Porsche 2006 Annual Report Download - page 118

In the world of motor sports, Porsche seeks to compete wherever race engineer-
ing is also likely to advance the design of its premium sports vehicles. The
essential motivation behind involvement on the international race scene comes
from daring originality, innovative strength, the best engineering expertise and
a passion for competition.
Porsche has been involved in customer sport for ten years. The teams are suppor-
ted through Porsche’s ongoing development of vehicles and the deployment of
its engineers and other specialists at the trackside. Eight works drivers have also
been notching up successes.
The RS Spyder is the ultimate racing car. This sports prototype, developed and
built entirely in Weissach, is marching from one victory to another in the USA.
The race versions of the Porsche 911 are also winning major endurance races
and championships throughout the world.
The RS Spyder: Sensationally Successful
In 2006, the American Penske Racing Team, Porsche’s customer and partner, com-
pleted its first full racing season in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) with the light-
weight 775 kilogram, 500 hp RS Spyder sports prototype and won all four scheduled
championships in the prototype class 2. On the way to this flawless victory, this team
of “small” class 2 Porsches even beat their more powerful class 1 sports prototype
counterparts in one race. This was an unprecedented event in the history of the ALMS,
where some of the fastest prototypes in the world line up at the starting grid.
Over the winter, the specialists at Weissach modified the RS Spyder for the 2007
season, giving it a new aerodynamic set-up, optimizing heat dissipation, im-
proving ease of maintenance for a fast turnaround in the pits and implementing
a host of other detailed changes.
For the 2007 Championship, Penske Racing was joined by the American Team
Dyson Racing which was also to race the Porsche sports prototypes. The new RS
Spyder instantly proved to be almost unbeatable – even for the class 1 prototypes,
which regulations permit to be around 200 hp more powerful. In the first twelve
rounds, the tactically brilliant Penske Racing Team notched up eight overall victo-
ries and eleven class victories. The ninth race, through the streets of the Motor
City of Detroit, saw Porsche clinch the engine and chassis titles early. And in the
penultimate of twelve races, Porsche works drivers Timo Bernhard and Romain
Motor Sports
David conquers Goliath – during the 2007 season,
Porsche confirmed what the pundits had been predicting
in 2006. The RS Spyder crossed the finishing line first
in eight of the twelve American Le Mans Series races,
once again carrying off the manufacturers’, drivers’
and team championships.
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