Peter Lapinski was on hand to witness the new “further-forward rear engine” 911 RSR during it’s second battle of 2017 – the 65th running of the Mobil1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

Coming off a convincing debut to start the season at Daytona, Sebring would present another great challenge for the new RSRs.

Porsche fought the good fight with the new RSR performing well. The #911 of Pilet, Makowiecki, and Werner was in contention for the GTLM class win right through the final hour.

With 59mins left to race, a long pit stop, a puncture, and lastly a dubious penalty all but ended the #911’s chances for the win. In the end Pilet drove the #911 to a hard-fought 7th place just ahead of the #912 in 8th.

The pace was good all the way to the end, just not luck. The pace is a great sign that the new RSR and it’s unique (for a 911) design is bound for success. We’ll be curious to see if this design ever makes it way into a 911 for road use.

A “further-forward rear engine” 911 GT3 sounds like an interesting idea. Will it happen? Time will tell…

Photos courtesy of Peter Lapinski.