Porsche Motorsport Newsletter 2009: Volume 6

With Porsche competing in upcoming races in both the ALMS and Grand-Am this weekend, there’s quite a bit going on. Borgmeister and Long are looking for their fourth 2009 GT2 win and a chance to extend their point lead. While over in the Grand-Am world Dirk Werner and Leh Keen look for their fifth win in the GT class in their Porsche GT3 Cup car, fielded by Farnbacher Loles, as Porsche still fights for points and another class win in the Daytona Prototype series. We’ll be covering both races this weekend here on the blog and on Twitter, so stay tuned for more info.

If you’re not able to keep up with each Porsche Motorsport post here on FlatSixes.com and would prefer a brief synopsis of what’s happening in the world of Porsche Motorsport, there is no better way to stay in touch than by reviewing the monthly Porsche Motorsport Newsletter. Filled with interesting facts and figures about past and upcoming races, along with changes to team and crew, the Porsche Motorsport Newsletter is an easy way to keep up-to-date on this year’s racing activities.

FIA GT Championship: Juniors shine – Collard & Westbrook lead points

The Porsche juniors are putting in a brilliant performance in the FIA GT Championship. Martin Ragginger planted the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of the Brixia team on pole position at the third round in Oschersleben (21 June). After claiming two pole positions and a second in qualifying so far, the Austrian is the best qualifier of the season. At round three in Oschersleben, his colleague Marco Holzer secured third in qualifying and brought his Prospeed Competition Porsche home in second with Sean Edwards after a difficult rain race. Ragginger and his amateur team mate Luigi Lucchini came fifth. Works driver Emmanuel Collard and Richard Westbrook – winners of the first two races – had to retire after a collision but travel to the season highlight, the Spa 24 hour race on 25/26 July, as points’ leaders.

International GT Open: Winning streak for Porsche teams

Four races, four Porsche victories: Patrick Pilet and Raymond Narac won the fifth round of the International GT Open in Spa (27 June) with the IMSA Performance Matmut 911 GT3 RSR, with Richard Lietz and Gianluca Roda dominating race six in their Autorlando Porsche. One week later, Pilet and Narac proved unbeatable at both races in Donington (4/5 July). Lietz and Roda retain their points’ lead.

Campionato Italiano GT: Maassen and Cruz-Martins remain in lead

With a fourth and a second place at the fifth and sixth rounds of the Italian GT Championship in Mugello (20/21 June), Sascha Maassen and Francisco Cruz-Martins (Autorlando Sport) defended their lead position in the top GT2 category with their Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. Gianluca De Lorenzi and Stefano Borghi (GDL Racing, Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S) retain their GT3 class lead after claiming second place. Cedric Sbirazzuoli and Alberto Brambati (911 GT3 Cup) take up the next round in Misano (18/19 July) as front-runners in the GT Cup class.

Speed World Challenge GT: Party mood in Watkins Glen

A slightly unusual week for the Global Motorsports Group squad (GMG) in the Speed World Challenge GT: Prior to the race in Watkins Glen the team owner and driver James Sofronas became a father for the first time – and missed the first practice. Still, the new dad put in an inspired drive in his 911 GT3 to bring home third after a tough duel with his team colleague Dino Crescentini. Crescentini won – one day after his 49th birthday – giving GMG plenty of reasons to celebrate in Watkins Glen.

Grand-Am Koni Sportscar Challenge: Shock and podium in Mid-Ohio

Spencer Pumpelly and Duncan Ende showed their nerves of steel at the seventh round of the Grand-Am Koni Sportscar Challenge in Mid-Ohio: Start driver Ende was hit from behind on the first lap, cutting a tyre and forcing an early green flag pit stop. Rejoining the race in 16th, the TRG duo ploughed through the field to take third.

Race notes:

With wins three and four in Mid-Ohio (20 June) and Daytona (4 July), the Farnbacher-Loles pilots Leh Keen and Dirk Werner further extended their lead in the GT class of the Grand-Am Series. Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas are still within striking distance of the title after fourth and eleventh place in the Penske Racing Porsche Riley Daytona Prototypes. +++ Porsche 911 racers on the first four positions, spearheaded by Marcel Tiemann and Arno Klasen in the Manthey 911 GT3 RSR, were the results of race four of the BF Goodrich Long Distance Championship on 13 June. Two weeks later, Chris Mamerow and Dirk Werner were the best Porsche team, claiming second at the wheel of a Mamerow Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S.

Porsche One make race series:

Close racing in the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup. After round six in Silverstone (21 June), Richard Westbrook, Patrick Huisman and René Rast are separated by just two points on positions two to four. The trio are pursuing Jeroen Bleekemolen, who holds a 42-point advantage. With five rounds to go, there are still 100 points up for grabs for the winners.

Spirited drive from Rodolfo Avila at the fifth round of the Carrera Cup Asia on the Zhuhai International Circuit (21 June). Starting from pole, the 22-year-old Porsche newcomer won after a spectacular fight against Tim Sugden. Round six saw Avila end in the gravel with Darryl O’Young grabbing victory. Tim Sugden took over the points’ lead with two second positions from Christian Menzel, who after being hampered by technical problems had to settle for one fourth place.
Another Porsche rookie turned heads in the Carrera Cup Deutschland. On the Norisring (28 June) the Brazilian touring car pilot Valdeno Brito (Konrad Motorsport) fought with the eventual winner Thomas Jäger (MS Racing PZ Hamburg Nord-West) to finish just 29-hundredths of a second behind Jäger in position two. Brito had prepared for his Norisring debut with the help of onboard footage and computer games.
With two wins in Val de Vienne (4/5 July), Renaud Derlot pulled away in his Graff Racing Porsche from his toughest rival Kevin Estre at the halfway race of the Carrera Cup France. Whilst Estre lost crucial points with 14th place, Mike Parisy moved back into striking range of the leading pair with a third and a fourth place.
Change of leadership in the Carrera Cup Great Britain: With the third straight win, Tim Bridgman (Team Parker Racing) wrested the points’ lead from Tim Harvey at the ninth race in Croft (14 June). Race ten on the same day went to James Sutton (Red Line Racing). Two offs threw Bridgman back into fifth, with Tim Harvey finishing in third and staying in contact with the new leader.
Fierce competition in the Carrera Cup Italia: Seven different drivers have won the eight races to date. Only Luca Rangoni (Centro Porsche Brescia by RM) has managed two victories, most recently at the seventh round in Mugello (20 June), while Niccolò Nalio (Ebimotors Porsche Haus) joined the winners’ list after race eight (21 June). Alessandro Balzan retains the points’ lead.
With an unparalleled series of wins, Y. Shimizu impresses in the Carrera Cup Japan: On the Fuji Speedway, the Art Taste Cup team driver won races four and five on 13/14 June and remains undefeated so far in 2009. Second place went to Y. Nakamura, with talented youngster S. Hanawa attracting attention by netting third place from both races.
Two pilots in the GT3 Cup Challenge Brasil have claimed four victories in succession. Constantino Júnior won rounds one to four, with the reigning champion Miguel Paludo answering back with wins from rounds five to eight, most recently at the two championship races in Curitiba on 20/21 June.
Swen Dolenc is on a roll: After his top performance at round one of the GT3 Cup Challenge Deutschland he promptly secured pole position and victory from the second race on the Hockenheimring (14 June).

[Source: Porsche]

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