Next up with some pre-race musings ahead of the 2022 Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona is Porsche Factory Driver Laurens Vanthoor, this year driving in the new GTD pro class for KCMG in their #2 Porsche 911 GT3 R.
“There are two main reasons why I would really love to be able to win this race.
“I said a couple of years ago that I have always had the dream to win the four big 24 hour races (Le Mans, Spa, Nurburgring, and Daytona) and in the only one that, for the moment in a GT class, is missing is Daytona. I’ve come close a couple of times. Second, third, but never a win.
“The second reason is that I joined Porsche here in America in 2017. And it was a very steep learning curve because for me at that point, everything was new, a new environment, a new part of the world, a new and very different championship, everything was new and I had to work very hard and learn a lot in those years.
“Now five years later, I have been lucky enough to win the championship twice but so far not Daytona which is my view at least as big a deal as a Championship and as some of the other major race wins.
“It looks like, for the moment this year, Daytona will be my only race in America. It looks like my focus is going to go a bit more back to Europe. So it would be an ideal moment in time to check that box here before I move on to the next phase!”
Have you been able to help the team coming into this paddock, and this race, for the first time?
“I don’t know if I have been able to help all that much but, of course, we do that whether and where we can.
The preparation has been super-impressive. KCMG has a great crew and has put their resource into the most important areas. They bring two very smart engineers here and we have tried to help them with their planning for scenarios and things that we have experienced here.
“That’s probably been particularly the case for me having done a full season with the 911 GT3R and on the same tyres, so there’s obviously some knowledge to transfer so I hope we helped a bit so far on that front.
“One of the other big things is the rulebook, not just from the team’s learning curve here, but also with the enjoyment for us out on track.
“That’s one of the big reasons I enjoy driving in IMSA races. It’s absolutely nothing against any of the other big Championships but hearing in the Drivers Briefing that they want us to race how we want to be raced, and other things like, after a pitstop, if you burnout in WEC you get a drive-through. Here you get a round of applause! So it’s just a different mentality.
The 911 GT3 R is a more old-school Porsche than the RSR. We might have mixed weather here. Could that play into your hands as we get into the world of traction being important?
“Last year, we had a couple of wet outings and were pretty good in those. It’s not always a guarantee that the Porsche concept works in the wet but I think it should be good.
“I’m not worried at all about the weather. I like driving in the wet. I think our car will be good. Whether we will be stronger than the others time will tell, but I don’t see it as a disadvantage and hopefully, probably may be an advantage!”
