The #912 works Porsche 911 RSR GTLM driven by Kévin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor and Richard Lietz being prepared ahead of the start in the 2017 Rolex Daytona 24 Hours
The 2017 Daytona 24 hours has an interesting field and mix of cars, especially in the GT class. Although I have been involved in racing sports cars for over 40 years, I found the rules for the GT classes quite confusing this year. Gone are the days of Group 4 (Porsche 934) and Group 5 (Porsche 935), where things seemed more simple. Today there seem to be confusing sets of rules on both sides of the Atlantic and worldwide as regards GT racing. It was not clear to me, which cars could run in IMSA, and which ones could run at Le Mans or the FIA GT championship, or if there was any cross-over at all. To try and make some sense of it all, I took some time at the 2017 Daytona 24-hours to sit down and talk to my brother, Mark Raffauf, who is the Senior Director of Series Platforms for IMSA, about the 2017 IMSA GT racing rules.
The TRG #991 Porsche 911 RSR GTD of Santiago Creel, Mike Hedlund, Wolf Henzler, Jan Heylen and Tim Pappas finished in 28th place overall in the 2017 Rolex Daytona 24 Hours
Mark has been involved in sports car racing since the 1970s. He is a long-time employee of IMSA, being possibly the longest tenured employee. He has held many positions at IMSA including President, Chief Steward, Yearbook Editor, Series director and Competition Director.
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