Westbrook Takes Second In Daytona 24 Hours

Richard Westbrook, Britain’s leading Porsche racer, took a second-place finish in the legendary Daytona 24 Hours at the weekend.

Westbrook, who has been newly-contracted as a Porsche works driver, was one of four drivers aboard top American sportscar team The Racers Group’s leading Porsche 911 GT3 Cup racer. They finished second in the hotly-contested GT class, and were the best of the 25 Porsches that started the Florida marathon.

But even that was a disappointment to Londoner Westbrook who, along with American team-mates Andy Lally, Bryce Miller and Ted Ballou, was cruising to victory at the halfway mark.

“After 12 hours we were comfortably in the lead without even pushing,” said Westbrook. “But then we got this engine-cooling problem. Sand had been brought onto the track by cars going off course and rejoining. That started getting into the radiators and mixing with the water to form clay.

“The water and oil temperatures were going sky high, so we had to cut back and turn the engine down.

“Racing with that problem for 12 hours and then finishing second is a good result on reflection, although at the time we were bitterly disappointed because we should have won.”

Two-time Porsche Supercup champion Westbrook enjoyed his maiden outing with the TRG squad. “They are a really good team and I had strong co-drivers who all knew the event well. The race strategy was great and all the ingredients were there for a good result.

“It did seem, though, that as the only Brit in the team I did all my driving either at night or when it started to rain!

“It was a great race. Before our problems, every time I got out of the car we were in the lead. And our car must’ve been the only one without a scratch on it at the end – the rest of the field looked like they’d been in a stock-car race. There were so many battered cars with bumpers hanging off all over the place.”

Westbrook now looks forward to the announcement of his racing plans for the 2008 season with Porsche.