Porsche Caymans Sweep Rolex 24 Hour Podium
01-28-2013, 10:11 AM
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Porsche Caymans Sweep Rolex 24 Hour Podium
Ormond Beach, Florida - January 28, 2013
In typical Porsche Cayman fashion, a trio of Porsche Caymans fielded by 3 groups with no factory ties nor support swept the new GX class podium at the 51st running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona. The Caymans single biggest and only competition came from a trio of purpose-built tube frame Mazda GT cars with an exorbitant factory budget and a list of resources that went well beyond what anyone had going into their Cayman program. While the intention was always to be the tortoise and not the hare, by the time the dark fell on Daytona Beach skies, all of the Mazdas had retired and it was a 3-way Cayman street fight for class winning honors and a fancy Rolex Daytona watch.
After 24 hours of running, the Porsche Cayman S of Napleton Porsche Racing finished 1st in class with drivers Shane Lewis, Jim Norman, David Donohue and Nelson Canache. The outfit that founded the Cayman Interseries ran a flawless race. The team that typically runs sprint races in World Challenge showed that they can transition over to Grand-Am and be a threat.
2nd place honors went to Bullet Racing's #22 entry out of Vancouver, BC, Canada. No strangers to Rolex 24 hour competition, the team scored their first Rolex Series podium with a Cayman S that they've been engineering for nearly a year. Originally built by BGB Motorsports in Ormond Beach, FL, BGB lays no claim of the work done to build that car, as they realize that much work gets done by teams once roll cages and suspension parts have been installed on these cars and then hundreds of hours of engineering follow. Bullet took their GT3 Cup know-how and applied it to the Cayman and overcame a Thursday practice crash that led to frame repair and then executed a 2nd place finish, only 10 laps behind the class leaders. Given that this was Bullet's first time on track with the Cayman at Daytona, it's the type of finish that may rival their winning of the event.
3rd place honors went to local team BGB Motorsports and their #38 Luna-C Cayman S Porsche and drivers Lee Davis, Ryan Eversley, Eric Foss, Jeff Mosing and John Tecce. The team finished 11 laps behind the 2nd place entry and 21 laps behind the leaders. Around 2am the team entered the garages for what was to be a scheduled replacement of a to-be-expected OEM driveshaft failure. The axle failure was the only hiccup for the team that was instrumental in getting the GX class to allow for the entry of a 997 DFI engine in a Cayman S platform. Of note, it was Eversley and Foss who showed that we had the speed to compete and get back on the lead lap; and, it was Eversley's nursing the car for the final 2 hours with no clutch, running on pace at 2:00 that kept the team nipping at the heels of the P2 class car who also lost the same clutch hours earlier. Eversley kept heat on and if the race was 2 hours longer, things may have been different.
Not a single factory backed Porsche Motorsport entry made it to the podium at this Rolex 24 hour race; furthermore, the car that they never ever wanted to be raced took on the Mazda factory with no support from their own. While I'm sure the press got their pencils out in Stuttgart, once they realized they weren't allowed to write about anything, they probably just put them back down.
NOTES:
1.)Given that RSS / Road Sport Supply has stood by our side since inception, we ran the RSS Tarmac series suspension bits on the car for 24 hours without failure, even though there were rumors about parts being inferior. Tried and tested!
2.)Matt Monson from Guard Transmission personally flew to Daytona to see his differentials sweep the podium. Guard Transmission diffs are the reason our cars handle well enough to triple stint tires and they are built to last 24 hour races because that is what Matt builds things for. He makes race car car parts for your street car, not the other way around.
3)The 100% stock Porsche Cars North America OEM 987.2 Getrag transmission that every single person BUT BGB and Guard Transmission feared would fail, did not skip a beat. And to trest it even more, both Bullet and BGB speed-shifted it for 5 hours til the end. All 3 cars ran stock un-modified transmissions.
4.)The OEM Porsche stock 9A1 DFI engine that all you Metzgerphiles feel isn't a race engine and is not up to the task? WHAT DO YOU SAY NOW?!?!?!?!?!?! We had to add 2 quarts. The motor in the #38 Cayman was a sealed Grand-Am 997.2 X51 GTS engine with zero modification. Sorry!
5.) While I had purchased spare Cargraphic exhaust sytems, none were needed!
John Tecce
BGB Motorsports
In typical Porsche Cayman fashion, a trio of Porsche Caymans fielded by 3 groups with no factory ties nor support swept the new GX class podium at the 51st running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona. The Caymans single biggest and only competition came from a trio of purpose-built tube frame Mazda GT cars with an exorbitant factory budget and a list of resources that went well beyond what anyone had going into their Cayman program. While the intention was always to be the tortoise and not the hare, by the time the dark fell on Daytona Beach skies, all of the Mazdas had retired and it was a 3-way Cayman street fight for class winning honors and a fancy Rolex Daytona watch.
After 24 hours of running, the Porsche Cayman S of Napleton Porsche Racing finished 1st in class with drivers Shane Lewis, Jim Norman, David Donohue and Nelson Canache. The outfit that founded the Cayman Interseries ran a flawless race. The team that typically runs sprint races in World Challenge showed that they can transition over to Grand-Am and be a threat.
2nd place honors went to Bullet Racing's #22 entry out of Vancouver, BC, Canada. No strangers to Rolex 24 hour competition, the team scored their first Rolex Series podium with a Cayman S that they've been engineering for nearly a year. Originally built by BGB Motorsports in Ormond Beach, FL, BGB lays no claim of the work done to build that car, as they realize that much work gets done by teams once roll cages and suspension parts have been installed on these cars and then hundreds of hours of engineering follow. Bullet took their GT3 Cup know-how and applied it to the Cayman and overcame a Thursday practice crash that led to frame repair and then executed a 2nd place finish, only 10 laps behind the class leaders. Given that this was Bullet's first time on track with the Cayman at Daytona, it's the type of finish that may rival their winning of the event.
3rd place honors went to local team BGB Motorsports and their #38 Luna-C Cayman S Porsche and drivers Lee Davis, Ryan Eversley, Eric Foss, Jeff Mosing and John Tecce. The team finished 11 laps behind the 2nd place entry and 21 laps behind the leaders. Around 2am the team entered the garages for what was to be a scheduled replacement of a to-be-expected OEM driveshaft failure. The axle failure was the only hiccup for the team that was instrumental in getting the GX class to allow for the entry of a 997 DFI engine in a Cayman S platform. Of note, it was Eversley and Foss who showed that we had the speed to compete and get back on the lead lap; and, it was Eversley's nursing the car for the final 2 hours with no clutch, running on pace at 2:00 that kept the team nipping at the heels of the P2 class car who also lost the same clutch hours earlier. Eversley kept heat on and if the race was 2 hours longer, things may have been different.
Not a single factory backed Porsche Motorsport entry made it to the podium at this Rolex 24 hour race; furthermore, the car that they never ever wanted to be raced took on the Mazda factory with no support from their own. While I'm sure the press got their pencils out in Stuttgart, once they realized they weren't allowed to write about anything, they probably just put them back down.
NOTES:
1.)Given that RSS / Road Sport Supply has stood by our side since inception, we ran the RSS Tarmac series suspension bits on the car for 24 hours without failure, even though there were rumors about parts being inferior. Tried and tested!
2.)Matt Monson from Guard Transmission personally flew to Daytona to see his differentials sweep the podium. Guard Transmission diffs are the reason our cars handle well enough to triple stint tires and they are built to last 24 hour races because that is what Matt builds things for. He makes race car car parts for your street car, not the other way around.
3)The 100% stock Porsche Cars North America OEM 987.2 Getrag transmission that every single person BUT BGB and Guard Transmission feared would fail, did not skip a beat. And to trest it even more, both Bullet and BGB speed-shifted it for 5 hours til the end. All 3 cars ran stock un-modified transmissions.
4.)The OEM Porsche stock 9A1 DFI engine that all you Metzgerphiles feel isn't a race engine and is not up to the task? WHAT DO YOU SAY NOW?!?!?!?!?!?! We had to add 2 quarts. The motor in the #38 Cayman was a sealed Grand-Am 997.2 X51 GTS engine with zero modification. Sorry!
5.) While I had purchased spare Cargraphic exhaust sytems, none were needed!
John Tecce
BGB Motorsports
Last edited by BGB Motorsports; 01-28-2013 at 11:36 AM.
01-28-2013, 10:51 AM
#5
Former Vendor
Dude, i love that press release! No idea why PMNA or Porsche Germany doesnt get behind the dang things. they are sweet looking, great performing, they swept, and they got good TV coverage.
i just dont think its ever going to happen.
maybe though. maybe you need to go show them this is another field they should want to dominate. then again, they didnt have to spend a cent, and their Caymans dominated anyway.
i just dont think its ever going to happen.
maybe though. maybe you need to go show them this is another field they should want to dominate. then again, they didnt have to spend a cent, and their Caymans dominated anyway.
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01-28-2013, 11:53 PM
#13
Great job with the race and the write-up. I was at the track rooting for the Caymans. Is BGB planning to run the entire series? The Mazdda's seemed as though they could not keep the pace even for the few laps that they were running. Do you expect that Grand-Am will try to slow the Cayman's down for future races? Do you expect any other teams, Porsche or not, to compete in this class?
Thanks,
Mike
. I was at the track rooting for the Caymans. Is BGB planning to run the entire series? The Mazdda's seemed as though they could not keep the pace even for the few laps that they were running. Do you expect that Grand-Am will try to slow the Cayman's down for future races? Do you expect any other teams, Porsche or not, to compete in this class? Thanks,
Mike
01-29-2013, 01:52 AM
#14
GT3 player par excellence
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john, congrats for a great race.
hum... i am in love with DFI cay s again.
hum... i am in love with DFI cay s again.
01-29-2013, 02:30 AM
#15
Race Director
BGB...my favorite team! Hey Porsche are you checking these guys out!
Also all hail the 9A1 engine! It was a champion engine last year and looks to be well on it's way for 2013!
Matt at Guard is the real deal and build the best. Hopefully I can have one of his LSD's in my GTS someday.
Also all hail the 9A1 engine! It was a champion engine last year and looks to be well on it's way for 2013!
Matt at Guard is the real deal and build the best. Hopefully I can have one of his LSD's in my GTS someday.