The Le Mans class winning team KCMG will run a single-car Porsche 911 GT3 R for one round in the Rolex 24 at the end of this month with factory support in the new GTD Pro class. This brings the total number of Porsches in the class to three after Pfaff and Weathertech’s recent announcements. The Hong Kong-based team will contest the race with a trio of Porsche-backed factory racers in the form of Laurens Vanthoor, Patrick Pilet, and Dennis Olsen. The fourth driver in the car will be KCMG regular Alexandre Imperatori. This is a pretty stout effort, and should have a good shot at taking the win if all goes well.
This isn’t the first time that KCMG has worked directly with the Porsche factory for a high-level effort in an endurance race. Since 2020 the team has received support from the factory for Spa and Nurburgring 24 races. The company previously worked as a de facto factory effort for Nissan in GT3, have run a Toyota in Japan’s Super Formula series since 2010, and were FIA WEC GTE Am championship contenders in a 911 RSR back in 2016.
Laurens Vanthoor: “Through the years, good results at the Rolex 24 has been part of my success in winning two IMSA championships, but victory at Daytona is something I personally haven’t been able to achieve yet, and it’s very high on my list. My dream is to win all four big 24-hour races; Spa, Nürburgring, Le Mans and Daytona, and Daytona is the one missing so that is the main goal. Being part of KCMG’s crew after doing Spa together means we know each other a little bit better. We’ve got an experienced line-up and a very good engineering crew, so we will be looking forward to it. We are working really hard towards a positive weekend and I cannot wait to get 2022 and the race weekend started.”
Matt Howson Team Manager KCMG: “The 2022 Rolex 24 at Daytona is an exciting and significant moment in KCMG history as it marks the team’s first entry in the last of the big 24-hour races, having previously competed at Le Mans, Nürburgring and Spa events. We have a fantastic driver line-up, combining youth and experience which is capable of challenging for the inaugural GTD Pro class win. We’re also pleased to welcome back Patrick, Laurens, Dennis and Alex, all of whom competed with KCMG previously. Continuing our excellent relationship with Porsche and the 911 GT3 R is an honour and the engineering combination of Adam Hardy and Kai Störling makes for a formidable team to support KCMG’s first programme at Daytona.”