911 GT3 R’s IMSA Farewell
Together with the final race for the IMSA DPis, and the Ferrari 488 GT3s the current iteration of the Porsche 911 GT3 R, which will be replaced in 2023 with a car based on the type 992 platform (below), will also take a bow.
It’s a machine that has proven itself in IMSA competition since its 2019 Rolex 24 At Daytona debut.
In that time, Porsche customer teams have compiled 14 victories and nine championships in the IMSA GTD and GTD Pro classes.
Seven of those wins have occurred in 2022 with five GTD Pro class wins from the Pfaff Motorsports stable: Rolex 24 At Daytona, WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Lime Rock Park, VIRginia International Raceway.
Two GTD class wins have come from under the Wright Motorsports banner: Rolex 24 At Daytona and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
Entering the 25th Anniversary Petit Le Mans, Porsche privateers are not only in the fight for the race win in the GTD Pro and GTD classes with the Porsche 911 GT3 R race car but also for the championship titles in both classes.
Three 510 hp Porsche 911 GT3 R race cars are entered for the season-finale on the 2.54-mile, 12-turn Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
In the GTD Pro class, Pfaff Motorsports brings the #9 “Plaid Porsche” while the #16 Wright Motorsports machine and the #99 Hardpoint Porsche are entered in the Pro-Am style GTD class.
Those three teams, Pfaff, Wright and Hardpoint, have accumulated all of the IMSA championships the Porsche 911 GT3 R, type 991.2, has earned since its premiere.
In 2019, Zach Robichon (Canada) racing for Pfaff Motorsports with a one-off at Park Place Motorsports, brought the first title to the naturally aspirated, flat-six powered Porsche taking the WeatherTech Sprint Cup Driver title while helping Porsche earn the Manufacturer crown for the non-endurance races.
The car raced in a special blue-based plaid livery at Petit Le Mans in 2019.
Pfaff then added three GTD titles in 2021 (Driver, Team and Manufacturer) while Wright took another three WeatherTech Endurance Championships (Driver, Team and Manufacturer) last year as well.
Rob Ferriol raced the Hardpoint machine to the Bob Akin Award in the final moments of the 2021 season for a seventh 2021 IMSA WeatherTech title for Porsche.
Pfaff Motorsports has been the most successful of the IMSA teams competing with the current generation Porsche 911 GT3 R race car.
“Our 991.2 GT3 R, chassis 05, has been a very special car for us as we had virtually all of our ‘firsts’ in IMSA with it,” reflected Steve Bortolotti, Pfaff Motorsports Team Manager. “I was never one to have an emotional attachment to inanimate objects, however, I am proud to know that we will be hanging on to this car for the foreseeable future.
“The pedigree it has amassed is incredible, and I’m proud of the job both our staff and Porsche have done to keep a chassis with over 55,000 racing kilometres (34,175 miles) on it still running in tip-top shape at the sharp end of an extremely competitive field. Hopefully, we can send it off with a twelfth IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship victory.”
In 2018, the team announced at the Petit Le Mans it would move into the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship the following year with Porsche.
Pfaff debuted in the GTD class of the Championship in 2019 at the Rolex 24 At Daytona. Since that first season, the team has utilized the same Porsche 911 GT3 R to compete. Over the four seasons, the car has been eligible to race in the GTD and now GTD Pro class, the “Plaid Porsche” has compiled 11 career wins and five pole positions entering the car’s final race before retirement, the 25th Annual Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
History of the “Plaid Porsche”. Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R.
Total race wins. 11
Total pole positions. 5
2019 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Champions, GTD class
Lime Rock Park. Win.
Road America. Win.
VIRginia International Raceway. Class Pole Position.
2020 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Champions, GTD class
Limited schedule due to Covid restrictions. No race wins.
Rolex 24 At Daytona. Class Pole Position.
2021 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Champions, GTD class
12 Hours of Sebring. Win.
Road America. Win.
WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Win.
VIRginia International Raceway. Win.
2022 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Champions, GTD Pro class
Rolex 24 at Daytona. Win.
WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Win and Class Pole Position.
Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP) Win and Class Pole Position.
Lime Rock Park. Win (overall) and Pole Position (overall).
VIRginia International Raceway. Win (overall).
History of the #16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R.
Total race wins. 3
Total pole positions. 3
2020 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Champions, GTD class
12 Hours of Sebring. Win and Class Pole Position.
2021 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Champions, GTD class
WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Class Pole Position.
2022 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Champions, GTD class
Rolex 24 at Daytona. Win.
12 Hours of Sebring. Class Pole Position.
WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Win.