Porsche Archives - 311RS

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After 9 years operating in our original 2,900sq/ft location, the dividing wall between Unit C & Unit D has been removed and we are proud to announce the expansion of 311RS HQ – now with twice the floorspace.

 

We have added 24 storage spaces for members to safely store their vehicles. Please download this document for further information about storing your vehicle(s) at 311RS HQ.

– 24 storage spaces total – 8 spaces remaining as of 11/30/23

In addition to storage, we have built an overhead mezzanine for our members to enjoy. This space is useful in many ways, from watching an F1 race to hosting a meeting, it also offers stunning views of the cars below.

 

We have plenty more to share in the next few weeks, but first it is officially storage season in MN – download the document here to learn more about what 311RS HQ has to offer. 

To reserve a space or to become a 311RS HQ member, send us an email at info@311RS.com or call (612) 547-9311.

2022 Photo of the Year + memorable moments from this season.

311RS Motorsport Porsche 911 992 GT3 Cup Camden Thrasher Laurin Heinrich Leh Keen Greg Fordahl

The photo of the year is the culmination of two years of teamwork – our first win & best team finish in PCCNA at the Road Atlanta season finale. We didn’t know it at the time but this would be Greg’s final race, he went out a winner.

311RS Motorsport Porsche 911 992 GT3 Cup Camden Thrasher Laurin Heinrich Leh Keen Greg Fordahl

The second photo captures Greg in his element – on grid just before going green. His energy in these moments calmed and motivated us all. This photo is all time, thank you Camden Thrasher.

311RS Motorsport Porsche 911 992 GT3 Cup Camden Thrasher Laurin Heinrich Leh Keen Greg Fordahl

The third photo was taken at sunrise pre-Sebring test – a retro style shot used to announce our partnership with Deluxe. This style photo is classic Porsche and will always be a personal favorite for the sense of occasion and simplicity.

311RS Motorsport Porsche 911 992 GT3 Cup Camden Thrasher Laurin Heinrich Leh Keen Greg Fordahl

From here, we have the first PCCNA street race at Long Beach, “Double Deluxe” at Road America followed by the epic rain start of Race 2 a day later. The big red X of Dimitri’s #11 on the front row!

This photo captures the moment after Leh’s final race for the team at Indy. His contribution to the team is beyond words and means the world to us, we’ll cheeRS to that.

Leh’s move was part of our plan to introduce Porsche Junior Laurin Heinrich as driver of #12 for the season finale. He delivered on every level and we’re proud to call he & Sophie friends. His performance was one for the ages, overcoming a brake failure to fight another day and capture our first win.

As we look to the new year, these moments (and so many more) will motivate us while we pause for 2023. Greg Fordahl left massive shoes to fill, so we take this time to regroup and game plan in order to honor him on our next mission. 

Thank you to every individual & partner that have made these past two seasons in PCCNA a success. We can’t tag everyone! Best of luck to each PCCNA team & driver in 2023, we’ll be watching!! It’s not goodbye, but see you later.

-Ryan Gates, Team Principal 311RS Motorsport.

Today we woke up to the terrible news of Greg Fordahl’s passing.

He was our Team Engineer, but was so much more than that. Greg was an absolute legend in the sport having won just about everything in sports car racing. He was a class act and always had a great story to tell and wisdom to share.

311RS Motorsport Greg Fordahl

Greg was a founding member of our team and we’ll be forever grateful to him for the mark he left on all of us. Our final memory with Greg was at Road Atlanta where he orchestrated an amazing comeback to win the last race of the season, our first as a team.

Forever a winner, RIP Greg Fordahl.

Click this Link to full gallery of Greg Fordahl with 311RS Motorsport.

February 19th, 2021 – 311RS Motorsport traveled to Atlanta, GA to pick up the first two Porsche 911 (992) GT3 Cup cars ahead of the inaugural Porsche Carrera Cup North America season.

311RS Motorsport had Camden Thrasher (images) and Tangent Vector (film) on hand to capture the monumental day for the team.

Driver #11 – Ryan Gates – “Today was a surreal experience. The first thing I noticed was the smell in the warehouse, 23 Porsche 911 (992) GT3 Cup cars together in one room smell very good – a mix of racing fuel, paint, & glue. The next thing that caught my attention was the wide front-end of the 992 and all of the aerodynamic advancements.

It was immediately clear that Porsche Motorsport had worked very hard to deliver a faster, more capable GT3 Cup than ever before. I have dreamt of one day picking up a brand new factory Porsche race car, but never two!! Today it all became real, and now we get to work.”

Driver #12 – Leh Keen – “Not all days are created equal. I am honored to be a part of 311RS Motorsport’s 2021 Porsche Carrera Cup North America program. Porsche have taken the GT3 Cup to another level. I am proud to have my name on this beautiful new Porsche race car, so ready to get to know it and go racing with 311RS Motorsport.“

February 18th, 2021 – 311RS Motorsport enters the inaugural Porsche Carrera Cup North America season with two Porsche 992 GT3 Cups.

Sportscar champion Leh Keen joins 311RS Motorsport alongside Ryan Gates to complete the team’s 2021 driver lineup.

311RS Motorsport is lead by Jeff Majkrzak and Bruce Gates, both of which are driven by the goal to win with the Porsche brand.

Please visit our dedicated 311RS Motorsport website and follow along on Instagram & Facebook.

Download official press package here.

 

Before posting our season in review update, we were curious to see how our season in SRO GT Sports Club GT2 Class looked “by the numbers”. It was a season of firsts for the team, so we added up the numbers to find out how it all came to be. 

  • Cars: 1 – 2019 Porche 911 GT2RS Clubsport #85/200
  • Tracks: 4 – VIR, Sonoma, Road America, COTA
  • Races: 8
  • Pole positions: 8 (100%)
  • Avg. gap to P2 – Qualifying: 1.49 sec
  • Wins: 8 (100%)
  • Avg. gap to P2 – Race: 31.63 sec
  • Laps led: 158/159 (99.4%)
  • Fastest laps: 8 (100%)
  • Points: 200 (100%)
  • Avg. race pace: 95.91mph / 154.35kph
  • Race mileage: 518.67 miles / 834.71 kilometers
  • On-track mileage: 2,152 miles / 3,463.31 kilometers
  • Pirelli tires used – 72 tires, split equally 36 front & 36 rear
  • Total race fuel used: 491 gallons / 1,858.64 liters
  • Brembo brake rotor & pad sets used: 2
  • Motul 300V 0W-40 oil changes: 6 / 51qts total
  • Pro-Tint windshield tear offs – 1 of 4
  • Miles driven to & from races: 9,352 miles / 15,050.59 kilometers
  • Hours on the road: 154 hours
  • States driven through: 24
  • GT2 Class Championships: 1 (100%)

311RS Porsche 911 991 GT2RS Clubsport by Peter Lapinski

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. 

2008 311RS Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 Cup at Goldcrest Motorsports

2008 311RS Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 Cup at Goldcrest Motorsports

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. 

2008 311RS Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Ryan Gates

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. 

2008 311RS Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Ryan Gates Leh Keen Green GT3RS

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. 

2008 311RS Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Ryan Gates

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.

2008 311RS Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Ryan Gates Road Atlanta

2008 311RS Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Ryan Gates Leh Keen Green GT3RS Road Atlanta

2008 311RS Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Ryan Gates Leh Keen Green GT3RS Road Atlanta

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.

2008 311RS Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Ryan Gates Road Atlanta sunset BBS E88

The purity of the 997.1 GT3 Cup is something special.

2008 311RS Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3RS Leh Keen Green Road Atlanta sunset 997.1

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. 

2008 311RS Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Ryan Gates Road Atlanta

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.

Ride along with Ryan Gates as he and his father, Bruce Gates, spend the final session of 2020 lapping BIR together.

311RS Porsche 911 997.1 GT3 Cup and  991 GT2RS Clubsport by Peter Lapinski

Ryan is driving the 311RS Motorsport Porsche 997.1 GT3 Cup and Bruce is driving the 311RS Motorsport Porsche 991 GT2RS Clubsport.

311RS Porsche 911 997 GT3 Cup and 991 GT2RS Clubsport by Peter Lapinski

Neither car was running fresh tires so this was all about having fun together and enjoying the gorgeous fall weather at BIR. By the 4th lap you’ll see Bruce fly past down the front straight in the GT2RS Clubsport. You can almost feel the power. 

 

-Drivers: Ryan Gates & Bruce Gates

-Cars: Porsche 997.1 GT3 Cup & Porsche 991 GT2RS Clubsport – both prepared by 311RS Motorsport

-Track: Brainerd International Raceway

-Fastest Lap: 1:35.3 (997.1 GT3 Cup)

Ride onboard with Ryan Gates during Qualifying at Round 4 of the SRO GT Sports Club at Circuit of the Americas. The 2:10.5 lap was enough for pole position in GT2 Class and set a qualifying record for GT2 Class.

Driver: Ryan Gates

Car: 311RS Motorsport Porsche 911 GT2RS Clubsport

Lap time: 2:10.5

Track: Circuit of the Americas

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.

311RS Porsche 911 991 GT2RS Clubsport by Peter Lapinski

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. 

311RS Porsche 911 991 GT2RS Clubsport by Peter Lapinski

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.

311RS Porsche 911 991 GT2RS Clubsport by Peter Lapinski

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