Phoenix, AZ (May 13, 2006) The Marcus MotorSports car #49, a Porsche 3.6L 997, takes the checkered flag at the Grand American Cup GS race at Phoenix International Raceway. In preparation for Saturday’s race, the Marcus MotorSports team spent 2 days at Evolution MotorSports’ facility in Tempe. During that time, both cars underwent extensive diagnostic assessments resulting in computer calibrations by Garret Lim of GIAC to maximize the cars full potential. With GIAC’s reliable tuning and Evolution MotorSports’ V-Flow intake and tuning expertise, more measurable power was squeezed from the Marcus MotorSports #49 and #50 Porsche 997’s. This was accomplished by spending a day on each car, testing various setups to maximize power while maintaining reliability and fuel economy. Since the Grand American Cup is a very close series, every bit of HP counts.
Both Marcus MotorSports’ cars have been running consistent top 10 finishes with the skillful driving of Darren Law, Brian Cunningham, Spencer Pumpelly and Andy Lally. Most recently one of the cars conquered a 3rd place finish at Virginia International Raceway on April 22, 2006, building the confidence of the race team.

On Friday, May 12th, car #49 driven by Pumpelly and Lally qualified first with the fastest lap time (1:08391) being nearly a half a second faster than the nearest competitor (1:08758). Meanwhile car #50 driven by Law and Cunningham qualified eighth with a time of 1:0937. With both cars tuned to perfection and with their pole and 8th positions, cars #49 and #50 were perched in favorable positions heading into Saturday’s race.

Saturday’s race began with car #49 on the pole. Car #49 was instantly off to a sizable lead posting the fastest time on lap #2. At that point the drivers were advised to stay conservative as the race is 200 miles and the car does not need to be pushed to the limits. The #49 car lead from flag to flag recording its first win in the Grand Am Cup series in 2006. Skilful driving from Pumpelly and Lally, combined with fantastic car prep from Marcus MotorSports, tuning & components from Evolution MotorSports and GIAC as well as a tremendous effort from the entire Marcus MotorSports crew all played apart in this victory.

Drivers Law and Cunnigham in car #50, was a contender for a top three finish, however, following a shifter cable problem, the car was forced to pit earlier than expected. Consequently, the car lost three laps while the problem was addressed. Despite the shifter cable problem, the car still succeeded in placing in the top 10, with a respectable 8th place finish.

For those not familiar with the Grand AM GS series, these cars have a factory Porsche 3.6L power plant. Surprisingly to some people, these track cars are actually the same as Porsche’s 996/997 street car, utilizing the same components and technology. The race teams are able to modify the car for driver safety, reduce weight and perform suspension modifications. The 997 cars have to run stock brakes and stock headers but they can modify the ECU, air box and muffler/catalysts. These cars are producing about 350 HP with the modifications that were performed. The EVO V-Flow intake System and GIAC software were used in the majority of the top running cars. The EVO V-Flow was installed on at least 7 of the top teams that ran in the event on Saturday.

The nine months that was spent developing the V-Flow intake system for 996/997 was clearly worth the time and effort. Our dedication to perfection and never settling for sub-par performance has lead to race teams choosing the EVO V-Flow intake system for their race cars and street cars. These race teams require a performance advantage and top race teams only use the best technology available such as EVO’s V-Flow and GIAC’s software. These same products are available for all 1999-2006 996 and 997 models.


More information about this race can be found on the Grand American Website: http://www.grandamerican.com/News/Article.asp?ID=6429

 

Congratulations Todd,

That has to feel good when your hard work has been proven in a real race environment. I really like the Grand Am series because it's cars that are at performance levels that seem to be within reach for a regular person like me.

Can you please explain what else has been done to the car. Chip, Exhaust, suspension? Obviously they have stripped out the weight and I can find that spec on the rules.

Finally if you look on the picture where the rear decklid is lifted it looks like there is a square hole right above the V-flow that would supply it with cold air. Can you please confirm this?

Either way congratulations and keep up the good work for the Porsche crowd.

 

Thank you. The #49 997 has a stock 3.6L engine. with the following upgrades:

- EVO / GIAC custom computer calibration
- EVO V-Flow air intake
- Custom Exhaust with Catalyst Bypass Pipes
- NO AC

Chassis Upgrades:

- Synergy Racing Prepared Safety Roll Bar
- Lightweight - all carpet, bags, etc removed
- Ohlns Suspension / Upgraded Sway Bars
- 17" BBS Wheels
- OEM Brakes
- AIM Sportline MXL Pro Data Acquisition System
- Fuel system

You are correct regarding the square hole above the air filter. We had them block it off due to increased airflow above the filter causing turbulence and affecting the MAF reading.

This is a great series and it allows us all to see the potential of these great cars.

 

Very cool man.. very cool (pun intended). Best endorsement you could get.. well other than just about every Bay Area 996/997 using it

 

congrats guys!! that is awesome! I would get a EVO in take on my car..... but I plan on getting the EVO S/C kit next year and don't wanna waste the $$$$

 

Hehe Bruce.. I would too but hey an SC is going in so

 

excellent todd. it's great to see that the products we buy are race tested.

 

that is EXACTLY what i did when i had my evo v-flow, before my supercharger. i found out through dyno testing that when the decklid is closed it actually restricted some of the airflow and the vflow's potential could not be fully realized. so i cut a hole into the fiber glass decklid and voila, no restriction and more power. i didn't get any MAF problems todd was experiencing.

i miss the sound of the vflow. it has an amazing howl when you are on the revs.

 

Karlooz.. sorry your wing isn't big enough:P

 

LOL, i've got wing envy. just you wait, i've got one that's plenty big

 

Grin this should be good... Can't tell you how excited we are to get this car. Should make for a fun weekend track biatch!