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Petit Le Mans, the final round of the IMSA SportsCar Championship held on 1st October on the storied Road Atlanta racetrack, will be the last works-campaign for the
“These were four intensive years with the 911 RSR on racetracks all over the world,” says Marco Ujhasi, Overall Project Leader GT Works Motorsport. “I’m incredibly proud of the entire project team, our tyre partner Michelin, and all the other partners who actively support us every day. Together, we have worked hard, we never gave up and we constantly came up with new ideas on how to assert ourselves in a competitive environment. The successes that the 911 RSR achieved against strong competition at major international sports car race series are the rewards for all our efforts. The 911 RSR is a success story in global GT motorsport.”
The maiden race of the 911 RSR, which is characterised by systematic lightweight design and sophisticated aerodynamics, celebrated its race premiere at Silverstone on April 14, 2013. At only its third outing, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the successor to the 911 GT3 RSR celebrated a sensational double victory. Despite this victory, the Weissach specialists continued to work hard on further optimising the 911 RSR. At the last round of the year in Bahrain, the vehicle rolled to the grid bearing many modifications for 2014. In the acid test of competition, it became clear that the vehicle had made the eagerly-awaited great leap forward towards improved driveability.
During the 2014 season, the 911 RSR not only contested the Sports Car World Endurance Championship WEC but also the new IMSA SportsCar Championship contested throughout the USA and Canada. At the 24 Hours of Daytona, the 911 RSR caused a sensation with the
With a double victory at the opening round at Silverstone, the start into the WEC season also ran exactly to plan. In Shanghai the pair of 911 RSR also swept over the finish line in first and second in the GTE-Pro class. Parallel to this, the 911 RSR received various modifications to prepare it for the 2015 season. The revamped aerodynamics at the front and the adapted chassis kinematics ensured enhanced balance and improved control at its handling limits. Thanks to minor tweaks, the reliability of the drivetrain was further improved.
However, in the USA and also in the WEC it took some time to harvest the successes that ultimately turned 2015 into the most successful motorsport year for
The turning point of this season came at the Watkins Glen round of the IMSA SportsCar Championship. The first victory for the Falken Tire customer team proved to be a major boost for all
Over the course of its last factory-run season of 2016, the 911 RSR won the IMSA SportsCar Championship races on the Long Beach street circuit and in Austin. In the WEC, the Abu Dhabi Proton Racing customer team put the icing on the cake with the squad’s first victory in Mexico City. In the European Le Mans Series, the customer team Proton Competition won the race in Imola. At the last factory outing of the 911 RSR at Petit Le Mans,
The successor to the 911 RSR is expected to make its race debut at the 24 Hours of Daytona on January 28, 2017, the traditional season-opening round of the IMSA SportsCar Championship. But until then there is still a great deal to do. “We have some busy months ahead of us,” says Marco Ujhasi. “However, I’m confident that we’ll line up on the grid with a worthy successor to the 911 RSR. The successes of the 911 RSR have set a very high benchmark for all involved. But we will work with great concentration and dedication in order to write yet another successful chapter in the history of
All reports on the previous season can be found in our archive.