This year, at the 59th Rolex 24 at Daytona, there will be NO Porsche factory team.
After an entry every year since the 1st race in 1962, with 22 overall wins, 78 class wins with 42 wins in a Porsche 911 and after the 7-year manufacturer team concluded with a victory at the finale at Sebring in November of 2020, the run has ended.
But, as our club pulls together to make our events happen, the Porsche family has pulled together to represent Porsche in the 2021 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
The WeatherTech Team is now representing Porsche in the GTLM class with their own Porsche 911 RSR-19 car and team drivers Gianmaria Bruni, Kevin Estre, Richard Lietz and Porsche Young Driver Academy North America graduate Cooper MacNeil. This Porsche 911 race car, with a mid-engine and 616 HP came in third place in the new 100-minute qualifying race
In GTD and with Porsche GT3 R race cars, five privateer teams will compete for the top spots. The five teams are 1) our local friend, Tim Pappas and the Black Swan Racing team (unfortunately, Tim had been diagnosed with Covid-19 and had to pull the team from the race), 2) Pfaff Motorsports in their plaid Porsche with Laurens Vanthoor, Matt Campbell, Zacharie Robichon and Porsche test and development driver Lars Kern,
3) 2020 IMSA WeatherTech GTD class runner-up Wright Motorsports with their team of Patrick Long, Ryan Hardwick, Jan Heylen and Klaus Bachler. They have a great team, winning the 12 Hours of Sebring last November, but just missing winning the class. Watch this team come together this year.
The 4th team is new to the Porsche GT3 R this year: Team TGM. Team owner Ted Giovanis had been with Porsche since 2016 in the Michelin Pilot Challenge and with his team of Owen Trinkler, Hugh Plumb and Matt Plumb will now compete in this IMSA WeatherTech GTD series.
Lastly is another somewhat new team as Team Highpoint and EBM have formed a formidable team for GTD: Team Hardpoint with owner-driver Rob Ferriol and 2019 WeatherTech GTLM Driver Champion Earl Bamber. They bring two GTD class leaders, Katherine Legge and Christina Nielsen to their team for 2021. All are experienced IMSA race drivers and form another great Porsche GTD team.
During the qualifying race, the Wright Motorsports team showed that they will be a contender in the GTD class by posting the fastest lap time. But during night practice a heavy accident totaled the car for the race. It was then that team owner John Wright called Tim Pappas of Black Swan racing and bought their car. During the evening the team changed the engine and car for the race the next day.
On January 30th, for 24 hours and into the next day of January 31st, the race was run on the Daytona 3.56 mile road course and the famous Daytona oval, with high bank 31-degree corners.
Wright Motorsports, after all the long hours for the pit crew changing cars and the 24-hour race for the drivers, secured fourth place in the GTD class at the Rolex 24 at Daytona. I also have to let you know that during the practice accident, Ryan Hardwick was declared medically not able to compete in the race and the team brought in Trent Hindman. Trent Hindman is a local friend ( West Long Branch, New Jersey) and driver at events at Lime Rock Park for Porsche events. I drove with him in a new Porsche Cayman GT4 at a Porsche event at Lime Rock Park. He was rightly deserving of the team participation at Daytona.
Team Hardpoint EBM, in their first outing, came in 10th. Pfaff overcame serious obstacles as they were among the leaders for 20 hours before they had a collision and went idle on the track, with repairs needed to fit a new half-shaft taking almost 80 minutes, ending up in 12th. Team TGM came in 17th with their debut with the Porsche GT3 spec Porsche.
In GTLM and the WeatherTeach Racing, the Porsche 911 RSR-19 was approaching the starting line and green flag but unfortunately, before the race even started, was hit from the rear by a BMW, sending them into a spin and hitting another car. Damage to the front and rear set the team 14 laps down, but with 13 caution flags and strategic planning, they finished in 6th place.
The next race is the Mobil 1 Twelve hours of Sebring on March 20th. I will be attending this race and will bring you the insight in my next article as we follow the Porsche customer teams this year. They need your support!
Hope to see you soon! Be Safe!
