Porsche Motorsports Weekly Event Notes: Tuesday, September 4, 2018

This Week.
• Hargrove Champion. Canadian Earns Pirelli World Challenge Sprint Title. • Monterey Momentum. Porsche Factory and Customers Seek Additional IMSA Wins at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. • Trophy Monterey. Pirelli Trophy West USA Joins the IMSA Championship at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

Upcoming Porsche Race Events.
IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

Event: Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix, WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca
Dateline: Monterey, California
Date: Friday – Sunday, September 7 – 9, 2018
Track Length: 2.238-miles, 11-turn
Race Duration: 2-Hours, 40-minutes
Class: GTLM (Porsche 911 RSR)
GTD (Porsche 911 GT3 R)
Round: GTLM. 10 of 11
GTD. 10 of 11
Next Round: Petit Le Mans, Road Atlanta, October 10 – 13, 2018

IMSA Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge.
Event: Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix, WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca
Dateline: Monterey, California
Date: Friday – Saturday, September 7 – 8, 2018
Track Length: 2.238-miles, 11-turn
Race Duration: 2-Hours
Class: GS (Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR)
Round: GS. 9 of 10
Next Round: Petit Le Mans, Road Atlanta, October 10 – 13, 2018

Porsche Profile.
Event Story Lines.
Hargrove Champion. Canadian Earns Pirelli World Challenge Sprint Title.

Scott Hargrove earned his first Pirelli World Challenge (PWC) Sprint GT Drivers’ title with a second-place finish in the final round of the 2018 season at Watkins Glen International on September 2. The Canadian had to fend off 2016 PWC GT Champion Alvaro Parente (Portugal) for the full race to take his ninth podium finish of his rookie season in the No. 96 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R to clinch the title. Porsche factory driver Michael Christensen (Denmark) finished the Sprint season in third-place in the Drivers’ standings with the No. 24 Alegra Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R. Porsche closed the year as runner-up in the Manufacturers’ Championship with four victories and 18 podium finishes between Hargrove and Christensen.

By virtue of his surprise victories in the first two rounds of the series at St. Petersburg, Florida in March, Hargrove held onto the Sprint Championship through the entire nine-race GT season. However, after a tire-puncture in Race 1 at the Watkins Glen, New York-area track, the battle narrowed between him, Toni Vilander and Christensen entering Sunday’s final round. The Porsche Young Driver Academy graduate started fifth on the grid but moved forward almost immediately as several competitors tangled entering Turn One. From there he held onto second-place as Parente pressured his every move lap-after-lap. The two-time Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada Champion never buckled to the pressure and held his place throughout. Christensen, who finished Race 1 in second-place, suffered a tire puncture late in the 50-minute feature while racing in the top-five. Despite finishing in sixth-place as a result, the 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans-winner maintained third-place in the championship.

Rookie Anthony Imperato (Brooklyn, New York) earned his first PWC victory in the GTA class on Saturday, his second on Sunday. It was the IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama-regulars second weekend of PWC competition in the No. 91 Wright Motorsports Porsche GT3 R.

Monterey Momentum. Porsche Factory and Customers Seek Additional IMSA Wins at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
The Porsche GT Team travels to the tenth and penultimate round of this year’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in Monterey, California with a pair of Porsche 911 RSR. The factory effort will pursue its third GTLM class victory of the season with the two 510 hp race cars against manufacturer entries from BMW, Chevrolet and Ford at the WeatherTech Laguna Seca Raceway (WRLS), September 7 – 9. Porsche customer team Wright Motorsports aims to continue its podium streak in the GTD class with the Porsche 911 GT3 R after claiming its first IMSA victory this season at Road America and a second-place at VIRginia International Raceway in the most recent round of the Pro-Am style class.

The 2.238-mile, 11-turn circuit on the Monterey Peninsula not only plays host to this week’s two-hour and 40-minute IMSA race, but to the upcoming Porsche Rennsport Reunion VI, September 27 – 30 as well. Rennsport Reunion is the world’s greatest gathering of Porsche race cars and legendary drivers. Hosted by Porsche Cars North America, it will feature a variety of Porsche’s most historic racing models of the company’s 70-year history.

Patrick Pilet (France) and Nick Tandy (Great Britain), the winners of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, share the cockpit of the No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR. The winners of the Mid-Ohio race, Laurens Vanthoor (Belgium) and Earl Bamber (New Zealand), share driving duties in the No. 912 sister car. In the GTD class, the Porsche customer team Wright Motorsports brings the No. 58 Porsche Consulting/Porsche Digital 911 GT3 R with works driver Patrick Long (Manhattan Beach, California) and Porsche Selected Driver Christina Nielsen (Denmark). Park Place Motorsports returns to the series with factory driver Jörg Bergmeister (Germany) and Patrick Lindsey (Santa Barbara, California) sharing the No. 73 Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Dr. Frank-Steffen Walliser, Vice President Motorsport and GT Cars.
“The season is drawing to a close. Laguna Seca is the penultimate round and my personal favorite. However, in the recent past, the race track has proven to be difficult turf for Porsche. I hope we can turn the insights we’ve gained since last year with the new 911 RSR into a good result. We’ll do everything we can to conclude the season with a good performance.”

Pascal Zurlinden, Director GT Factory Motorsport.
“We’re heading to Laguna Seca well prepared. In spring, we completed a successful test here and we managed to collate a great deal of valuable data with the setup. It’s important on this storied race track that the car is not only fast but that it’s easy to handle, because the circuit is a real challenge for the drivers.”

Sebastian Golz, Project Manager 911 GT3 R.
“To tackle the turns perfectly at Laguna Seca you often have to do a bit of curb-hopping. But if you go too far over the curbs your tires pick up grains of sand and that makes you slower in the next corner. In this regard, we’re expecting a challenging circuit. Thanks to its modified aerodynamics this year, the 911 GT3 R will be very strong, especially exiting the Corkscrew. With our customer teams, we should be able to fight for the podium.”

Patrick Pilet, Driver, No. 911 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR.
“Laguna Seca and the surrounding area is one of the most beautiful places in America. We went testing here at the start of the season and that should help us. So I expect we’ll be up with the frontrunners. Tire management plays a decisive role here.”

Nick Tandy, Driver, No. 911 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR.
“I always look forward to coming to California. We’ve never won the GTLM class at Laguna Seca. It would be great if we could finally score a victory here. The track is fast and flowing and it should suit our Porsche.”

Laurens Vanthoor, Driver, No. 912 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR.
“Laguna Seca is simply cool. There are circuits that I like more, but the region is great, for instance for cycling. We expect that our car will suit the race track. The next Porsche Rennsport Reunion is held here at the end of September and I’m also excited about that.”

Earl Bamber, Driver, No. 911 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR.
“With its Corkscrew corner, this track is one of the most spectacular in the world. Since we have only an outside chance in the fight for the championship, we’re now focusing on scoring individual victories. When we arrive at the Porsche Rennsport Reunion at Laguna Seca in a couple of weeks, it would be great if we could look back on a good IMSA result from this race.”

Patrick Long, Driver, No. 58 Porsche Consulting/Porsche Digital Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R.
“Laguna Seca is a home race for me. I like the region and the track is really challenging. You need a perfect setup here, and it’s very tricky working your way through the traffic on the track. Our Porsche should suit this circuit.”

Christina Nielsen, Driver, No. 58 Porsche Consulting/Porsche Digital Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R.
“I come from Denmark but I live in Los Angeles, so Laguna Seca is virtually a home race for me. I have fond memories of this race track. I won here last year and made great progress in terms of the championship. Laguna Seca is also well worth a visit and it’s a great place for hosting guests and sponsors.”

Jörg Bergmeister, Driver, No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R.
“I am looking forward to this race. The last IMSA race we ran at Watkins Glen didn’t end as well as planned and this will give us a good opportunity to correct that. We had a really good run at Laguna last year, finishing on the podium after dropping back early in the race through no fault of our own. We should be competitive again in Laguna this year. It is a great preparation for Rennsport, which I am really looking forward to. Being in California twice in one month is a good thing.”

Patrick Lindsey, Driver/Principal, No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R.
“Monterey will always be a ‘home’ race for us because it is the closest to family and our roots. I’m not sure exactly why the race has yielded such strong results for us in the past, maybe it is because we are so relaxed from all the nearby food and wine by the time the race rolls around? Maybe we have some kind of competitive advantage after running there for so many years? Either way it’s the race we most look forward to and one we would definitely not want to miss if at all possible. So we will meet up again with the WeatherTech Championship in our home state and see if we can’t upset some of our competitors who were hoping to win next weekend.”

Trophy Monterey. Pirelli Trophy West USA Joins the IMSA Championship at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
The Pirelli Trophy West USA heads to Northern California this week, staging their penultimate event of the season at one of the most famous road course circuits in North America, WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

The series, which has staged primarily stand-alone race weekends this season, joins the premier IMSA racing series, the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, for the weekend’s activities. Two races will run over the weekend, with each race combining the GT3 class (featuring the 2010-2013 iteration of Porsche 911 GT3 Cup machines and the 2014-2016 generation Porsche 911 GT3 Cup machines) and the GT4 Class for the Porsche Cayman Clubsport Trophy and the Cayman GT4 Cup MR.

The Diamond and Platinum classes have seen drivers take command of the championship standings, with Newark, California’s Kevin Woods (TruSpeed Autosport) leading the Diamond class standings with victories in eight of the 10 races this season, and Sean McAlister (Competition Motorsports) taking nine wins in Platinum. Michael Zuieback leads Diamond Masters in a close race with Dr. Preston Calvert. Laura Ely (Black Sheep Racing) has a solid hold on the Bronze Class title chase with five wins, while Chris Bellomo, driving for Sonoma-based The Racer’s Group, owns seven victories on the season in the Silver Class.

Greg Franz, President, Competent Motorsport.
“Our drivers and staff are excited to be participating at Weather Tech Raceway Laguna Seca with IMSA. To be on this stage with this great series, and with some of the most exciting drivers in the world, is a real pleasure. As this race is our next to last event for 2018, our 37 drivers are ready to attack and appreciate one of the world-class venues in all of motorsports. If you have the chance to attend and watch our group of drivers driving five different Porsche platforms, from GT4 Cayman Clubsport Cup cars to 991.2 GT3 Cup cars, you will witness some of the best privateer drivers in the United States. Our staff is thrilled with the quality of racing our drivers bring to all of the venues we have driven at this 2018 season.”

Social Media.
Porsche Cars North America. @Porsche
Porsche GT Team (North America). @PorscheNARacing
Porsche Motorsport – GT Cars. @PorscheRaces
Porsche Racing. @Porsche_Team
Porsche Motorsport North America @porschecustomerracingna (Instagram)
Porsche Rennsport Reunion VI. #PorscheRennsport

Model Hashtags.
Porsche 911 RSR. #911RSR
Porsche 911 GT3 R. #911GT3R
Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. #911Cup

Event Hashtag.
Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix #MontereyGP

Series Hashtags and Handles.
GT3 Cup Challenge USA. #GT3USA
GT3 Cup Challenge Canada. #GT3CAN
Pirelli Trophy West USA. @PirelliTrophy (Twitter)
@PirelliTrophyWestUSA (Instagram) Intercontinental GT Challenge. @IntercontGTC

Future Porsche Events.
IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama.

Event: Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge, Sonoma Raceway
Dateline: Sonoma, California
Date: Friday – Sunday, September 14 – 17, 2018
Track Length: 2.52-miles, 12-turn
Race Duration: 2, 45-Minute Races
Class: Platinum (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, MY 2017 - 2018)
Gold (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, MY 2015 – 2016)
Round: 13 – 14 of 16
Next Round: Petit Le Mans, Road Atlanta, October 10 – 13, 2018

FIA World Endurance Championship.
Event: Six Hours of Fuji, Fuji Speedway
Dateline: Fuji, Japan
Date: Friday – Sunday, October 12 – 14, 2018
Track Length: 2.84-miles, 16-turn
Race Duration: 6-Hours
Class: LMGTE-Pro (Porsche 911 RSR)
LMGTE-Am (Porsche 911 RSR)
Round: 4 of 8
Next Round: Six Hours of Shanghai, Shanghai, China, November 16 - 18, 2018