At yesterday’s Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, USA, Zak Brown dominated the IMSA GTP class in his #16 1986 Porsche 962, taking a convincing victory in both races.
During Friday’s qualifying, Brown put his Porsche into second position on the gird for the first race on Sunday. After a hard fought battle, he took the lead two laps from the end of the race. In race two, Brown started from pole position, and again took victory with a dominant performance that saw none of the field being able to match his speed.
Afterward, Brown said “I’m really pleased with our performance this weekend at the largest historic racing event in the US. United Autosports did a great job preparing the car, I enjoyed total reliability and car showed itself to be a true race winner even after 26 years.”
This car has won before at the Monterey Motorsports Reunion, taking victory at its debut at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in 2010, driven on that occasion by ex-Formula 1TM driver Stefan Johansson.
The Porsche 962 is one of the most successful sports cars in history, accumulating 54 wins in IMSA competition alone, 40 of which came between 1985-1987. The 120 chassis, owned now by Zak Brown, was heavily modified by Dyson Racing. A high-downforce nose and air tunnels under the car were designed by noted aerodynamicist, Dick Yagami.
This car won in its debut at the 1986 Six Hours of Riverside, commencing a streak of four podium finishes to start the season. Additionally, it earned wins at Charlotte and Sears Point helping Price Cobb finish second in the 1986 IMSA GTP Championship and Dyson Racing win its second Porsche Cup. It went on to collect a win at Watkins Glen in 1987 and another at Miami in 1988.
Source : United Autosports