Homestead: Farnbacher Loles Racing preview

Dirk and Dominik

Farnbacher Loles Racing will have a strong duo behind the wheel of the No. 87 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car for this weekend's Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. 2007 Rolex Series GT champion Dirk Werner of Kissenbruck, Germany, will team with Dominik Farnbacher of Ansbach, Germany, for the two-hour 45-minute race on Saturday. They were Farnbacher Loles teammates last year, but drove different cars.

"So now finally, Dominik and I can drive together," Werner said. "That's what I was looking for. I know that he's a good racing driver. For a long time, we've had fun away from the track, so now I hope we can do it on track, too."

fast Porsche

Leh Keen of Charleston, S.C., drives the No. 86 Farnbacher Loles Porsche with Eric Lux of Jacksonville, Fla. Keen made good use of the nine-week break between the Rolex 24 and this week's race -- he set a Porsche Club of America lap record en route to victory in the Night Red Checkered Sprint at Sebring International Raceway on Feb. 8.

Keen took the checkered flag almost two minutes ahead of the second-place finisher and his record lap on the 3.7-mile road course beat the field by more than six seconds. He also holds PCA records at Daytona International Speedway, Road Atlanta and Watkins Glen International.

new chassis

Dave Lacey and Greg Wilkins, both of Toronto, Ont., will have a new race car to carry their No. 88 Doncaster Racing colors, starting this weekend. They drove the Farnbacher Loles 2007 championship car in the Rolex 24 At Daytona, where they finished 12th in the GT class after their strong run was thwarted by radiator damage. They will have a 2008 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car for the rest of the season. Porsche factory driver Patrick Long of Belleair, Fla., is sharing driving duty with Lacey this weekend, subbing for Wilkins.

"We are excited to be back in the car -- especially the 2008 car -- for Homestead," Lacey said. "While Daytona was not the best result, we enjoyed working with the new team and look forward to getting more acquainted with the regular crew that is going to be running with us for the rest of the season."

-credit: flr