One of our favorite teams and Porsche’s was that of VICI Racing. The T-Mobile livery on the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR always looked good. Richard Westbrook and Johannes Stuck were always there pushing the pace in the American Le Mans Series. We last saw VICI race at Laguna Seca at the end of 2009.
VICI Racing is back and they look to be the first American team to bring an Audi R8 LMS stateside. VICI Racing recently announced its new state-of-the-art race shop. With 10,000 square meters, it has been design to house a multi-car ALMS effort.
Along with the news, we noticed a new image on their site. It would have gone unnoticed if it was a Porsche. However it is an Audi R8 LMS that has been doctored with a few sponsor logos. We also noticed a Audi Sport R8 LMS Partner logo on the site. There is no official word from VICI or Audi but we are looking into it.
After 4 hours 1 minute and 59 seconds of hard-fought racing and having completed 153 laps of the Laguna Seca Raceway, in the gathering darkness and under a crescendo of fireworks Johannes Stuck brought the #18 T-Mobile® VICI Racing™ Porsche 911 GT3 RSR safely over the finish line last night as the clock ticked past six-thirty.
Following an excellent start to the new partnership between T-Mobile USA and VICI Racing™ on the streets of Long Beach two-and-a-half weeks ago, the action now moves on to the next round of the American Le Mans Series and the completely different challenge exposed by the high-speed, high-altitude Millar Motorsports Park in dry and dusty Utah. In the cockpit of the #18 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (2008) for the Utah Grand Prix will be Nicky Pastorelli and Johannes Stuck.
On the hot and sunny streets of Long Beach this afternoon Richard Westbrook qualified the #18 T-Mobile® VICI Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR on the third row of the grid for tomorrow’ American Le Mans Series race. The Englishman’s best lap of 1:21.805 left the team in a solid position for the race and came despite fuel pressure issues and a stop-and-go penalty that added up to compromise the 25 minute qualifying session.
The American Le Mans Series visit to the famous street circuit in Long Beach/California is one of the highlights of the season. At the time-honoured race with the postcard-perfect backdrop of sun, sea and palms, the Porsche works drivers Joerg Bergmeister (Germany) and Patrick Long (USA) aim to clinch their second win of the season in the Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR.
We hope this partnership helps VICI Racing take off in the series. It is also great to see T-Mobile not holding back on sponsorship money. The T-Mobile livery could be a bit better on the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. It doesn’t mention if they will be at Long Beach but the VICI calendar shows them entered.
VICI Racing™ is delighted to announce today an exciting new partnership with T-Mobile USA, Inc., to take up the challenge of one of global motor sports most professional championships, the American Le Mans Series (ALMS).
T-Mobile® and VICI Racing™ will kick-off the multi-year relationship, and the 2009 racing program, at the ALMS race in Long Beach, Calif., on April 18th. The team will run the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, and then contest the remaining rounds of the premier sports car series.
On the hot and sunny streets of Long Beach this afternoon Richard Westbrook qualified the #18 T-Mobile® VICI Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR on the third row of the grid for tomorrow’ American Le Mans Series race. The Englishman’s best lap of 1:21.805 left the team in a solid position for the race and came despite fuel pressure issues and a stop-and-go penalty that added up to compromise the 25 minute qualifying session.
