Roger Penske's full-season return to road racing with Porsche this year went - more or less - as planned. Penske Racing won the American Le Mans Series' LMP2 team and manufacturer championships with the Porsche RS Spyder as well as the drivers’ title with Sascha Maassen and Lucas Luhr. Despite winning seven of 10 races (a series record in LMP2), the Porsche RS Spyder and Penske faced a huge challenge from Intersport Racing.
The task for 2007 appears to be even more daunting with the addition of three Acura-powered P2s, along with revamped efforts from Intersport, van der Steur Racing and B-K Motorsports on the horizon. Here Penske looks back on this season - and ahead to 2007, when his team will use a new version of the RS Spyder...
Q:
Roger, how would you gauge your success this season?
Roger Penske:
I always wish we were racing in LMP1, but this keeps us on our toes. Long-distance racing really fits our shoes. We've had success at Indianapolis because you get to use your strategy. And it's about reliability. This year has been a real learning curve for us because you have to run 12 hours at a place like Sebring to be successful.
Q:
Have you seen the new Porsche RS Spyder?
RP:
I've seen all the technical drawings of the car and have seen all the pictures. I haven't been to Weissach to see it. We felt we needed to stay focused on the current RS Spyder. The new car was shown at the Paris Auto Show which we thought was an exciting thing to let people see it for the first time. But we have strong competition coming in next year with teams like Andretti-Green and Fernandez. We're going to have a real fight on our hands.
