Porsche 997 GT4

Back in January the the Porsche 997 GT4 was announced as one of the eye-catchers of the new Dutch GT4 Championship and the car did exactly what was expected. In its first season in the new national GT4 championship the Porsche 997 GT4 clinched the title in the ultra-competitive Dutch championship.
Despite being one of the heaviest cars on the Dutch GT4 grid the PS Autosport, Team Bilderberg Porsche Eindhoven and Speedlover Porsches were in the winning mood from the word go taking pole positions and two race wins in the opening weekend. Having shown the capabilities in other series, the Porsche 911 proved to be a winner in GT4 as well throughout the season.
Being this competitive also meant the Porsche teams were hit with the inevitable ballast weight, at some point adding 100 kg to the base SRO weight of 1411 kg. But this penalty weight did not keep the Porsches from scoring top results. Five wins, eight second place finishes and eight third place finishes helped Christiaan Frankenhout, Paul van Splunteren and Bas Schothorst to take first, third (on par with second place) and fourth in the driver’s championship.
In its first season the Porsche 997 GT4 turned out to be the perfect rival for the Ford Corvette C6, Mustang FR500C, Ginetta G50 and Aston Martin Vantage that also competed in the Dutch GT4 Championship. Even in the races where the Porsches were not on the podium important points were scored, where rival teams left without points.

© InsightF1

With plans for more teams running the GT3.nl designed GT4 conversion kit in 2010, the Porsche should be able to at least match the results scored this season. Several teams in both The Netherlands as well as other European countries have shown interest in the conversion kit, which has the approval of Porsche AG. Due to the relatively low costs of the kit the Porsche 997 GT4 is not only an interesting choice of weapon due to its performance but also due to its costs.
Paul van Splunteren, the racing owner of Porsche Centrum Eindhoven sports department. GT3.nl: “It has been an exceptionally rewarding season. The Dutch GT4 championship is recognized as one of the most competitive GT championships with a significant number of national and international Dutch topdrivers. The quality of the participating teams as well as the attention of the media (print and TV) exceeded expectations. To win the championship with our car, the Porsche 997 GT4, is a great result. Our own car secured 3rd and 4th place in the championship and has been in contention until the very last race. I would like to thank our sponsor Bilderberg Hotels and our team Revs Motorsport, who operated our car during the season, for their support. We look forward to more outings in GT4 championships !!”