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Farnbacher Loles Racing will start
the 2008 season in force, fielding a triple team of seven Porsche 911 GT3 Cup
cars for 32 drivers in the Rolex 24 At Daytona. The 2007 Grand-Am Rolex Sports
Car Series GT champion returns with a three-car team that will compete in the
2008 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series (car Nos. 86, 87 and 88), a two-car team
competing in selected races (Nos. 83 and 89) and the two-car Team Seattle (Nos.
84 and 85).
Team owner Gregory Loles explained
how the seven-car entry evolved:
"It's not really seven cars, it's
what we call 2-3-2. We have the two Team Seattle cars – anyone would want to be
part of this effort that raises funds to help children. We have three cars that
are running the full season. And the two other cars are clients. One car is our
IMSA Cup guys and the other is our sister company Farnbacher Racing's European
clients. We ended up at seven, not because we were trying to get to a huge
number of cars, but because we have different elements in our
business."
The Farnbacher Loles drivers have a
wealth of experience in endurance racing. Their collective 24-hour score: 122
races, 24 wins, 51 podium finishes. They hope to add to those totals by
finishing this year's Rolex 24 At Daytona, set for Jan. 26 and 27 on the
3.56-mile Daytona International Speedway road course in Daytona Beach,
Fla.
The No. 87 (GT Champion) Porsche
took Farnbacher Loles to the 2007 Rolex
Series GT team title. The drivers all have won 24-hour races. Dirk Werner, the
2007 GT driver champion, has two endurance wins, in England and Dubai. Pierre
Ehret and Dominik Farnbacher each have a class win in the Rolex 24 and a class
podium at Le Mans. Porsche factory driver Timo Bernhard's results include two
sports-car championships and five 24-hour victories, including two Rolex 24
wins, one overall.
The No. 86 (Power) Porsche is also
packed with talent. Full-season drivers Leh Keen and Eric Lux have the
experience to win their first Rolex 24: Keen has a win and two podiums in Rolex
Series endurance races and Lux was the first 16-year-old to finish a Rolex 24.
Porsche factory driver Jörg Bergmeister, the 2006 Rolex Series DP champion, has
two Rolex 24 wins – one overall – and a class win at Le Mans. Sascha Maassen,
also a Porsche factory driver, has won four sports-car championships and twice
topped his class at Le Mans. Wolf Henzler is a past Porsche Cup winner who has
also earned a Rolex 24 GT pole position and win.
The No. 88 (Doncaster Racing)
Porsche will have the experienced talent of full-season drivers Dave Lacey and
Greg Wilkins, who have already earned two Rolex 24 class podiums together.
Wilkins also has a prototype class win at Le Mans. They'll be supported by
Pierre Kaffer and Frank Stippler, who have excelled in European Porsche
championships. Eric Curran adds a winning record in Grand-Am competition,
including a Rolex 24 podium.
The No. 83 (Fitness) Porsche drivers
have diverse racing backgrounds. Ben McCrackin, making his third Rolex 24 start,
usually races a Farnbacher Loles Porsche in the IMSA GT3 Cup. Tim Bergmeister
has already scored two 24-hour podium finishes, one in his first sports-car
race, on the tough Nürburgring circuit, the other in Bahrain. CR Crews has raced
on four continents and now competes in the Indy Pro Series. Peter Ludwig earned
a Grand-Am KONI Challenge win and two podiums in two starts last year. Russell
Walker is a Star Mazda Championship competitor.
Four Italian drivers will race the
No. 89 (Italian) Porsche – Luca Drudi, Raffaele Giammaria, Giacomo Petrobelli
and Gabrio Rosa. They will benefit from the experience of Jörg Hardt, who
delivered a strong performance for Farnbacher Loles during the 2007 Rolex
24.
Team Seattle, which has raised $2.7
million for the Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle,
selected Farnbacher Loles Racing to field two cars in its 12th and
final Rolex 24. Chris Bingham, Bill Cotter, Chris Pennington and Don Pickering
will drive the No. 84 Porsche. Ross Bentley, Don Kitch Jr., Steve Miller and
Chris Pallis will be behind the wheel of the No. 85 car.
"We're very privileged to have the
driver lineup and the confidence that so many people have in our team to run
their cars. We also have incredibly strong people on the other side of the wall.
Our technical director Horst Farnbacher, chief engineer Lars Giersing, team
manager Frank Resciniti and Team Seattle team manager Michael Gue are the power
behind our success," Loles said.
"We had very consistent results last
year and a 24-hour race is about consistency. But as well-prepared as we are and
as confident as we are, it's a 24-hour race and there are many good cars ...
We've done everything I think we can do in preparation."
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