Porsche 2008 Annual Report Download - page 140

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with a brief interlude. In order to raise their
chances of a title, Westbrook and Collard
started the title in different Porsche vehicles.
As the Porsche veterans were competing
for the title, two young drivers were taking
the opportunity to prove themselves on an
international stage. 21-year old Marco Holzer
and Martin Ragginger, also 21, entered the
FIA GT championship as “Porsche juniors” in
training for the Carrera Cup Deutschland.
The up-and-coming drivers impressed the
world of motor sports with impeccable per-
formances in their unusual 911 GT3 RSR. This
was also the case in the final, with Holzer
sharing the driver’s seat with Westbrook, and
Ragginger joining Collard in the pursuit of
faster times.
Richard Lietz and Gianluca Roda began 2009
in a 911 GT3 RSR provided by Autorlando
Sport in the top class of International GT Open,
which Lietz won in 2007, as runners-up from
the previous year. Eight racing weekends with
16 races were scheduled throughout Europe.
With four races remaining, the Austrian and the
Italian looked like safe bets for second place
in the drivers’ rankings in the fall, followed by
another Autorlando Porsche driven by Pedro
Couceiro and Manuel Giao from Portugal and
the Frenchmen Patrick Pilet and Raymond
Narac in a GT3 RSR from IMSA Performance
Matmut.
team Farnbacher Loles took the lead with the
German team driver Dirk Werner and the Ameri-
can Leh Kenn. In twelve races, the pair achiev-
ed podium places a total of seven times, four
times as champions. At the end of the season
they were able to celebrate a clear victory.
Porsche comfortably claimed the manufactur-
ers’ title.
Customer teams also enjoyed success in
Europe, with Porsche’s support. The five quali-
fying races of the Le Mans Series are driven
over the traditional sports car racing distance
of 1,000 kilometers. Company drivers Marc
Lieb and Richard Lietz achieved victories at the
Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona, at Spa-
Francorchamps in Belgium and at the Nürburg-
ring in a 911 GT3 RSR entered by the team
Felbermayr-Proton. The Lieb / Lietz partner-
ship led twice on points, and at the end of an
exciting season claimed the GT2 championship
for themselves. This was Lieb’s third drivers’
title in the important championship following
victories in 2005 and 2006.
The competition in the international FIA GT
championship was decided in the last race, with
Briton Richard Westbrook claiming the GT2
title in a 911 GT3 RSR entered by the Prospeed
Competition team. The Briton and his teammate,
Porsche Company driver Emmanuel Collard,
dominated the season and the championship
Motor Sports
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