Proton Competition and their leap across the pond.

Motorsport fans watching the starting signal for the 24 Hours of Daytona go off this weekend won’t have to go without the Porsche 911 RSR in the IMSA. Thanks to a team from Swabia.

Daytona. A name as illustrious as the traditional classic among the 24-hour races. And this is where this coming weekend the adventure starts for Christian Ried and the Proton Competition Team. Together with their partner WeatherTech, after a long phase of planning, they dare to face the adventure “IMSA”. “It’s a special kind of challenge to start our first season in a classic location such as Daytona and in a highly competitive championship on top of that. We’ve worked long and hard for this moment, and I’m excited to be here now,” he says. The experienced team from Ummendorf in Swabia will be fielding the Porsche 911 RSR in the upcoming IMSA season. And it will be manned by the prominent factory drivers Gianmaria Bruni, Kévin Estré and Richard Lietz.

So, there’s one more reason for all Porsche Motorsport fans to have a reminder for the IMSA at the ready. The team has quite a full plate for their first year in the US American race series. At Proton, they know a thing or two about racing. And about winning races. Team boss Christian Ried reveals with a smile, “Everyone in the team is bursting with motivation and ready to prove to the Americans that somewhere in Swabia, there’s a small but mighty team that knows how to win a race.”

We had a talk with Christian Ried right before the race premiere at the edge of the track. To read the entire short interview, continue here.