Car Preparation Notebook

Specs

Porsche 2009 911 GT3 RSR Specs (PDF)

Commentary from Tommy Sadler, Craig Watkins and Eric Ingraham

Flying Lizard's two new Porsche 911 GT3 RSRs will arrive from the Porsche factory in Weissach, Germany in mid-January. The team will prep the cars at the Franz Blam Racing shop in Atlanta, Georgia, then ship them to Sebring for the test, which begins on Monday, January 26.

Lizard crew chief and co-technical director Tommy Sadler, chief engineer Craig Watkins, and team manager Eric Ingraham talk about their plans at the Winter Test:

Tommy Sadler, crew chief and co-technical director
Tommy Sadler, who is responsible for getting and keeping the cars on track, discussed their pre-test plans: "The Winter Test will be our first experience with the new 2009 Porsches. They are scheduled to be delivered January 19 to Franz's shop in Atlanta. We've flown a group of mechanics to Atlanta and we'll work on the cars for four days, then send them on their way to Sebring.

"When they arrive, the Porsches are painted white and come well-prepared with new, stock components. During our prep in Atlanta, we'll swap out the new transmissions that ship with the cars with older transmissions that we'll use for the test. This way we can minimize wear on the new transmissions, which we'll plan to use for the actual race in March. Same thing for some of the other driveline parts. We'll also outfit the cars with the radios, electronics, and full complement of data collection components that we need at the test. The cars ship from Porsche very well-equipped for racing, so we expect the four days to be more than enough to get them ready to go."

Craig Watkins, chief engineer
Craig Watkins added, "At the Winter Test, we'll start implementing the car development program that we've been working on during the off season. 2009 is our sixth year running Porsches in the ALMS, so there is quite a lot of experience that we have been able to leverage in this year's program. We've seen Porsche make some significant improvements year to year in the 911, for example in the 2007 to 2008 transition. But every time you get a new car, you really don't know how it will act until you run it on track, how the changes that have been made to the car will affect setup and performance. In 2008, it took us a few races before we fully understood the car were able to get to the level of competitiveness we wanted."

"Developing the car to meet our racing goals is like anything else with a lot of moving parts: you have to look at the entire system as a whole, and implement changes in a very structured way. If you change one element, it will influence many others. So although the 2009 Porsches are similar to last year's, we have to go into the test with a very open mind and be prepared to work through the effect of changes. Even assuming that everything goes as planned at the test , we'll need all three days just to start to realize the full potential of the car."

Craig discussed the changes from 2008 to 2009, "Porsche has made some important changes to the cars for 2009. Aerodynamically, there is much more downforce in the front, which should help to resolve the understeer which dogged us in 2008. Among other things, the front diffusers are different, the nose has been reconfigured, and the hood is modified. Also, to meet the stricter 2009 regulations on maximum car cockpit temperature, the car has been redesigned to support an air conditioning system. We also expect the engine cooling to be significantly improved: more heat will be transferred out of the system, something that's required given the new air conditioning which will require power and heat transfer."

"Other regulation changes require that the Porsches run 20 kilograms heavier than 2008, and we have a minimum 15 mm gurney (wicker) requirement and a 5 mm higher ride height than 08. Just a few new variables can combine to make a significantly different car experience, so this 3-day test will be critical in helping us start to realize the potential of the 2009 Porsche."

"Our partner Michelin will also have new tires at the test. With more downforce on the front, we expect more tire wear on the rear tires. We need to look at all of the variables and changes and work to find the point where everything works optimally together - from what spring rates the car wants to the perfect ride height."

Eric Ingraham, team manager and No. 44 Porsche strategist
Team Manager Eric Ingraham added, "In addition to the car development goals, we'll use the three days at Sebring to get reorganized around two cars after 2008's three car program. Running three cars definitely required that we up our game and I think we all stepped up to the challenge. This year, I hope that we can continue to build on that: having two cars is certainly less complex and the goal is to take the extra bandwidth and apply that back to the program in a productive way."

"In terms of drivers, I think this year's lineup is very strong. This is Patrick Long's first full season with us, but he has driven with us before and he and Joerg work extremely well together. In the No. 44, Johannes, Darren, and Seth have worked together for more than five years and know each others' driving styles very well. That said, the first test day will be the first time that any of the drivers have been in the 2009 Porsches. They all will need to familiarize themselves with the cars - there have been some cockpit changes and of course the aero changes may require very different setup processes than last year.

"Our goals for 2009 have not changed since we started in 2004 - we are setting out to win the GT2 drivers' and team championships. This year, the face of the competition in GT2 is changing, but everything points to it being as strong, if not stronger, than ever. I think you'll see some extraordinary racing in GT2 this year and we are looking forward to being at the heart of it."