Porsche GT repaired for Long Beach race

The Porsche GT Team has completed extensive repairs of the No. 911 RSR in time to compete in today's 100-minute IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race in Long Beach.

French factory driver Patrick Pilet clouted the Turn 9 wall with the left rear of his Porsche while exiting the corner, and despite the impact looking local to the wheel and suspension, a complete change of the mechanical components at the back of the car was required.

The team worked until 1:30 a.m. to replace the subframe, most of the related items that attach to the subframe, and the engine and gearbox as a precaution when the impact shifted the subframe to the right of the car.

"The car held up really well from the impact," team manager Morgan Brady told RACER. "Most of the damage was just bolt-on components. Our guys did a great job getting everything fixed up last night and we're ready to go."

Pilet and teammate Dirk Werner will start the race from 34th on the grid – last in the field – for the Bubba Burger Sports Car Grand Prix at Long Beach, which starts at 1 p.m. PT.

As the defending class winner at Long Beach, the No. 911 entry will face steep odds to repeat the feat with so far to travel during IMSA's shortest race of the year. The sister No. 912 Porsche 911 RSR driven by Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor will roll away from fourth on the GT Le Mans grid.