Porsche North America came to Daytona International Speedway last week for some unofficial TUDOR United SportsCar Championship testing with one goal in mind:
Preparation.
“Basically, (the test) is just preparation for Daytona in 2015,” said Porsche North America Project Manager Owen Hayes during a break on the final day of the two-day session. “The Rolex 24 is obviously the Le Mans of our series. It’s the ‘Big One,’ and preparation is absolutely key.”
The team won the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class in its debut at the 2014 Rolex 24 At Daytona, with Nick Tandy, Richard Lietz and Patrick Pilet sharing the winning No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR.
“We were absolutely thrilled to win here, especially in our first year with the new works team and the new championship,” Hayes said. “But you can see what happened with our other car, the No. 912 (which finished ninth). It can go one way or another.
“On that day, we were absolutely over the moon. That result at Daytona is a hard one. You have to be careful in your preparation. That’s why we’re here testing. The key word is preparation.”
Michael Christensen, who co-drove the No. 912 with Patrick Long and Joerg Bergmeister last season, tested at Daytona on Tuesday, while Tandy did the driving on Wednesday.
“It’s good to get back to driving the high speeds at Daytona,” said Christensen, who won the second race of 2014, the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida, with Long and Bergmeister. “We were running second when we retired here last year. We were one second behind P; we did not do a bad job at all. We just had an issue. Hopefully, my car will be there for the fight again next year.”
The team has yet to finalize its driver lineup for the upcoming season.
“We’ll see if I’m here [for the Rolex 24], but I really hope so. In my opinion, it would make sense, but it’s not confirmed.”
Christensen debuted at Daytona in the 2013 Rolex 24, when he drove with Tandy and Christian Engelhart in the Konrad Motorsport/Orbit Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. Tandy won the pole and led the opening six laps of the race in the Rolex Series GT class, but they retired and finished 31st.
“I like this race,” Christensen said. “It’s a highlight of the season, even though it’s the first race. I like both the atmosphere and the race itself.”
With the test completed, the team went back to its headquarters in Rock Hill, S.C., to analyze the data and continue its preparation.
“Like any other team, we’re still trying to sort out a schedule,” Hayes said. “It’s still early days yet, so there’s nothing 100-percent confirmed, but we’re trying to keep our testing schedule going.”
One date is for certain. That’s the Roar Before the Rolex 24 on Jan. 9-11 at Daytona International Speedway – the only official TUDOR Championship test before the Rolex 24 on Jan. 24-25. That’s when the team hopes its preparation pays off.