Porsche heads to Road Atlanta highly motivated
The Porsche GT Team has big plans for the next highlight on the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship calendar: At the upcoming sixth round of the season on 5 September at Road Atlanta in the US state of Georgia, the squad is determined to clinch the first win of the season with the two new Porsche 911 RSR. At the previous three races, the ca. 515 hp GTLM-sports car from Weissach was well on course to score its first class win of the year in North America, only to have bad luck strike every time. The race on the storied circuit near the town of Braselton runs over six hours and is regarded as a critical rehearsal for the classic Petit Le Mans event, which is held at the same venue in October. In the GTD category, the Wright Motorsports customer team fields a Porsche 911 GT3 R.
The race
Road Atlanta just outside the capital of the US state of Georgia holds special significance for Porsche. The 4.088-kilometre racetrack is the home turf of the factory squad. Porsche North America has its headquarters in Atlanta. In recent years, the Porsche GT Team has celebrated great successes at the fast circuit with its twelve turns. At the so-called Petit Le Mans, the traditional ten-hour race contested at Road Atlanta, the sports car manufacturer from Stuttgart has notched up a total of 20 class wins. In 2015, the Porsche 911 RSR scored a sensational overall victory in the rain – beating all prototypes. Last year at Road Atlanta, the Porsche GT Team put in a strong performance with a pair of vehicles decked out in the Coca-Cola livery and made a clean sweep of all IMSA championship titles. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the upcoming six-hour race has been added to the calendar as a substitute for the Watkins Glen round and therefore counts towards the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup. This series includes the endurance classics at Daytona and Sebring as well as both Road Atlanta races. The series returns to the track in America’s south for Petit Le Mans.
The Porsche GT Team drivers
Works drivers Earl Bamber from New Zealand and Belgium’s Laurens Vanthoor share driving duties in the No. 912 Porsche 911 RSR. After five rounds, the reigning GTLM-champions rank second in the drivers’ championship. Britain’s Nick Tandy and Frenchman Frédéric Makowiecki helm the 515-hp sister car with the starting number 911. The 2015 outright Le Mans winner from Bedford was one of the crew to clinch victory at Petit Le Mans five years ago. Back then, Tandy shared the winning car with his works driver teammates Patrick Pilet from France and Austrian Richard Lietz. In the manufacturer’s classification, Porsche heads to round six ranking third, 14 points behind the leader.
The customer team
In the GTD category for vehicles complying with the FIA GT3 regulations, Wright Motorsports fields an over 500-hp Porsche 911 GT3 R. The cockpit of the No. 16 car is crewed by the American works driver Patrick Long and his compatriot Ryan Hardwick. Since Hardwick comes from the metropolis of Atlanta, the upcoming event is a home race for the talented hobby driver. In the overall classification, the Porsche customer team Wright Motorsports currently lies in fifth place.
Live streaming of the race
Round six of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at Road Atlanta takes off on Saturday, 5 September, at 11.35 p.m. local time (5:35 p.m. CEST). The race over six hours can be viewed outside the USA and Canada on www.imsa.com.
The schedule (local time, CEST: -6 hours)
Friday, 4 September
10.00 - 11:00 a.m. – Free practice 1
2.25 - 3:40 p.m. – Free practice 2
6:35 - 6:50 p.m. – Qualifying GTD
7:00 - 7:15 p.m. – Qualifying GTLM
Saturday, 5 September
11:35 – 5:35 p.m. – Race