady Refenning

"We have a really good handle on our Porsches for the 24," said Kevin Buckler, team owner. "We did a lot of quality laps at the test, each driver was able to get a feel for the team, the cars and the track. We have gone over each car thoroughly and we are looking for a very successful race weekend. In 2005 we finished four cars, we will be looking to duplicate that effort next weekend."

-trg-