New Porsche Direct Fuel Injection Rules Package Shows Potential During 2012 Daytona Testing  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 12, 2012 (Ormond Beach, FL) – A fresh pair of BGB Motorsports prepared Porsche 997s made Grand-Am Continental Tire Porsche history in true team fashion by being the first non-GT3, non-factory built race car to ever do a 1 minute 57 second lap time around Daytona International Speedway, during the 2nd of 3 days of official Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series practice. For the 6th and final session of the weekend, as the early Sunday morning departure of nearly 10 in-class competitors made it look easier for the team, the Porsche outfit followed up their performance by finishing 2nd overall during the 6th and final practice session with another lap time of 1:57.7, averaging 108.8mph around the 33-degree banked 3.56 mile road course. While feeling more on pace in 2012, the team is still hesitant to declare any sort of victory given that they are only pacing 1 second faster than last year, with what seems like a larger rules package:
“The 2012 rules package looks somewhat promising but we are cautiously optimistic; it is going to take more from us. It is paramount for us though to determine that the new rules package will allow the Porsche to be more competitive and that is what we came to find out. We will see more 30 minutes from the end of the race when all of the cards are laid out on the table and the true potential of the other makes from BMW, Ford and Chevy is shown. Therefore, it has become somewhat of a wait-and-see politically with how the rules will play out. All the while, the Porsches in our series operate in no-man’s land without any factory assistance or support. The teams bear the expense of and do all of the testing, while sourcing all of the parts required while trying to R&D new ones. It’s a fair bit of work without any outside assistance from the manufacturer.”
Over fifty-five Continental Tire GS and ST cars descended upon the speedway to dust off the winter cobwebs and formally begin the 2012 racing season. Many competitors rolled out new cars while others cycled new or different drivers in and out of last year’s cars. Overall results for the three days of practice showed both BGB Motorsports prepared Porsche 997s taking top honors among all Porsches, as the team’s two entries placed 7th and 11th overall, surrounded by some very stout V8 competition. The team is already testing again before Friday January 27th’s opening 200 mile event, wanting to leave nothing up to chance.
The season-long pairing of John Farano and David Empringham is well prepared for the opening round of the season; off-season testing gave the team a leg up and it showed in their ability to be on pace with other competitors last weekend at Daytona. New to the team for 2012, the duo is anxious to get more time in the car and even more anxious for the opening round to get underway. John Farano and David Empringhan will codrive the #83 Porsche 997 with support from Tower Events for the entire 10-race season.
BGB alumni Stewart Tetreault and J-F Dumoulin will return to drive together in the #38 Porsche 997, a car that the team recently completed in 22 days over the holidays. While the unmistakably black chassis enjoyed a near flawless debut, more testing is being completed. The team is still searching for interested drivers for either the remainder of the 2012 season. They are also still searching for a sponsor interested in getting some additional exposure in front of what is expected to be the largest turnout in the 50-year history of the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Since 2004 the team has campaigned Porsche’s latest and greatest 911 chassis, except for when they switched to a pair of Porsche Caymans for the 2010 and 2011 Grand-Am racing seasons. Setting milestones for non-factory built Porsche race cars is nothing new for the team, as their in-house built cars that start life somewhere in North America as everyday street cars, have always put them at the pointy end of the development arrow. Continually pushing the edge of the Porsche envelope in the series, the team won the Daytona race in 2008 and later went on to win 2 more races that season with the 911 chassis before concluding that program. The revision of this year’s Porsche rules package to include the 2011/2012 3.8 liter Carrera GTS engine with Direct Fuel Injection in the 2nd generation 997.2 Carrera S chassis has assisted in their push. Excited to return for the race at the end of the month, BGB will unload the two new 997s at the speedway on Wednesday January 25th. The locally based Ormond Beach team has entered both Porsche 997s for the 200-mile event.
Qualifying for the race will be at 5:30pm on Thursday January 26th. The green flag for Friday’s 200-mile event will drop at 1:30pm, as the race’s 2.5 hour time limit will guarantee an exciting finish.
BGB Motorsports is an ambitious, professional motorsports business. The team's facility is located less than 15 miles from Daytona International Speedway and the headquarters for the Grand American Road Racing Association. The team operates as a customer oriented business, running cars under the Grand American Road Racing, Sports Car Club of America and Porsche Club of America sanctioning bodies. For more information, visit www.teambgb.com |
