Farnbacher Loles Racing will field seven cars in three series this weekend, with entries in the American Le Mans Series and IMSA Challenge races at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah, and in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif.
Dirk Werner of Kissenbrück, Germany, will do double duty. He'll start with the ALMS in Utah on May 15 and 16, fly to California for the Rolex Series race on May 17, then return to Utah for the May 18 ALMS race.
"I'll have the pleasure to drive two races in two days," he said. "There will be enough practice in both series for me and as I drive a Porsche in both series, it's not so difficult to adapt to the cars. And I already know both tracks. So I'm looking forward to a great weekend with a lot of racing, a little bit more flying than usual and, hopefully, some reason to celebrate afterwards."
ALMS
Marc Basseng of Leutenbach, Germany, will drive the No. 87 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR with Dirk Werner in the ALMS race. He is excited about racing on the 3.048-mile Utah road course, after street races in St. Petersburg, Fla., and Long Beach, Calif. He hopes to match the speed of the Flying Lizard Motorsports squad that leads the GT2 class team championship.
"The track looks really quick and with a lot of corners, completely different from the street tracks. I think we'll have to find a complete new setup for this kind of track," he noted. "I hope we can get closer to the Flying Lizards in the quali[fying] and can keep up with the race pace like we did in Long Beach."
Werner added, "I can't wait to drive the Porsche in Miller, as I missed Long Beach and I enjoy driving these GT2 cars so much. I'm excited to see how fast the Porsche is at this track because of the modified 2008 aero[dynamics] and to see if we can beat the Ferraris. The team showed good speed in the first races, but we missed good results. I hope we can manage to fight for a podium in Miller."
IMSA Challenge
Farnbacher Loles Racing has entered three cars for the two IMSA Challenge by Michelin races at Miller Motorsports Park this weekend. Tom Pank of Walkersville, Md., will drive the No. 42 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car, Darrell Carlisle of McLean, Va., will be behind the wheel of the No. 43 Porsche and Paul Orwicz of New Canaan, Conn., will race the No. 47 Porsche.
Rolex Series
Leh Keen of Charleston, S.C., and Eric Lux of Jacksonville, Fla., will drive the No. 86 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup at Laguna Seca, hoping to repeat their GT podium performance at the last series race, at Virginia International Raceway. They've been on track between races – Keen competed in the Cannonball One Lap of America race and Lux joined forces with team owner Dino Loles to race in the Historic Walter Mitty Challenge at Road Atlanta.
"Laguna Seca is one of my top-three favorite road-racing circuits in the U.S. The types of corners really suit my driving style. I enjoy high-speed corners like turns five and six and after the Corkscrew. I am able to find my rhythm quickly and put down the lap times instantly because of the flow of the circuit," Lux said. "Last season, we had a great chance to win the Laguna Seca race after qualifying off pole [second] and taking the lead early on. However, a mechanical issue led to our retirement from the race. Leh also enjoys this circuit very much and I believe the two of us will be able to apply the pressure to the top GT cars."
Pierre Kaffer of Salenstein, Switzerland, who will drive the No. 87 Porsche with Dirk Werner, enjoyed a prototype win in his last race on the 2.238-mile Laguna Seca road course.
"I'm really looking forward to driving at Laguna again. The last time I drove there was in 2004, in the R8 for Audi, and I won the race with Johnny Herbert and Team Champion. Now I'm really glad to drive there again, for Grand-Am. My memories there are all positive!" Kaffer said. "I like the Corkscrew, of course, but also the first part of the corner when you go up the hill. It has flowing corners and it's not easy to brake for the Corkscrew. It's a corner that everybody in the world knows, and to be fast there is not so easy."
Werner is also enthusiastic: "I love to go to Laguna Seca and race on this beautiful track. It has nice corners, such as the Corkscrew, and you get into a rhythm pretty fast. We had good speed in Laguna last year and got third in the race with a damaged car. My expectations, especially after the disappointing race in VIR, are very high. The team needs and deserves a good result, and we need good points to return to the championship battle."
Steve Johnson of Bristol, Va., and Dave Lacey of Toronto, Ont., will drive the No. 88 Porsche at Laguna Seca. Johnson joined his teammates in high praise for the track:
"Laguna Seca is one of my favorite tracks and it is situated in one of my favorite spots in North America. I love the flow of the track; it really lets you get in a rhythm. And what can you say about the Corkscrew? Amazing! Also, the track staff there is some of the best anywhere, so nice and hospitable."
