After a season campaigning its new 991-based Porsche 911 RSRs in the FIA World Endurance Championship, the German manufacturer came to Daytona for the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship with a two-car program, operated by CORE autosport.

While run under the Porsche North America banner, the cars and equipment are operated out of CORE’s state-of-the-art 30,000 sq. ft. shop in Rock Hill, S.C. (outside Charlotte).

CORE deals with the day-to-day operations of the program. The actual development of the cars is a joint project between PMNA and Weissach-based Porsche AG.

The cars are stunning. The nose section is unlike any other model. The side aero has been highly modified, and there's a huge wing.



In Friday testing at Daytona ("Roar Before the 24"), the #911, driven by Nick Tandy, set the quickest lap in the class with a time of 1 minute, 45.564 seconds, at 121.405 mph.

On Saturday, the #911 stayed in the garage (hidden beneath a car cover) and the CORE crew rolled out the #912 sister car.

Things did not go as planned. 15 minutes into the morning session, the drive train seized in the infield section, and the car limped to a safe area in Turn 6 near NASCAR 2. Unable to move (the rear end was locked), IMSA was forced to throw a red flag. Track crews struggled to get the car on a flat bed, halting the session for nearly 30 minutes.

#912 was returned to the garage, put on rollers, and was quickly moved inside. Doors came down. There was much German discussion. The entire drive train was removed, and the car never returned to the track Saturday.

 

The good news is they are the only ones in the 45's at this point. Hopefully they'll be up and running today.

 

Es nicht gehen!

 

My German is not as good but I think I. Could get away with Nein Fahren.

Let's hope they sort this out ASAP.

 

Wie sagt mann "It went kerblammo"?

 

912 is back on track with Long in the car.

 

912 came back out very briefly in the night session last night (probably just an installation run).

I wonder if the banking is putting stresses on the driveline they haven't seen yet in WEC...

I walked by the CORE/PMNA pit a few times yesterday, nobody seemed overly stressed or frantic, so such is the nature of sports car testing I guess.

 

Keep trying new things. They break, try something different. Doesn't sound too alarming.

Nice to see the quick laps!

 

Cant believe they are making the 912 again

 

That it's competitive at this level now says a lot about the Porsche racing effort these days...

 

honestly I don't know why they didn't do car 911 and car 991.

912 should have to run in GTD

 

I wondered about that too. Perhaps the 'similarity' of 911 and 9/11 was considered to be a source of controversy especially at a US venue.

 

they are using 911.

I was questioning the use of 912 vs 991.

 

Oh ya. Ooops.