Makowiecki: “I have released the last three generations” of Porsche

Première fois en compétition dans la Porsche GT3 R ce week-end, qu’est-ce que cela vous fait ?

It's always a little emotion. I'm lucky, because I was able to test the last three generations, including this one, during their first race, each time on the Nürburgring.

What are the main differences with the old ones?

The goal was not to make a revolution. We have recently been able to see again that the current car is still efficient (the Porsche 911 RSR won the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Frédéric Makowiecki at the wheel. Editor’s note), but rather to try to optimize all areas, allow a little wider use, improve it on many small points, but not to revolutionize everything. 

How do these competitive tests work?

We can say that it is the continuity of development, but the racing conditions are only encountered in racing, despite the thousands of kilometers completed in testing. The goal is to finalize all of this, see how the car behaves behind the others, see the clogging of the radiators as we have seen in the past with certain cars. When we do the tests, we are the best of the day, so we also have to measure ourselves against the competition for that. At some point we have to put ourselves in a racing environment and see if there are any adjustments we need to make.

Can you explain to us the characteristics of this particular category in which you will be competing this weekend, the SP-X?

From a technical point of view, we will not be far from the SP9 (the main category entered. Editor's note). We will be in a configuration in which the car will have been measured and calibrated for a Balance of Performance equivalent to this category. However, from a pit stop point of view, we will stop for thirty seconds more each time, so as not to interfere in the fight for victory or the championship. Suffice to say that after the first stop we will be a little far behind in the standings, but the objective is not to win the race, but to understand all aspects of the car so that it is as complete as possible for customers. in 2023. 

Why did you choose this championship for this competitive test?

Not many championships give the opportunity to do this and the Nürburgring remains a major race for Porsche. It is a demanding track with very specific characteristics which give a performance window representative of quite a few places. We have already done a test session at the Nürburgring where this car and the old one were present. This will allow us to validate where we are. The important thing is to create a car capable of performing well in as many conditions as possible. This will allow us to compare with what we have seen in tests and also to test next year's tires, important parameters to properly prepare for 2023.

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