Porsche Motorsport Daytona test notes 2011-01-09

2011 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Racer Successful Debut at Rolex 24 Test Days at Daytona; 3.8-liter Flat Six 911-Based GT Car Captures Nine of Top Ten Places

Flying Lizard Motorsports 10th overall in Porsche Riley

Daytona Beach, FL - January 9 - After three days and eight long test sessions on the Daytona International Speedway's 3.56-mile banked oval and infield road circuit, the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race car has proven it is ready for the upcoming Rolex 24 at Daytona scheduled for January 29 - 30.

Led by the #59 Brumos Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, a new 2011 model, Porsche teams took nine of the top ten positions in the GT class on the newly-repaved Daytona track, and Porsche Motorsport North America president Jens Walther could not be happier.

"With almost all our customer teams either using the new 2011 model, or updating their earlier Cup cars to 2011 rules and specifications including the use of the 3.8-liter engine, we were gratified to see the results this weekend. While we are under no illusions that the BMWs, Mazdas and Camaros won't do better for the race, we were pleased that the Porsche teams made so much progress during the test weekend," said Walther.

The Brumos entry, to be driven by Leh Keen (who set the fastest GT time of the weekend)/Andrew Davis/Hurley Haywood/Marc Lieb) is one of those 2011 models, and its appearance marked the first time Brumos has entered a 911 in competition since 1994. Haywood started the Brumos Racing tradition at Daytona with Porsche 911s in 1973 with an overall win with co-driver Peter Gregg.

Second was the #17 Burtin Racing Porsche entry of Martin Ragginger/Nicolas Armindo/Jack Baldwin/Claudio Burtin/Nick Tandy, while the #67 TRG Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (also a 2011 model), driven by Spencer Pumpelly/Steve Bertheau/Wolf Henzler/Andy LalleyBrendan Gaughan was third.

The #45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche Riley, driven by Patrick Long/Joerg Bergmeister/Johannes van Overbeek/Seth Neiman ran as high overall in one of the eight test sessions, but finished tenth fastest when the times were all in.

The Porsche 911 is the most accomplished race car ever at the Rolex 24 with 38 combined class and overall wins, and Porsche having scored 22 overall wins at the January classic since its inception in 1962. Since the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup has been the Porsche standard-bearer in GT (starting in 2005), it is the most successful GT car in the current series, leading its Grand-Am competitors in championships, victories, pole positions and podium finishes. Porsche 911 race cars have won nine of the 11 Rolex 24 GT races since Grand-Am took over the race in 2000, including an overall race win in 2003.

-source: porsche