2016 has been both a year of new growth and a revival of the past for The Racers Group. Our team started the year off with a pro Aston Martin program and a Porsche club racing squad, and finished with our Aston Martins racing in multiple series, a Lamborghini Super Trofeo program, an even bigger Porsche customer racing team, and a surprise return to Porsche as our pro-level GTD entry.
As we headed to Daytona in January of 2016, we were determined to start the season off in a big way. We kicked off our race season by inviting F1 star Sergio “Checo” Perez to take part in our Daytona celebrations. He came to support the drive of his brother, Antonio, from the pit wall, reestablishing our connection to our Mexican driver program. This Daytona trend continues in 2017 with driver Pablo Sanchez and the return of Santiago Creel.
The top sporting achievement of the year was certainly our 2016 Pirelli World Challenge SprintX GTS Team and Driver Championship. This new race format was dominated by TRG’s Aston Martin V8 Vantages throughout the season, with Max Riddle and Derek DeBoer facing a tense Drivers’ points battle by the final race at Laguna Seca. Riddle came out on top; the Team award was won with points accrued by Max, Derek, Jason Alexandridis and Kris Wilson.
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It’s so exciting to watch someone’s perseverance pay off, and that was our driver Derek DeBoer’s storyline this year. Watching him take his first professional race win with a V8 Vantage at the Pirelli World Challenge race at Road America was more than just celebrating another trophy; it was a moment of pride for TRG. He’ll be racing with us in our new Porsche at the 2017 Rolex 24 hours at Daytona.
Another surprise wildcard draw from the TRG deck was the introduction of our Lamborghini Super Trofeo program. Our first outing with this marque at Laguna Seca raceway resulted in a podium for both the Huracan Super Trofeo and, in a last-lap, last-turn pass by James Davison, for the Aston Martin GT3. The team is working on next season’s driver lineup with the stunning, Voodoo Blue Lamborghini.
The driver “ladder system” is a core part of a healthy, longterm racing program. Nurturing drivers at the club and amateur racing level encourages them to take a step up towards pro-level racing. And, while Aston Martin was our primary marque for many seasons, TRG’s long history with Porsche has been maintained through club racing weekends. On the release of the new, track-ready Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport, we quickly acquired a stable of these cars for the 2016 season, leading our drivers to the winners’ podiums in the Porsche Pirelli GT3 Cup Trophy series. One of these drivers, Craig Lyons, will move up to the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge with us in 2017.
What’s even better than racing with Porsche, Aston Martin, and Lamborghini? Winning races with all three. Between competition weekends, we make them available for spirited track days around the country. Watch us take a few of them out to play on the rolling hills at Laguna Seca, California:
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If you’ve followed our team news at all in the past month, you’ll have seen our announcement that we’re “switching back” to Porsche for our WeatherTech United SportsCar Championship GTD program. This is significant because our four Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona wins and Le Mans victory were all achieved with Porsche. For many, it’s been likened to a homecoming. For us, it simply feels like a natural pairing.
None of this would have been possible without the relentless efforts of our team – the crew, the hospitality and marketing staff, and all of our partners who make our group one of the most envied in the paddock. It takes a lot of work to build and maintain this level of consistency. Race team crews get an incredible amount of work done within set limitations on time and resources when repairs are needed at during a race weekend. TRG’s mechanics come through, time and time again.
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One of the key people in the TRG Family was our team engineer, Peter Hansel. He passed away just over a week ago, and his presence will be deeply missed throughout the upcoming season.
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