July - September
New sports prototype dubbed RS Spyder – Drivers for race premiere namedPorsche in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS)
Stuttgart. Dr. Ing. h.c. F.
The new RS Spyder completed an initial three-day test programme under race-like conditions on the Estoril circuit in southern Portugal. Director of Motorsport Hartmut Kristen summarises the results: "The new 3.4-litre V8 engine, the transmission and chassis fulfilled the high expectations that we had after the roll-out and first shake-down on our test track at the R&D centre in Weissach. We are therefore very optimistic about further tests."
In Estoril, works drivers Lucas Luhr (Monaco) and Sascha Maassen (Belgium) shared the cockpit of the open sportscar that Penske Motorsports will enter in the Le Mans prototype class 2 (LMP2) of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS). The pair pilots the RS Spyder at its inaugural race on 1st October in Atlanta (USA) and at Laguna Seca (USA) on 16th October. Emmanuel Collard from France joins the duo for the "Petit Le Mans" race in Atlanta, which runs over a distance of 1,000 miles or a duration of ten hours.
Luhr and Maassen won two GT championships each with
The test and race programme that began at Estoril serves as preparation for 2006, when Penske Motorsports will run two RS Spyders over the entire ALMS racing season and assist
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Note: Photos of the RS Spyder are available on the
21.07.2005