Porsche Motorsport Weekly Event Notes: Monday, February 8, 2021

This Week.
• Porsche Premiere. Newest Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Race Car to Make Testing Debut with Newest One-Make Series. • TAG, You’re It. Porsche and TAG Heuer Enter Strategic Partnership • Esports Excitement. Sebastian Job Wins Digital Nail-Biter Duel with Joshua Rogers.

Porsche Premiere. Newest Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Race Car to Make Testing Debut with Newest One-Make Series.
The Porsche Carrera Cup North America will be a leader in many ways entering its debut season in 2021. Among the firsts for the entrants into the new championship – the highest of the one-make series on the Porsche Motorsport Pyramid North America – will be the privilege as the earliest to test and race the newest Porsche 911 GT3 Cup competition car worldwide. Porsche will host an open test for all full-season entrants in the series at Sebring International Raceway on March 8 – 9. The private test will include the first 23, 2021 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race cars produced and delivered worldwide, as well as a limited number of previous generation cars. Following the two-day private event on the 3.74-mile, 17-turn race course in Sebring, Florida, entrants will make the international competition debut for the first race variant of the type 992 generation of the iconic 911 platform on March 17 – 19 during the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring weekend.

North America holds the honor of being the first to see the most produced factory race car in the world in Central Florida. It will be followed by its Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup premier March 30 at Zandvoort in The Netherlands. Other Carrera Cups will follow.

The seventh cup-car iteration will carry forward a great legacy. Since its 1990 forerunner, Porsche has built 4,251 units of the globally successful one-make cup racer. Of its immediate predecessor alone, 1,410 cars rolled off the 911 assembly line in Zuffenhausen, Germany: 673 vehicles from the 991.1 generation and 737 from the 2017-launched 991.2 generation.

Producing 510 hp (375 kW), the new-for-2021 machine exceeds the output of its immediate predecessor by approximately 25 horsepower. Moreover, the new GT3 Cup car can run on synthetic fuels, which significantly lowers CO2 emissions under racing conditions. The completely new Cup 911 race car is expected to cut lap times, depending on the track layout, by an astounding one-percent – an almost unheard of gain made year-to-year. Delivery to teams will begin in February 19 with the first production allocation scheduled to be delivered to North America.

The groundwork for the latest model was laid in 2018. Concrete development began in early 2019. The main development goals of the team led by project manager Jan Feldmann were to further improve performance, achieve a more aggressive design and greater durability with less outlay in terms of time and maintenance. The result is reflected in many aspects of the new racing vehicle, which, like its predecessor, is built on the production line in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen alongside the 911 road models.

One of the most striking features of the new 911 GT3 Cup is its optimized aerodynamics and the overall more muscular appearance. This is partly thanks to the wide, turbo-spec lightweight body that is being used for the first time in the Cup car. This improved aerodynamic efficiency ensures more stable handling, particularly in high-speed corners.

Optional vehicle functions such as ABS or traction control are already stored in the car’s onboard ECU. They can be activated via a digital code. In the Porsche Carrera Cup North America as well as the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, the majority of these driving aids are switched off in the professional classes. The focus of Carrera Cup and Supercup is on the talent of the drivers not the race car.

While the rear axle in the new Cup car essentially remains unchanged compared to the production 911 model, the front wheels are now controlled by a double wishbone suspension and Uniball bearings – like in the Porsche 911 RSR, the top racing model in the Porsche lineup. Through this, the shock absorbers/dampers are no longer exposed to lateral forces, only axial forces. This ensures more precise turn-in behavior and gives the driver a better feeling for the front axle. The shock absorbers have also inherited the cutting-edge valve technology from the Porsche 919 Hybrid LMP race car and 911 RSR. Fully electro-mechanical power steering has been introduced into the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup for the first time this year as well. While the car remains true to its Porsche roots in feel and performance, drivers who have experienced even the most recent generation of “Cup car” will have to adjust to the new, more precise handling of the newest generation. This puts a premium on the first test session at the fast, and bumpy, central Florida race course.

In terms of the engine, the 911 GT3 Cup remains true to the naturally-aspirated principle. In its racing version, the four-liter, water-cooled flat-six engine develops 510 hp (375 kW). The engine is connected to the sequential, six-speed gearbox with gear changes being made via a paddle shift on the steering wheel.

Entrants will take delivery of their new Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race cars beginning February 19. To help maintain a level playing field for all customers, regardless of their designated delivery slot, teams will not be allowed to test the cars on track prior to the Porsche Motorsport North America-managed Sebring test on March 8. To learn more, please visit www.PorscheCarreraCup.us .

Brian Blocker, Series Director, Porsche Carrera Cup North America.
“Being able to introduce the new Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race car in our own debut as Porsche Carrera Cup North America is a great honor. It is among the first of many key elements that makes Carrera Cup special for our customers here. While we will have multiple unique details which set the Carrera Cup North America apart, like a bespoke paddock experience and Michelin Pilot race tires, the most obvious and quickly recognizable to the fans will be latest and greatest Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race car. Not only is this special on this continent, but it is also special worldwide. People will be able to watch the future of Porsche one-make racing for the first time at our series’ debut at Sebring on March 17 – 19.”

TAG, You’re It. Porsche and TAG Heuer Enter Strategic Partnership.
Porsche and the Swiss luxury watch manufacturer TAG Heuer have joined forces in a strategic brand partnership. Within the framework of the holistic and long-term alliance, the premium manufacturers intend to jointly approach both sports competitions and the development of products. As a first step, the partners unveiled a new watch, the TAG Heuer Carrera Porsche Chronograph.

For over half a century, the stories of the two companies have intersected. Similarities of heritage can be traced all the way back to the entrepreneurs of Porsche and TAG Heuer. Edouard Heuer and Ferdinand Porsche were pioneers whose visions changed their chosen fields forever. Heuer was responsible for the first manufactured chronograph and Porsche constructed a new electric wheel hub motor. Both these accomplishments earned medals at World Fairs held in Paris 11 years apart. Heuer was honored in 1889, the first Lohner-Porsche Electromobile with this innovation was presented at the Expo in Paris in 1900.

The true cornerstones of today’s partnership, however, are descendants of the brands’ founders. Ferdinand Porsche’s son, Ferdinand Anton Ernst or “Ferry”, joined his father’s engineering office in 1931 at the age of 22 and founded the car brand that bears the family name in 1948. Within a few years, the name of Porsche would be inextricably linked with race track success all around the world – including a class win in the Carrera Panamericana race of 1954. In honor of its successful participation, Porsche calls its most powerful sportscar engine at this time ‘Carrera’.

Edouard Heuer’s great-grandson Jack led his family’s company for decades. In 1963, he created the first Heuer Carrera chronograph, designed to let drivers tell the time at a glance in the heat of action. Jack Heuer was also responsible for the Heuer Monaco, the first square-faced, water-resistant automatic chronograph watch. Its name evoked the Monaco Grand Prix as well as the Principality’s renowned Monte Carlo Rally, which Porsche won in three consecutive years, from 1968 to 1970, with its 911 model.

With its sale to the TAG Group, Heuer became TAG Heuer in the mid-1980s. At this time, the Porsche and TAG Heuer jointly developed and produced the TAG Turbo Engine that enabled the McLaren Formula One (F1) team to win three consecutive F1 world titles: with Niki Lauda in 1984, followed by Alain Prost in 1985 and 1986. In 1999, the relationship between Porsche and TAG Heuer grew even stronger – from the Porsche Carrera Cup and Supercup competitions, followed by the Endurance World Championship and more was yet to come. Porsche created its own Formula E team with TAG Heuer as title and timing partner in 2019, marking a starting point for an even more powerful and far-reaching collaboration.

In its second year, the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team will now fight for the World Championship. Behind the wheel of Porsche’s all-electric race car, the 99X Electric, will be drivers André Lotterer and his new teammate, Pascal Wehrlein. Porsche has long distinguished itself in endurance events and together with TAG Heuer its GT Team is well prepared for the coming FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). The milestone year will also include series partnerships in ten editions of the worldwide one-make cup series Porsche Carrera Cup. In addition to physical competitions, TAG Heuer also engages in virtual racing by supporting the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup. In addition, the watch brand is stepping in as global partner in Porsche’s ‘classic’ events and rallies.

Carrera as an icon of a name has been associated with Porsche and TAG Heuer for generations – so it was a natural choice for the first creative product collaboration. A tribute to the heritage of two brands, the new chronograph offers a first glimpse at what they can achieve together and is a seamless blend of the Porsche and TAG Heuer universes, reflecting the excellence of both names without diluting the essence of either.

Porsche’s engraved inscription is visible on the bezel and the unmistakable font is also used for the indexes. The Porsche colors of red, black, and grey – which also recall historic Heuer models – are incorporated throughout the watch, and on clear display through the transparent crystal case back is the oscillating mass, which has been redesigned in affectionate tribute to Porsche’s celebrated steering wheel. It is printed with “Porsche” and “TAG Heuer”.

The dial’s asphalt effect, created especially for this watch, expresses a passion for the road, while Arabic numerals suggest the numbers on the dashboard of fine Porsche sportscars. The timepiece is presented either on a soft strap in luxurious calf leather and innovative stitching that echoes the Porsche interior or on an interlocking bracelet reflecting streamlined racing design. At the heart of the timepiece is the in-house Calibre Heuer 02 manufacture movement with an impressive 80-hour power reserve.

Detlev von Platen, Member of the Executive Board for Sales and Marketing at Porsche AG.
“The strong friendship of our brand with TAG Heuer exists since decades and I am more than happy that we are now taking the next steps in the frame of a strategic partnership. We bring together what our customers love the most about both of us: authentic heritage, thrilling sports events, unique life experiences and the fulfilment of dreams. We both strive to create some unique, magic moments for our communities. We now look forward to doing it together.”

Frédéric Arnault, CEO of TAG Heuer.
“TAG Heuer and Porsche have common history and values, of course, but more importantly, we share an attitude. Like Porsche, we are disruptors at heart, always in pursuit of high performance. With this alliance, TAG Heuer and Porsche finally come together officially after decades of close encounters and will create unmatched experiences and products for customers and fans that are passionate about both our brands and what we stand for.”

Esports Excitement. Sebastian Job Wins Digital Nail-Biter with Joshua Rogers.
Sebastian Job is back in the fight for the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup (PESC) title. At round four of the season run on the iRacing simulation platform, the British sim racer won the main event on Saturday, February 6. After securing fourth-place in the previous sprint race, the Red Bull Racing Esports driver treated viewers to gripping duels over multiple laps at his home event at the virtual rendition of the legendary Silverstone Circuit in the United Kingdom. With his digital Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race car, the defending champion maintained the upper hand against his attacking archrival Joshua Rogers. Clinching two second-place finishes, the Australian, who drives for the Virtual Racing School team, still managed to extend his lead in the driver standings over his teammate Mitchell deJong (Temecula, California).

DeJong was quickest in simulator series’ qualifying session earlier in the day for the first time this season. The American started the seven-lap sprint from pole position and promptly led the field at the start. Rogers, starting further back in the top-five was able to overtake multiple positions and pressure the popular Californian. DeJong, however, was beyond reach earning the victory with Rogers settling for second-place. Ayhancan Güven (Turkey), the sole Porsche Junior of 2021, battled his way up the order from position 23 to eleventh at the checkered flag.
In the main event, with the top-eight starting in reverse order on the grid, the championship leader saved his final push until the last lap. When Job slipped briefly in the “Chapel” corner, it looked like a sure change at the top – however, the reigning champion held on to his lead and clinched his second win of the season. Rogers finished in second-place, Bakkum third and Carroll in fourth-place. DeJong would earn a sixth-place result while Kevin Ellis Jr. (Great Britain) driving for United States-based Rahal Letterman Lanigan Esports took the checkered flag in seventh-place. Porsche Junior Güven, who will contend the real-life Porsche Mobil1 Supercup series with the new Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race car, lost a top-ten result in the final lap and was ultimately flagged-off in position 29.

With two second-places to his credit, Joshua Rogers has extended his championship lead over Mitchell deJong. The title defender Sebastian Job moves up to third-place. The next round of the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports will be contested on the virtual Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on February 20.

*Image courtesy of Porsche

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