SEBRING, Fla.—Porsche delivered its brand new 2012 Porsche 911 GT3 RSRs to several American Le Mans Series teams for the ALMS Winter Test that was held Feb 8–9. A lot of teams had troubles setting up the new cars at first, but by the end of the final session, lap times were coming down.
During the Thursday lunch break, Jens Walther, president of Porsche Motorsport North America and Patrick Long, Porsche factory driver working for Flying Lizards, talked about some of the features of the new car.
Walther described how pleased Porsche was that three different teams would be using three different tire manufacturers—Michelin, Falken, and Dunlop—saying Porsche welcomed that competition.
As for the car itself, Walther pointed out that the track was wider, the front- and rear-end aero totally new, and the air intakes were now through vents in the front of the rear fenders. Also, the car now used taller, wider tires. The drivetrain is unchanged from 2011; Porsche put all its efforts into making the chassis work better.
