IMSA – A reputation to defend for Porsche at Sebring

With 18 victories to his credit, Porsche currently remains the most successful manufacturer in the 12 Hours of Sebring. The German brand also holds the records in most existing statistics for the second round of the championship IMSA, both in terms of laps led and poles won.

However, we have to go back to 2008 to find any trace of an overall success for a car from Zuffenhausen in Florida. That year, the Porsche RS Spyder lined up under the Penske Racing banner triumphed with Romain Dumas, Emmanuel Collard and Timo Bernhard at the wheel. The Porsche 911 GT America also won in 2015 in the GTD category via Alex Job Racing.

Hence the desire for Porsche GT to return to the top step of the podium for this edition, at a time when its new 911 RSR is making its first laps on the other side of the Atlantic since January.

“Our new 911 RSR celebrated a successful debut at Daytona, underlines Dr Frank-Steffen Walliser, boss of Porsche Motorsport. As a result, we have gained a lot of knowledge which we now want to transform into a better performance against very strong opposition.

It won't be easy because this track is very special and places enormous demands on the drivers and the cars. However, as the most successful manufacturer in the history of the event, we have a reputation to defend. »

The 911 RSR, the old version of which won in 2014 in GTLM, will once again be lined up for the Pilet – Werner – Makowiecki and Estre – Vanthoor – Lietz crews and have accumulated a good number of kilometers during test sessions on the Florida track.

In the No. 911, Patrick Pilet, who narrowly failed to face the Ford GT of Chip Ganassi Racing at Daytona, hopes to win for the first time in 2017, while joining the list of winners of the 12 Hours of Sebring .

“Unlike Daytona, where you have to reserve yourself for the first two thirds of the race in order to have a strong car for the last hours, at Sebring you give everything from the start,” explains the Auscitain.

It's one of the big races in the United States that I haven't won yet. So the motivation is enormous, especially since I am convinced that the circuit is very well suited to our 911 RSR. »

The 12 Hours of Sebring will take place on March 18.