Briefing

Specs
Porsche 2009 911 GT3 RSR Specs (PDF)
Key Factors at Salt Lake Team Perspective
Return to normal road course format
  • First 2 hour 45 minute race this season
  • Expect a 2-stop race
  • Fast, smooth track
  • Long turns, good mix of right and left hand turns
Adjustments for high altitude
  • Good fuel mileage
  • Affects downforce and engine power
Competition Update
  • GT2 class adjustments
  • New challenge class
Final U.S. Race before 24 Heures du Mans
  • Lizards head to Le Mans in June
Chief Strategist Thomas Blam
"We're looking forward to being back to our conventional road course format and a 2 hour and 45 minute race. This should be a two-stop race. Fuel mileage is good here because of the altitude: there's not as much air in the motors and the cars don't use as much fuel. If we had enough cautions, we could do it in one stop, but because of the structure of the track - very open with few guard rails - we've historically had few cautions here."

Chief Engineer Craig Watkins
"Miller is a fast track with long turns, and a good mix of right and left hand turns. The combination of a long-distance track with long-duration turns puts unusually high loads and temperatures into the tires. The longer you are in the turn, the more heat is generated in the tire. In Turns 1, 2, 3, and 7 the car is in the turn for several seconds each. The trick is to coordinate the camber and spring rate settings very carefully to give the car the stability that it needs without being too tough on the tires, while making sure that you have a good balance between top speed and adequate downforce. The altitude complicates the process: the engine makes less power, yet you still need adequate downforce so you have to be fairly aggressive with the aero settings. It's a delicate balance."

Chief Strategist Thomas Blam
"We expect some tough GT2 competition here at Utah. Risi Competizione and the Porsches should be strong here, and the class adjustments that IMSA has made over the last few races should make it a very interesting race. For Utah, both the BMWs and the Panoz will run at a higher weight but will have larger restrictors.

Also, starting at Utah, a new class will join the grid: the "challenge class." it consists of a select number of Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race cars chosen from the ALMS GT3 support series. This will mean a bit of adjustment for the drivers. The aerodnamics on the Cup cars make them very quick on the straightaways. On a long track like Miller, the GT2 cars should be able to get by them but we should expect the Cup cars to give us a bit of a run in the straights."

24 Heures du Mans
The Lizards head to the 24 Heures du Mans in early June. This year there will be no test day, so the first setup day for the team will be the first practice session Wed. June 10.