Successful race debut for the new Porsche 911 GT3 RSR

MANILA, Philippines – At the Sebring 12 hour race, the new Porsche 911 GT3 RSR celebrated a successful race premiere. At the wheel of the 911 fielded by the Felbermayr-Proton team, Porsche works drivers Marc Lieb (Germany), Richard Lietz (Austria) and Patrick Pilet (France) secured second place in the GTE Pro class at the long distance classic in Florida and with this made a very promising start into the new World Endurance Championship.

“Second place is a great result. Right from the start, our new 911 GT3 RSR was reliable and that’s very positive,” said Marc Lieb. “But we lacked the speed to win off our own bat.” Richard Lietz, who had to start from the back of the field because the cockpit temperature of his Porsche in qualifying was one degree over what was permitted, said, “I’m very satisfied with how the race went. For twelve hours our 911 ran without the slightest technical problem. Which is, of course, not something you take for granted at the first race with a new car.”

Christian Ried (Germany) and his Italian teammates Gianluca Roda and Paolo Ruberti made a superb start to the season. With the second Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (2011 model year) run by Felbermayr-Proton they celebrated victory in the GTE Am class. “This win is a perfect way to kick off the season,” Ried commented. “The last one and half hours of the race were incredibly tough for Paolo, because he had to cope without power steering.”

With the tradition-steeped twelve hour race on the Sebring International Raceway the American Le Mans Series also took off into the season. Driving the new Porsche 911 GT3 RSR for Paul Miller Racing, Sascha Maassen (Germany), Bryce Miller (USA) and Rob Bell (Great Britain) secured fifth place in the GT class. At the wheel of Flying Lizard Motorsports’ 911, Americans Seth Neiman, Darren Law and Andy Lally saw the flag in seventh place.

Hartmut Kristen, head of Porsche motorsport, regarded the start of the season as positive. “Compliments to the Felbermayr-Proton team for their victory in GTE-Am class and second place in GTE-Pro class. This was almost an optimum result,” he said. “I am extremely pleased with the reliability of the new 911 GT3 RSR. As far as the time difference to our fastest rivals in qualifying and in the race is concerned, we will be analyzing that gap to determine whether the performance balancing influenced this. Congratulations as well to Paul Miller Racing for its great result in the American Le Mans Series with fifth.”

Round two of the World Endurance Championship takes place on 5 May 2012 in Spa-Francorchamps/Belgium. On 14 April, round two of the American Le Mans Series takes off on the street course in Long Beach, California.

For information on the Porsche models, visit Porsche Center Philippines at 201 EDSA Mandaluyong City or contact 727-0381 to 85.