Gianmaria Bruni will finally be able to make his Porsche GT bow this weekend at Watkins Glen after being left on the sidelines so far in 2017 due to being on gardening leave following his departure from Ferrari.
The Italian will link up with Laurens Vanthoor in the #912 Porsche 911 RSR this weekend for the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, having been waiting for this opportunity to come following Ferrari’s decision to prevent him for racing for their rivals until after the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
“It’s a big challenge for me to switch in the middle of the season to such a strongly supported series like the IMSA SportsCar Championship with a new car,” admitted Bruni.
“There are many things I’ll have to get used to, but I’m very grateful for this chance and I’ll do everything to achieve successes with Porsche as soon as possible.”
This weekend will be Bruni’s first experience of Watkins Glen and his first race outing in the 911 RSR, but even after testing it he feels it has potential, and he cannot wait to get his season started.
“I’m very excited of course,” said Bruni. “Although I’ve never competed on the very demanding Watkins Glen racetrack, I’m very pleased that we finally get to race with Porsche.
“For me it was important to gather as much information as possible and to see how the car responds under different conditions – for example with worn and fresh tires, in low and high track temperatures. The insights I gained during this short time were very informative.”
“My first encounter with the 911 RSR was very impressive. Even before you climb into the cockpit, you can see just how much potential the car has. However, the handling is completely different to the cars I’ve driven in the past.
“In this respect, it will take me a while to familiarize myself with the 911 RSR so that I’m really fast. But for a racing driver there’s no better challenge.”
