Pascal Zurlinden: “The Porsche 911 GT3 R was competitive almost everywhere”

Successful year for the 911 GT3 R “2019”?

It must be taken into account that the car was just starting out. At the beginning, we suffered a little, because we were not quite ready for the Daytona meetings (opening of theIMSA). We had some small problems with the car.

But, after Bathurst, the victory at Monza in the GT World Challenge with Dinamic Motorsport was a real turning point. It was a surprise for everyone. And then there was the Spa summit. Especially since it was the first time we trusted GPX Racing.

Since then, we have managed to be competitive almost everywhere the 911 has entered. Not always in the running for victory, but always in the running for the front positions.

Vous devez être satisfaits de voir que toutes les équipes exploitant la Porsche ont à un moment été performantes ?

Our support team, led by Sebastian Golz (911 GT3 R project manager, editor's note), is working very well. Every team can win. We see it this weekend in Macau, where all the cars are fast. Even a “pure customer” like Absolute Racing and Alexandre Imperatori is keeping pace.

How many new cars have you sold to date?

45 have already been delivered, and our goal is to reach 70 by the end of the year.

How did you deal with the disappointment of the 24 Hours of Nürburgring? (Porsche was on course for victory before a penalty received by Laurens Vanthoor for excessive speed and failure to respect double yellow flags)

I think we were definitely in contention to win. The car was in the mix. Also important at the time was that the Nürburgring represented a real step after seeing the 911 GT3 R evolve without problems in a 24-hour race.

Customers like Frikadelli Racing also had the opportunity to fight with Manthey Racing (Weissach's strong arm in GTE / GT3), which confirmed that real progress had also been made with customers.

You mention Frikadelli Racing. How did this choice come about for the 9 Hours of Kyalami this weekend?

We are frequently in contact with Frikadelli (a regular at the VLN and the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring). At the end of the year, they tried to see different championships, in GT Open, in GT World Challenge. Now they wanted to try their hand at the Intercontinental GT Challenge.

Can we expect to see the same commitment from Porsche again in IGTC in 2020?

Definitely. It will always be with local teams. We want to keep the concept, even if the other manufacturers have somewhat official teams that tour the world. It will therefore be local teams for us, or clients with sponsors who have interests in carrying out races outside of Europe.

What will happen to the overall GT World Challenge?

In the United States there will be no more Pro cars, but in Pro-Am we should have a few cars. In Asia, it works very well, and in Europe, it's mainly the sleeves Endurance which are privileged. That's where the interest is. It will be complicated.