At the Sebring 12 hour race, the new Porsche 911 GT3 RSR celebrated a successful race premiere. At the wheel of the 911 fielded by the Felbermayr-Proton team, Porsche works drivers Marc Lieb (Germany), Richard Lietz (Austria) and Patrick Pilet (France) secured second place in the GTE Pro class at the long distance classic in Florida and with this made a very promising start into the new World Endurance Championship.

"Second place is a great result. Right from the start, our new 911 GT3 RSR was reliable and that's very positive," said Marc Lieb. "But we lacked the speed to win off our own bat." Richard Lietz, who had to start from the back of the field because the cockpit temperature of his Porsche in qualifying was one degree over what was permitted, said, "I'm very satisfied with how the race went. For twelve hours our 911 ran without the slightest technical problem. Which is, of course, not something you take for granted at the first race with a new car."

Indian racing sensation Karun Chandhok’s JRM team continued their fine form in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) opening round at Sebring, USA after qualifying in 5th position for the iconic 12 Hour Race.

The Honda Performance Development (HPD ARX 3a) car has shown progress from the first testing session and continued that form into qualifying as well. A delighted Karun said, "The team is working really well as a unit and I'm glad I've been able to settle into the incredible world of Sportscars this quickly. It feels great to also be competing at the front end of such an elite field and be able to put in some consistently good times for the team. I'm looking forward to my first endurance race in the WEC and to be the first Indian to take the start-line at the iconic Sebring Raceway is definitely an honour".

The Go-Ahead Group and Williams Hybrid Power (WHP), a subsidiary of Williams Grand Prix Engineering, have signed a ground breaking agreement to develop a flywheel energy storage application for use in buses. Go-Ahead and Williams Hybrid Power have agreed to work together to develop and produce six prototype buses with a retrofitted hybrid flywheel system, providing electro mechanical energy to drive the bus and deliver substantial improvements to fuel economy and reductions in CO2 emissions.

Williams Hybrid Power has been at the forefront of hybrid flywheel systems within motor racing, originally developing it for the Williams Formula One car and providing systems to Porsche for the 911 GT3 Hybrid and recently Audi for the R18 e-tron Quattro that will compete at this year's Le Mans 24 hour race. The company is now making the technology available to applications such as hybrid buses, hybrid passenger vehicles, electric trains, rapid transit systems and smart grid infrastructure to meet their high power energy storage needs, save fuel and reduce emissions.

With an array of new features, Porsche has made the Carrera Cup Deutschland even more appealing in its 23rd year. The new package includes two races per weekend, classifications for private drivers and rookies as well as more prize money. The calendar consists of very attractive events, with the Hockenheimring hosting the season-opener on 27-29 April. Nine race weekends make up the calendar, eight of which are run traditionally as support to the DTM and one at the Nürburgring 24 hour meeting run on the combination of the Grand Prix circuit and the Nordschleife.

Two sprint races instead of one make up each round – giving drivers more track time and providing more action for drivers, teams and spectators alike. Race one on Saturday runs over approximately 60 kilometres, with Sunday's race over an 80 kilometre distance remaining the same. A new incentive is now offered with the creation of a B-classification for amateur drivers as well as a rookie classification for new-comers up to 25 years old.