GT: Porsche picks Sepang for final factory outing of 2016

Porsche will make its final factory outing of the year at this weekend's Intercontinental GT Challenge at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia. The German marque will look to rebound at the 12-hour endurance event following the strange finish to the recent GT event at Macau, where factory driver Earl Bamber forfeited his win at the one-lap contest marred by Laurens Vanthoor's crash.

Porsche will send the same 911 GT3 Rs for six of its factory drivers, including Bamber and Nick Tandy, who were just announced as the brand's newest FIA World Endurance Championship LMP1-Hybrid drivers and IMSA-bound Patrick Pilet in the No. 911 entry. The No. 912 will see Michael Christensen, Frédéric Makowiecki, and Richard Lietz - all expected to represent Porsche in the FIA WEC GTE-Pro category in 2017.

"Sepang is virtually a home race for me," said Bamber, who moved to Malaysia from his native New Zealand. "I've turned countless laps on this racetrack. Our 911 GT3 R performed very well in Macau and that's promising for Sepang. Hopefully we'll score the victory there that we deserved in Macau. The big challenges will be the heat and tire wear."

"The twelve-hour race in Sepang will be another great highlight to wind up the 2016 motorsport year," added Dr. Frank-Steffen Walliser, Porsche's head of motorsport. "It's important for us, especially in view of the Asian market, to showcase how well our 911 GT3 R performs under undoubtedly tough conditions."

Following the Intercontinental GT Challenge, Porsche fans will get to see the brand-new mid-engine 911 RSR in action at Daytona International Speedway during IMSA's mid-December WeatherTech SportsCar Championship test.