Lately, Porsche has been obsessed with setting records. A global tour of the 919 EVO has been making headlines, setting records at the Nürburgring, Laguna Seca, and Spa. Perhaps a little more under the radar they’ve had the production 911 GT2 RS out and about as well. The GT2 RS, Porsche’s production monster, puts down an impressive 700 horsepower, which makes it an excellent candidate to dominate at one legendary track in particular.

Porsche brought Mark Donohue out to Road America in April of 2019. He laid down an eye-watering 2:15.17 on Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R tires. Road America doesn’t keep records on production cars, but the previous record, held by a Dodge Viper ACR (2:20) was broken by Bryan Sellers for a PCA article and video last year with a time of 2:17.04, on Pirelli Trofeo R tires. The 2:15:17 was the new benchmark for a production car at one of the fastest tracks in the US.

PCA visited Road America this weekend again, to run a comparison between a 911 GT2 RS Clubsport and a 991.2 GT3 Cup Car for an upcoming article in Porsche Panorama and online video. With the cars lined up on the false grid, an extra car pulled up behind them. Ryan Gates, owner of 311RS, surprised us when his car showed up. He was at the track for an upcoming PCA Club Racing weekend, so his team packed up their lightly modified black GT2 RS and brought it down from Minneapolis, just to have a go.

In pursuit of transparency, 311RS’s GT2 RS was lightly modified, so the comparison isn’t apples to apples with Porsche’s record, which used a stock GT2 RS. The 311RS car had a custom engine tune by Mitch McKee, giving the car an additional 60 wheel horsepower; a chassis setup/alignment by 311RS; a custom roll bar fabricated in chromoly to mimic the factory piece (which is available through 311RS); and a Manthey Racing distilled water tank, the capacity of which is about three times the stock tank.

Click here to read the full article: https://www.pca.org/news/2019-09-03/video-modified-porsche-911-gt2-rs-sets-blazing-lap-time-road-america-leh-keen

Article by Kris Clewell
Thumbnail photo by Peter Lapinski