Porsche Motorsports Weekly Event Notes: Tuesday, April 25, 2017
Porsche Motorsport Schedule in North America. Upcoming Event.
Pirelli World Challenge
Event: Grand Prix of Virginia, VIRginia International Raceway
Dateline: Alton, Virginia
Date: Race 1. Saturday, April 29th
Race 2. Sunday, April 30th
Track Length: 3.27-miles, 17-turn
Race Duration: SprintX. Two, 60-minute Races
Sprint GTS. Two, 50-minute Races
Class: GT-X/GTA-X (Porsche 911 GT3 R)
GTS-X (Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR)
GTS (Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR)
Round: GT-X/GTA-X. 1 and 2 of 10
GTS-X. 1 and 2 of 10
GTS. 3 and 4 of 10
Next Round: SprintX, Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, Bowmanville, Ontario Canada, May 19-21, 2017
Porsche Profile.
Event Story Lines.
Reunited. Bergmeister and Long Together Again in Wright Porsche.
When Porsche Motorsport and Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing collaborated to bring together factory drivers Jörg Bergmeister (Germany) and Patrick Long (Manhattan Beach, California) for the 2004 24 Hours of Le Mans, few knew if the pairing would bear fruit. A Le Mans victory, dozens of race victories, multiple national championships and thousands of inside jokes later, the duo is back to sharing a Porsche 911 GT3 R. The reunion will take place in the double-header Pirelli World Challenge (PWC) weekend at VIRginia International Raceway, April 28-30.
The surprise combination of Bergmeister and Long, joined by Porsche veteran Sascha Maassen, proved impressive earning the GT2 class victory at Le Mans in 2004. White Lightning Racing then paired them for an assault on the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) championship in 2005 earning five class wins on their way to the first of five Bergmeister-Long ALMS championships – subsequent GT titles came with Petersen/White Lightning in 2006 and then with Flying Lizard Motorsports in 2008 - 2010. The pairing was split entering 2013 but reunited for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship endurance events in 2014 winning the 12 Hours of Sebring. In total, they captured 29 ALMS GT victories as well as a single win racing a Porsche Crawford Daytona Prototype in the GRAND AM series in 2007.
Jörg Bergmeister, Driver, No. 58 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R.
"I’m really excited to be joining my longtime teammate Patrick Long for the SprintX championship,” enthused Bergmeister. “We've made a lot of really great memories as teammates and of course have remained in touch as friends and Porsche works teammates since then. Our biggest challenge as co-drivers has always been the driver changes because I’m sitting all the way in the back of the car and he’s in the front. There’s never enough time to put him in a booster seat! We’ve managed that well in the past though, so we’ll take some time to practice and we’ll be back into the old routine at VIR.”
Patrick Long, Driver, No. 58 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R.
"It’s going to be awesome to race with the tall fellow from Bougainville once again. Jörg and I have a great past in racing and he’s a very close friend of mine. We have a pretty different background and mentality, but over the years have really gotten know one another’s strengths and weaknesses. We don’t know what to expect from SprintX just yet, but we’ll take it as it comes and band together as a team. Any time you have a teammate who’s super quick, experienced and easy to deal with, you know you have a leg up on the majority of the competition, so I’m very excited about the SprintX season."
Porsche Powers Into VIR. Customer Teams Core of PWC Field.
Nearly a quarter of the Pirelli World Challenge (PWC) at VIRginia International Raceway (VIR) entry list eligible to Porsche customers this weekend – GT, GTA and GTS – will be comprised of official products hailing from Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen. There are four Porsche 911 GT3 Rs, which will contest the weekend’s headline events in the GT and GTA classes of the two SprintX races. Seven Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR are entered with three joining a single Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car – the world’s most produced racing car – in the SprintX GTS and GT Cup categories respectively. The remaining are either double-dipping or are focused solely on the GTS Sprint Championship races.
It doesn’t stop at the machines. This weekend three Porsche factory drivers will split a pair of Porsche 911 GT3 Rs in the 60-minute SprintX races – Race 1 scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on Saturday; Race 2 takes the green flag at 1:15 p.m. on Sunday. The full-factory driver lineup of Patrick Long (Manhattan Beach, California) and Germany’s Jörg Bergmeister will race the No. 58 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R in the GT Pro/Pro class. In the Pro/Am class will be first-year Porsche factory ace Laurens Vanthoor. The Belgian joins privateer and longtime entrant James Sofronas (Villa Park, California) in the No. 14 GMG Motorsports 911 GT3 R.
The remaining two 500-plus horsepower rear-engined machines – both in the GT Pro/Am class – are the No. 16 Wright Motorsports and the No. 77 Calvert Dynamics 911 GT3 Rs. The No. 16 is shared by Michael Schein (Glen Cover, New York) and Jan Heylen (Tampa, Florida) while the No. 77 is Clemson University junior Alec Udell (The Woodlands, Texas) and retired Neurosurgeon Preston Calvert (Potomac, Maryland).
The No. 90 911 GT3 Cup car with Houston’s Joe Toussaint and Charleston’s Cory Friedman is fielded by Autometrics Motorsports in the GT Cup class of SprintX. Three of the brand-new Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport MRs look for top honors of the GTS class of SprintX: the Nos. 017 and 018 Case-It Racing cars driven by Adam Merzon and Trent Hindman as well as Cameron Cassels and Philip Bloom respectively face-off against the No. 47 of Jason Hart and Matt Travis in the NOLAsport-prepared Cayman.
The single-driver Sprint races will start the clock ticking on their 50-minute features at 1:55 p.m. on Saturday and 11:10 on Sunday. Flying Lizard Motorsports brings a pair of Cayman GT4 Clubsport MRs to GTS class in the Sprint Championship races: the No. 3 of Rodrigo Baptista and the No. 14 of Nate Stacy. Merzon and Cassels will run their No. 017 and No. 018 Case-It Caymans in these races as well.
Nürburgring Nine. Nine “Works” Drivers to Take On the “Green Hell”
Nine Porsche factory drivers and two Porsche Young Professionals will contest the 24 Hours of Nürburgring with the Porsche 911 GT3 R on May 27-28. 200,000 fans are expected to watch these Porsche Motorsport supported customer teams at Germany’s greatest motorsport event on the legendary Nürburgring-Nordschleife.
The following “works” pilots will share driving duties in four of the 500 hp customer sport racers from Weissach: Jörg Bergmeister (Germany), Michael Christensen (Denmark), Romain Dumas (France), Richard Lietz (Austria), Frédéric Makowiecki (France), Sven Müller (Germany), Patrick Pilet (France), Laurens Vanthoor (Belgium) and Dirk Werner (Germany). The Young Professionals Matteo Cairoli (Italy) and Mathieu Jaminet (France) join forces to tackle the long-distance classic in another 911 GT3 R.
Sebastian Golz, Project Manager GT Customer Motorsport.
“We’ve made the conscious decision to back our customer teams rather than compete against them in the VLN races and at the Nürburgring 24-hour race. We’re supporting them by supplying works drivers as well as technical assistance. The expertise of our teams Falken Motorsports, Frikadelli Racing and Manthey Racing combined with our support and the concept of the 911 GT3 R have underlined in the VLN1 and VLN2 preparation races that we’re currently on the right path. We claimed pole position and overall victory at both of these events and also won the amateur classification. With our customer squads we’ll now take on the challenge of the Nürburgring 24-hour race and the strong opposition from other manufacturers’ works teams.”
Porsche customer teams at the Nürburgring 24 Hours.
Manthey Racing, 911 GT3 R #911 *
Romain Dumas, Richard Lietz, Frédéric Makowiecki, Patrick Pilet
No. 44 Falken Motorsports, 911 GT3 R *
Jörg Bergmeister, Martin Ragginger, Laurens Vanthoor, Dirk Werner
No. 12 Manthey Racing, 911 GT3 R **
Matteo Cairoli, Mathieu Jaminet, Otto Klohs, Robert Renauer
No. 30 Frikadelli Racing Team, 911 GT3 R **
Klaus Abbelen, Sabine Schmitz, Andreas Ziegler
No. 31 Frikadelli Racing Team, 911 GT3 R *
Klaus Bachler, Michael Christensen, Lucas Luhr, Norbert Siedler
No. 59 Manthey Racing, 911 GT3 R **
Sven Müller, Hari Proczyk, Reinhold Renger, S. Smith
- Pro category ** Amateur category
Porsche Entries at VIRginia International Raceway.
Pirelli World Challenge SprintX Championship.
Total Car Count: Ten (10) Porsche entries will be competing in the opening two rounds of the 2017 Pirelli World Challenge SprintX Championship, the PWC at VIR. Four entries are entered in Rounds 3 and 4 of the Sprint GTS Championship.
SprintX Championship.
GT Class – Pro/Pro – One (1) Porsche 911 GT3 R.
No. 58 Wright Motorsports Jörg Bergmeister (Germany)/ Patrick Long (Manhattan Beach, California)
GT Class – Pro/Am – Three (3) Porsche 911 GT3 R.
No. 14 GMG Racing Laurens Vanthoor (Belgium)/ James Sofronas (Villa Park, California)
No. 16 Wright Motorsports Michael Schein (Glen Cove, New York)/ Jan Heylen (Tampa, Florida)
No. 77 Calvert Dynamics Preston Calvert (Potomac, Maryland)/ Alec Udell (The Woodlands, Texas)
GT Cup Class – Am/Am – One (1) Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.
No. 90 Autometrics Motorsports Joe Toussaint (Houston, Texas)/ Cory Friedman (Charleston, South Carolina)
GTS Class – Pro/Am – One (1) Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR.
No. 017 Case-It Racing Adam Merzon (Greenwich, Connecticut)/ Trent Hindman (Long Beach, New Jersey)
GTS Class – Am/Am – Two (2) Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR.
No. 47 NOLAsport Racing Jason Hart (Flower Mound, Texas)/ Matt Travis (The Woodlands, Texas)
No. 018 Case-It Racing Cameron Cassels (Canada)/ Philip Bloom (New York, New York)
Sprint Championship.
GTS Class – Four (4) Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR.
No. 3 Flying Lizard Motorsports Rodrigo Baptista (Spain)
No. 14 Flying Lizard Motorsports Nate Stacy (Tulsa, Oklahoma)
No. 017 Case-It Racing Adam Merzon (Greenwich, Connecticut)
No. 018 Case-It Racing Cameron Cassels (Canada)
Where to Watch:
All Pirelli World Challenge Series information, audio and live timing and scoring for each on-track session is additionally available at www.world-challenge.com.
Pirelli World Challenge. Channel/Web Address
Race Broadcast. Live.
SprintX Race 1
Saturday, April 29
3:20 p.m. ET
Sprint X Race 2
Sunday, April 30
1:05 p.m. ET
GTS Race 1
Saturday, April 29
2:00 p.m. ET
GTS Race 2
Sunday, April 30
11:00 a.m. ET
Race Broadcast. Television.
SprintX
Sunday, May 7
6:00 p.m. ET
GTS
Sunday, May 14
5:00 p.m. ET www.world-challenge.com
CBS Sports Network
Social Media.
Porsche Cars North America. @Porsche
Porsche GT Team (North America) @PorscheNARacing
Porsche Motorsport – GT Cars. @PorscheRaces
Porsche Racing – 919 Hybrid. @Porsche_Team
Model Hashtags.
Porsche 911 RSR. #911RSR
Porsche 911 GT3 R. #911GT3R
Porsche 911 GT3 Cup #911Cup
Porsche 919 Hybrid. #919hybrid
Event Hashtag.
PWC at VIR #PWCVIR
Series Hashtags and Handles.
GT3 Cup Challenge USA. #GT3USA
GT3 Cup Challenge Canada. #GT3CAN
PCA Club Racing Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport Trophy East @CaymanGT4CSEast #GT4CSE
Pirelli GT3 Cup Trophy USA @PirelliCupUSA
Future Porsche Events.
IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge
Event: Circuit of the Americas 120, Circuit of the Americas
Dateline: Austin, Texas
Date: Friday, May 5
Track Length: 3.4-miles, 20-turn
Race Duration: 2-Hours
Class: GS/GT4 (Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR)
GS (Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport)
Round: 3 of 10
Next Round: Continental Tire 150, Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, New York, June 29 – July 2, 2017
IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
Event: Advance Auto Parts SportsCar Showdown, Circuit of the Americas
Dateline: Austin, Texas
Date: Saturday, May 6
Track Length: 3.4-miles, 20-turn
Race Duration: 2-Hour, 40-minutes
Class: GTLM (Porsche 911 RSR)
GTD (Porsche 911 GT3 R)
Round: GTLM. 4 of 11
GTD. 4 of 12
Next Round: SportsCar Classic, GTD Class Only, Raceway at Belle Isle Park, Detroit, Michigan, June 2-3, 2017
IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama
Event: Advance Auto Parts SportsCar Showdown, Circuit of the Americas
Dateline: Austin, Texas
Date: Race 1. Friday, May 5
Race 2. Saturday, May 6
Track Length: 3.4-miles, 20-turn
Race Duration: Two, 45-minute races
Class: Platinum (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, MY 2017)
Gold (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, MY 2014-2016)
Round: 5 and 6 of 14
Next Round: Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, New York, June 29 – July 2, 2017