At least half of the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup and GT3 RSR cars took part in the American Le Mans Series/IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge by Yokohoma winter test at Sebring.
More than thirty-six Porsches are entered for the 61st running of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring on March 16th at the Floridian circuit, officially starting the festivities for the year-long celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Porsche 911.
“It is very exciting to see all the new Porsche teams and race cars joining our long-time customers to form a great ALMS/IMSA competition team for ALMS GT and GTC as well as IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge by Yokohama,” said president of Porsche Motorsport North America Inc., Jens Walther.
“New drivers and teams bring an infusion of new energy, new sponsors and greater interest for the spectators over the whole spectrum of our 911 race cars.”
There was, expectedly, a lot to talk about on the track, with the highlights including the IMSA GT3 Cup drivers taking to the circuit six times over Tuesday and Wednesday, which saw two-time Skip Barber championship winner Ashley Frieberg placing her car in the top three positions consistently, whilst David Ducote managed to take his 911 to the top of the time sheets several times.
None of the factory Porsche drivers were out on track during the ALMS sessions due to being at the annual Porsche fitness camp, but it was Bryan Sellers, who will partner factory drivers Nick Tandy and Wolf Henzler at the 12 Hours of Sebring, in the Team Falken Tire Porsche 911 GT3 RSR who came through as fastest Porsche, with Bryce Miller in the Paul Miller Porsche two seconds back.
The GTC class was topped by Cooper MacNeil and Jerome Bleekemolen of Alex Job Racing in the morning, followed by the JDX Hertz Porsche of Mike Hedlund and Jan Heylen.
After not running in the morning, Flying Lizard went straight to the top of the chart in the afternoon with first time running for Archie Hamilton and Nelson Canache with the help of veteran Spencer Pumpelly.
Neither of the Dempsey Racing Porsche 911s were in action, with both cars having only just arrived at the teams workshop near Road Atlanta.
