Porsche 911

Ride onboard with Ryan Gates for a lap around Road Atlanta in the 2008 311RS Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 Cup #underthelights.

For the third year in a row, Driving Club RA has hosted track time for their members following the annual 10hr Petit LeMans race at Road Atlanta, complete with all the lighting equipment to allow for night lapping.

Adam and the rest of the crew at Driving Club RA put on an amazing event. This would be our second time attending but first time participating, and my goodness we could not have been happier to be there. A huge thank you to member Leh Keen for the invite.

With us for this trip was our 2008 997.1 GT3 Cup. Prior to heading on track, we made a pit stop with our partners at Goldcrest Motorsports. The car was due for a fluid flush and a once over after our test at BIR the weekend prior.

The stock rubber bushings in the suspension were found to be past their prime, which meant we had an opportunity to replace them with factory Porsche Motorsport solid mounts throughout. A significant upgrade that improves driver+car connection thus reducing lap times.

Fresh from service at Goldcrest, we arrived at Road Atlanta and were greeted by glorious Georgia fall weather, a welcome reprieve from the snow that was falling up north in MN when we left.

A pair of 997.1 GT3 cars – it doesn’t get much prettier than that for us. Leh Keen brought out his modified 2008 997.1 GT3RS for the event. The car is sick.

We were very much looking forward to seeing the Frog.0 light up the evening sessions.

It’d been years since we last run dry laps around Road Atlanta. In fact it was 2008, we were in town with the new Evo X running with NASA in the TT-A class. Good times!

With newfound sharpness to the car, it was only a few laps before we were up to speed. The car felt amazing, alive, and very quick. Lap times during the first day time sessions averaged in the mid-1:26s with traffic.

We’ll have to come back another time to make a run at a fast lap.

Before we knew it the sun had begun to set. The “modern classic” beauty of the 997.1 was on full display during golden hour. It seems 997.1s are hardly aging, still looking contemporary nearly 12 years on.

The purity of the 997.1 GT3 Cup is something special.

Leh’s 997.1 GT3RS takes it a step further. The widebody shell of the GT3RS becomes especially evident during golden hour. Look at how those GT2RS side skirts are soaking up every last bit of sun light.

We don’t have much in the form of photos from our time #underthelights, however this image does a nice job of conveying the serene nature of driving on track at night.

The headlights essentially force the driver to focus solely on what’s happening immediately in front of the car and nowhere else. With nothing more than a narrow path visible to the driver, it makes for an intense yet peaceful driving session.

We’ll have more footage from our time at Road Atlanta up on YouTube here soon. For now, turn down the lights and ride along for a lap around Road Atlanta #underthelights.

September 21st, 2020 – 311RS Motorsport celebrates a winning weekend at Round 4 of the SRO GT Sports Club America series at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, TX. Ryan Gates drove the #311 Porsche 911 GT2RS Clubsport to GT2 Class pole with a 2:10.48 lap time and secured GT2 Class wins in each of the two races during the weekend.

We would like to extend a special thank you to the entire 311RS Motorsport team for a great team effort during our trip to Circuit of the Americas. The car was setup with precision which allowed us to execute our program with efficiency on and off track. We look forward to finishing this season together on a high note at the 2020 season finale in Indianapolis.

In addition, 311RS Motorsport would like to thank Porsche Motorsport for the reliable 911 GT2RS Clubsport platform and on-site factory support throughout the weekend. SRO America deserves a thank you as well for hosting a safe and fun event, and finally Circuit of the Americas for providing all of us a pristine & safe facility for us all to race at.

Upcoming schedule – Ryan Gates is to campaign the 311RS Motorsport Porsche 911 GT2RS Clubsport at the season finale of the 2020 SRO America GT Sports Club at Indianapolis on October 2-4, 2020.

About 311RS Motorsport: Founded in 2011, 311RS Motorsport is a Porsche racing team and Porsche specialty workshop based in Minneapolis, MN USA. 311RS Motorsport prepares & supports factory Porsche race cars and delivers track developed, street prepared Porsche 911s for road and track use.

Official Press Release

Images courtesy of Peter Lapinski

In cooperation with Brainerd International Raceway, we hosted a private test for our GT2RS Clubsport & 991.2 GT3 Cup. In addition, we invited a small group of our road car clients to join us for some much-needed high speed therapy.

Participants were limited to a total of 10 as part of our agreement with the track and the local county attorney. Strict social-distance guidelines were adhered to and we are happy to report, nearly four weeks since the event, each one of us who attended remain free of COVID-19 symptoms.

Peter Lapinski was on hand to capture the scenes of our first test for 2020. We thank him for being there as we rolled out our GT2RS Clubsport for the first time, a huge milestone for our team. Please enjoy the following selection images from Peter and accompanying notes from the team.

The line up included: GT2RS Clubsport, 991.2 GT3 Cup, GT2RS, 991.2 GT3RS (x2) 991.2 GT3, 997.1 GT3, and a 996.2 GT3 (did not run).

The sun was hitting the GT2RS Gold BBS wheels just right.

The 311RS Porsche 911 GT2RS Clubsport followed by the 311RS Porsche 911 GT3 Cup on track together for the first time.

Our partners at Goldcrest Motorsports sent Blake White up for the test. He helped us get up to speed and ensured the test went smoothly. Thank you Blake & Goldcrest!

The GT2RS Clubsport absolutely ate up the track. Even during shakedown, the car was running faster laps than we had ever ran around BIR. A beast, as they say.

With nothing more than fuel & distilled water (for the intercooler sprayer system), the GT2RS Clubsport ran like clockwork. Here we see Ryan giving the underside of the car an ocular pat down after a session in the car.

It was a treat running the GT2RS road car and the GT2RS Clubsport together on track. While the road car is quite a bit faster in a straight line (it is tuned by M-Engineering making over 700whp), the Clubsport handily walked away from it over the course of a lap.

Two different vantage points through T9 – a turn that requires much respect from the driver.

Elsewhere on track, Jeff was up to speed out of the box in his 991.2 GT3 Cup. He’s tested the car at Sebring & COTA already this season, so on familiar territory at BIR he was very quick.

We look forward to working with this driver and car as the season progresses. The 991.2 GT3 Cup provides us an opportunity to understand and develop with Porsche’s latest Cup car platform. This experience will pay dividends for years to come.

Dan was pushing his 311RS-prepared 991.2 GT3RS to new limits during the test. He is picking up speed, and quickly. We are looking forward to seeing his development this season.

Tom was on hand in his gorgeous 311RS-prepared 997.1 GT3 consistent as usual. It’s always a pleasure seeing this car run.

A new driver for 311RS, John, was testing out his new 311RS-prepared 991.2 GT3RS for the first time. Fresh from an initial chassis setup, he was quick to improve, lopping multiple seconds from his lap times each session.

He’s due back into 311RS HQ for further upgrades along with our track aero & chassis setup. We are looking forward to seeing this & driver car develop.

Brandon was up to speed right away in his 311RS-prepared 991.2 GT3. We’ve been working with him for a season now, his progression in both speed and feedback have been great to see.

He’s now equipped with our safety package (roll bar, harnesses, and HANS device) and faster than ever while also being safer than ever.

Bruce was pounding laps in his GT2RS road car in between sessions in his GT2RS Clubsport. Hearing his feedback in back to back sessions was awesome, suddenly that GT2RS road car felt very much like a road car in comparison.

That’s it for now. Lots learned, with even more yet to learn. Until next time, Fear The Cheese!

Photos courtesy of Peter Lapinski

As delivered, the GT2RS Clubsport is one of the most aggressive and imposing things to ever come out of Stuttgart. Part of that look comes from the exposed carbon fiber throughout the car.

This is where we come in – with the aim to “complete” the look of the car.

As delivered to 311RS. Factory fresh. Exposed carbon fiber all around.

Wes from Motive Artworks rendered our vision and brought it to life. Here is a comparison between as delivered and 311RS. To us, the 311RS Porsche GT2RS Clubsport looks as though it could have came like that from the factory, which was ultimately the goal.

The first thing that needed changing were the wheels. Porsche created GT2RS Gold specifically for the 997 GT2RS in 2011, and continued it for the 991 GT2RS in 2018. We absolutely love the color and wanted to bring that aspect of the GT2RS to the GT2RS Clubsport.

There we go. A GT2RS, in our opinion, should always have GT2RS Gold wheels.

We’ll be running the car in PCA Club Racing and SRO GT Sports Club, both of which are officially partnered with Pirelli. On the road cars we exclusively run Michelin tires, however for the race cars, at least for the current series we operate in, Pirelli is the tire.

Fun fact: the GT2RS Clubsport runs the same size tire front and rear as the 991 GT3 Cup.

First test fit. We were feeling good about the combination!

On the ground and pure class. The Satin White Gold metallic gives the car life, and allows the BBS wheel design to be fully appreciated.

However, something had to be done about that exposed carbon fiber. More on that later.

With the wheels and tires sorted, we began to focus on preserving the car. Cory from Lifestyle Tint is our go to for ClearPlex install. These semi-permanent window films do a great job protecting the glass from debris.

We tend to go through 1 or 2 of these films per season, depending on driver. With the GT2RS Clubsport we aim to use just this one this season.

Onto the fun part – we partnered with Color X Labs to create a vinyl wrap that would match the exact color of our GT2RS Clubsport. They use the OEM Porsche paint code (Carrara White – B9A) to match the color, and further “tune” the color using a piece of the body work, in our case we sent them the fuel door.

And so it begins.

While we set out to “complete” the look of the car, that did not mean we cover all of the exposed carbon fiber. Instead, by covering a large portion of it and exposing portions of the carbon fiber, the result was accentuation of the ducting on the hood.

We love the look – adding aggression while simultaneously completing the hood. Note the beautiful color match of the vinyl to the factory painted bumper and fenders.

The idea to add white to the wing end plates was to give that rear wing a place on the car. It’s so large and so far back, with black end plates it can get visually lost from certain angles.

Along with a Porsche logo across the wing, the end plates completed our work back there and again looks as though it could have came that way from the factory.

Here we see the removable carbon decklid getting it’s helping of Carrara White vinyl wrap. We chose to leave the air intakes exposed (as is on the GT2RS road car) along with the backside of the duckbill – this gives some nice contrast in the rear while highlighting how much the piece acts as an aero device.

Also seen here is Elliott from Glisten Detailing – he worked through night to complete the car and did an amazing job executing all of the minute details we had for him. We cannot thank him enough for the dedication he showed to the project. Beers on us for the foreseeable future!!

Take a look at the amount of material used to cover the rear bumper. The GT2RS Clubsport is especially girthy back there.

Fear The Cheese – a hat tip to the legends at Matt’s Bar. We are proud to be from Minnesota and love the Jucy Lucy, so we felt it was a fitting tribute to where we come from and what we love.

And as such, the car will affectionately be known as Lucy to us here at 311RS. There is no doubt she will be a jucy one!

The roof would be the final portion we wrap in an effort to “complete” the car. Doing so required removing the emergency hatch – 8 quarter turn allen bolts and it was off. Very cool.

And the result is seen above. The car looks gorgeous, and every bit aggressive as when it was delivered. To us, the car is now visually “complete”.

The moment the car was finished (5:15a) it was loaded up. We had a 5:30a meeting time to head up to BIR for our first test with the car. Talk about just in time!!