Porsche Factory Squad to Campaign Three Cars at Austin

Subtitle:Makowiecki, Pilet to Drive No. 910 Porsche 911 RSR

The Porsche North America works team will field a third Porsche 911 RSR for the first time this season at the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship round in Austin, Texas on September 20, the Lone Star Le Mans.

Along with the 911 RSR run by the United State’s customer squad Team Falken Tire, a total of four 470 hp GT racers based off the seventh generation of the iconic 911 sports car will compete at the Circuit of the Americas.

With only two rounds left on this season’s calendar of the new series that is contested in the USA and Canada, Porsche narrowly leads the manufacturer’s classification in the hard-fought GT Le Mans (GTLM) class ahead of Chevrolet, Dodge, BMW and Ferrari.

In the No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR, the Rolex 24 At Daytona GTLM class winners Nick Tandy (Great Britain) and Richard Lietz (Austria) join forces with Jörg Bergmeister (Germany) to tackle the two-hour, 45-minute race in the lead up to the season-ending Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda on Oct. 4 at the storied Road Atlanta circuit. Whether Richard Lietz will contest the Austin round depends on how well he has recovered from injuries sustained in an accident during a practice session at Virginia International Raceway at the end of August.

Sharing driving duties in the No. 912 Porsche 911 RSR are Michael Christensen (Denmark) and Patrick Long (Playa del Rey, California), the winners of the 12-hour classic at Sebring. Contesting the TUDOR Championship together for the first time are Frenchmen Frédéric Makowiecki and Patrick Pilet in the cockpit of Porsche North America’s third 911 RSR, No. 910.

The Falken Tire outfit is banking on its regular pilots Wolf Henzler (Germany) and Bryan Sellers (Braselton, Georgia), who recently scored their best result of the season with second in Virginia.

“The fight for the championship in the GTLM class remains exciting to the very end,” said Porsche’s Head of Motorsport Hartmut Kristen. “This speaks volumes for the excellence of this new race series. Even in its first season, the series has enthralled fans with some great motor racing and has fulfilled all expectations. By fielding a third 911 RSR with Porsche North America in Austin we want to maintain our good title chances as leaders of the manufacturer’s classification.”

A particularly heavy workload awaits Porsche works drivers Nick Tandy, Richard Lietz, Jörg Bergmeister, Frédéric Makowiecki and Patrick Pilet at the race weekend in the Texas capital. On the same day, immediately following the TUDOR Championship round, they will all tackle the six-hour race on the demanding COTA circuit as part of the Sports Car World Endurance Championship (WEC). As at previous WEC races this season, Porsche Team Manthey runs a pair of 911 RSR.

The TUDOR United SportsCar Championship race starts on Saturday, Sept. 20 at 12:30 p.m. CT. The race will be broadcast live on FOX Sports 2 with additional coverage following on the FOX Network Sunday, Sept.r 21. Check local listings for exact times in your area. The WEC race takes off at 5:00 p.m. local time.