RFM Front Page News

Photos courtesy Jamie Longmuir 2007 BOWMANVILLE, Ontario Canada (August 24, 2007) — Wolf Henzler of Tafel Racing is well known to sports car fans around the world; he has driven virtually all the cars Porsche is currently racing, including one in the SPEED World Challenge (where he set identical times with Phil McClure in a Corvette in qualifying; McClure got the pole but Henzler won the hard-fought race), and he knows the marque so well that he is able to switch from one to the other in the same weekend with ease. Last season Henzler dazzled the American Le Mans fans with his work on the Flying Lizard Motorsport team; teaming with Johannes van Overbeek in the No. 45 Porsche, he earned his first career series victory at the Mid Ohio Sports Car Course, and provided the team with numerous podium finishes and a strong run toward the championship. Henzler started with the ALMS in the BAM! team with Mike Rockenfeller, finishing on the podium in only his second ALMS race and going overseas to the 24 Hours of Spa to grab second place in class there, too. Henzler and a Porsche are a symbiotic team indeed.

But he is under no illusions about the challenge Tafel Racing faces this weekend with the Risi Competizione Ferrari running so well. “The Ferrari is better balanced than our car,” he explained, “because their engine is at the midpoint of the car and ours is in the rear. And of course they have had two years to test their car and get it up to speed, and ours is new this year. Wet or dry, it is going to be a challenge for us to battle against the Ferrari. ” Not that he is finding this discouraging, mind you. Henzler is here to race, and he is looking forward to the unique track that is Mosport. “Mosport,” he said, “is like the European tracks used to be, before they were widened out for safety reasons. This track is much more unforgiving of errors than those tracks are now. Especially tricky are Turns 2 and 4 – they are very fast turns without much runoff, so when you go off you are going into a wall. Especially in Turn 2, when you come over the crest out of 1, the car gets light and loses grip which makes it difficult to drive. It can be a serious challenge especially for the slower cars.” Henzler has no particular preference for road courses over street courses, and although he has not driven on the Detroit course where the teams will head next weekend, he does not think it will be difficult to learn a street circuit from the ground. “I will have a chance to walk the track on Thursday,” he explained, “and that will give me a clear idea of the elevation and the turns, and where to turn in, that sort of thing. Then when I get in the car, it won’t be difficult to pick up speed.” Unlike some of the other drivers, Henzler does not drive the track on a simulator; he says that the simulator is only helpful to tell where the turns are, so “I would rather do it behind the wheel of the car, for real.” The competition in GT2 is the best of the four classes, and many things can happen in racing and usually they do. While the Ferrari will be a a worthy challenge, Henzler looks steadily forward as he always does, toward standing on the podium on Sunday afternoon. And whatever happens, you can be sure that Wolf Henzler will put on a show worthy of the ALMS, Porsche and, as Dr. Don Panoz will remind you, for the fans.

You cannot ask for more from a World Class Porsche driver than that.