November 14th, 2020 at the 12 Hours of Sebring was the end of Porsche having a Manufacturers team in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series.

It was a run of 7 years in the race series with an outstanding record of seven title wins, five championships in the North American Endurance Cup, 21 race wins and 56 podiums.

On the very first race of 2014, the team of Nick Tandy, Richard Lietz and Patrick Pilet won the 24 hours of Daytona. In the second race, the 12 Hours of Sebring, the team of Michael Christensen, Jorg Bergmeister and Patrick Long won. And they won again, at a victory at Petit Le Mans, which cumulated to the manufacturer’s title at the end of that season.

2015 brought even more competition among the longest and toughest races at iconic Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen and Road America, but it is the race at Road Atlanta that year, the Petit Le Mans, that probably was the most outstanding win of the 7 seven years.

I remember it specifically as it had rained for four days before the race. Still raining, with Georgia red clay, made for a slippery situation for the car corrals and spectators.

I positioned myself at Turn One, in the rain, for the start of the race and stepped into at least 4 inches of mud. The race started and it continued to rain all the way till dusk. They stopped the race in the afternoon to try to control the rain runoff that was running across the track in some areas. Porsche had a great car with great rain drivers and rain tires, as they were then not controlled by the series, and had passed the prototype race cars to lead the race. Dusk fell and with the night lights and rain continuing, it made for a driver’s nightmare – they could not see where to go so the officials stopped the race with a red flag. Porsche was the only manufacturer to win this race overall in a GT race car.

2016 was a different year and under a new series with the fierce competition of 5 manufacturers leaving Porsche with nothing at Daytona and Sebring, but finally a win at Long Beach and a second place at Austin, Texas.

In 2017 Porsche introduced their new 911 RSR with a 4 liter engine mounted in front of the rear axle. With a win at Lime Rock, the team of Pilet and Dirk Werner brought home the driver’s title in the North American Endurance Cup and the championship title in the endurance competition.

In 2018 the factory squad achieved three victories and many pole positions, but no other titles for the year. Then, in 2019, the tide turned for a dramatically successful season for Porsche. With Porsche wins at Le Mans and all titles in the FI World Endurance Championship, the team of Earl Bamber and Laurens Vanthoor triumphed with the GTLM and driver’s title. The team of Nick Tandy and Patrick Pilet took five wins in a row during the first half of the season, a feat never before done in the GTLM category.

Now for 2020 – they say the best comes last. The team posted four pole positions in the first six events, but the team did not take a victory until Petit LeMans with Nick Tandy, Fred Mackowiecki and Matt Campbell. Then the team of Earl Bamber and Laurens Vanthoor took their first victory at Laguna Seca. That race checked off the only permanent circuit where Porsche had never won.

The last race was the 12 Hours of Sebring and endurance race. Porsche is known for their great cars during endurance races – enduring the unforeseen for 12 hours and then to finish.

I had the opportunity to attend this race. The last race, for me, I was hoping not! I was in the IMSA bubble most of the time for the race. This was strictly controlled with a temperature check each day along with a special pass to get into the bubble. No one was able to get into the pit area except for teams and manufacturer media. Yes, there was the “all-the-time mask requirement”, along with sanitized areas and people staffed at restrooms to sanitize after every use. I felt comfortable until I left the bubble and while I was setting up for photos, I was approached within 3 feet by a person watching the race. I promptly picked up and moved. I was among the limited crowd that mostly abided by social distancing and when arriving home, again tested negative. It was interesting that at all the airports with groups and lines of people, NO temperature check, but to get into the race at Sebring, all had to have a temperature check.

For the Endurance Race on Saturday, the team had the opportunity, at the beginning of the race, to display their 5 most prominent race cars; the two Porsche 911 RSR’s emblazoned with red and blue stars and stripes and also a “THANK YOU” displayed on the underside of one Porsche, along with the iconic Brumos Porsche 911 RSR, the Coca Cola Porsche 911 RSR and the Mobil 1.

The five paraded around for two laps, after starting with a huge burnout on the front straightaway. The crowd applauded as they progressed around the course. Then the 12-hour race started.

The teams have to attempt to finish the 12 Hours if they want to go for a win. This year brought, like the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a change of dates for the race, along with a few new problems: more hours of racing in the dark, temperature changes that affect engines as well as track and tire wear.

All went well despite some incidents. There were yellow flags and changes of strategy and the race went on. Just imagine doing multiple stints in those race cars, and racing among other classes of cars, some faster, some slower. There was no rain and somewhat mild temperatures around the low 80’s (instead of the March temperatures sometimes in the mid 90’s).

Porsche had made it to 11 hours and 40 minutes and was in 2nd and 3rd place. I was sitting with a friend of mine, a driver’s family member, and was very nervous as the yellow flag came out. Everyone pitted and the BMW was in first place. I said, “Don’t be nervous, the race is not over.” Another Porsche friend I was sitting with then said “THE RACE HAS JUST STARTED!”. I knew that Porsche would go all out to win this race. The green flag dropped and in Turn One the first place BMW hit the first place GTD race car and they both spun out. But, NO yellow flag and the race went on. Porsche was in 1st and 2nd and they proceeded to finish that way.

I hope you have enjoyed my summary of the seven years of Porsche Racing in this series. There will be other Porsche private teams racing next year and I will get you that information, along with news of the Porsche race car coming in the future.

Be safe and social distance so that I can meet with you next year at a CVR event or a race!