Porsche GTD Teams in “Better Place” at Sebring

Photo: Porsche

Wright Motorsports drivers Trent Hindman and Zach Robichon believe the Porsche 911 GT3 R is in a “better place” this weekend at Sebring International Raceway after a challenging debut for the car in the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

The new Type-992 Porsche, along with other debuting new-for-2023 models from Ferrari and Lamborghini, struggled in January’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season opener, with all three cars under the sanctioning body’s probational Balance of Performance process.

BoP changes to the Porsche, which has seen the car run with a 5 mm larger diameter air restrictor compared to Daytona, appear to have helped put teams back in contention following the opening practice session for the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

Hindman, in the No. 77 VOLT Lighting-sponsored Porsche, posted the quickest time of the GT cars, which the reigning Michelin Pilot Challenge champion attributed to a productive test at Sebring last month.

“We put in a lot of work, over a day and a half, to find good balance and good performance,” Hindman told Sportscar365.

“I’m sure everyone else is going to get quicker, it’s just natural evolution of more seat time, more time on track.

“But it’s just nice to be in within the conversation. We can maybe fight for this thing.”

Robichon, who is sharing the No. 16 Wright Porsche with Ryan Hardwick and Jan Heylen, agreed with his teammate.

“I think overall we feel that we’re in a better place than we were at Daytona,” he said. “But there’s still loads of stuff to learn on this new car.

“Daytona is so unique with the straightaways. It’s basically a reset when we come here.

“It’s the first time I would say that we’re at a ‘normal’ track, as normal as Sebring is with the bumps. But as far as higher downforce and all that, it’s a complete reset.

“Ryan really liked the car this morning and Jan had a couple of notes, a couple of things we need to work on.”

Robichon said they are in a “much different” mindset compared to Daytona, where he finished as the highest-placed GTD class Porsche in ninth.

“Now, it’s like, ‘How can we get the most out of the car and not just, ‘What are we even doing here?'” said the Canadian.

“Daytona was probably the most difficult race I’ve ever done simply just driving around. You realize how tired you are because what else do you have to think about?

“It’s not like you’re racing. You weren’t racing, you were just driving around and it just felt extremely long. It was tough to get motivated for.

“Going in here, to be able to race, it’s nice.”

Hindman added: “Of course the Roar wasn’t great and normal thinking says, ‘OK we’re bound to get something before the 24 that would at least put us within a shot.

“When that didn’t happen, it was pretty disheartening. It was a real bummer. Everybody felt the wind come out of their sails.

“You put so much effort into getting to a race, let alone the financial commitment, the time commitment, the time constraints with a brand new car.

“All things considered, you get all this effort to just get there and realize when you’re there that it’s out of your control and you’re not going to have a shot.

“That’s why coming here, seeing the [BoP] adjustment, seeing what we’ve done as a team internally to make things more effective…

“We’ve got an incredible group between of people around both cars. It’s a nice environment with me, Alan, Max, Ryan, Jan, Zach all pushing each other to find more performance.

“I think that trend will continue throughout the year for sure. But that just comes down to the effectiveness of your team, the leadership, everybody’s individual effort into it.”

Daytona Provided Opportunity “Ease Into” the Year for VOLT Crew

Hindman said Daytona did offer some positives in providing the VOLT crew a soft transition into WeatherTech Championship competition following the group’s Pilot Challenge GS class effort the previous year.

The majority of the No. 77 crew have remained intact from Hindman and Alan Brynjolfsson’s GS title-winning season in 2022.

“I don’t want to say it was a benefit for us but it was kind of good in a sense for Alan and all of us being kind of new working together in this environment,” Hindman said.

“It was so low pressure and low-key for us specifically, to where it was, ‘Cool, we can focus on procedure and execution and doing the best we can with what we’ve got.

“There was no pressure of like in the middle of the night handing Alan the car in the top-five. It took the pressure off everybody and it gave more opportunity to learn the flow of these races and the ruleset, which is a little different than Pilot Challenge.

“It was a good opportunity to get comfortable, even for me too. It wasn’t my first WeatherTech race but it was still an opportunity to ease into the year.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John