The No. 99 GridRival/GNARLY Jerky/de Boulle Porsche 911 GT3 R Carried the Hardpoint Foursome to a Competitive Finish Despite Damage and Time in the Garage
DAYTONA BEACH, Florida (January 30, 2022) – Hardpoint completed the 60th edition of the Rolex 24 At Daytona on Sunday afternoon in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season-opener with an 10th-place finish that didn’t reflect the ultimate on-track pace of the team’s No. 99 GridRival/GNARLY Premium Jerky/de Boulle Diamond & Jewelry Porsche 911 GT3 R.
The final 10th position came with just minutes to spare in the race, moving around a class car that that had recently retired with three minutes to go and grinding to the finish 35 laps behind the GTD leader. Hardpoint had spent time early in the race running in the top five but was forced to the garage early Saturday evening for repairs, setting them back in the field.
Co-drivers Rob Ferriol, Katherine Legge, Stefan Wilson and Nick Boulle began the race in 14th position in the 22-car GT Daytona (GTD) class with Boulle behind the wheel. Over the course of his two-hour stint on Saturday afternoon, Boulle improve to 11th before handing the car over to Wilson for the next leg of the race.
Wilson continued the team’s climb during his double stint, moving comfortably into the top five and reaching as high as second in the standings as a round of pit stops cycled through. That run through the field was Wilson’s debut in the classic 24-hour race, in part through a partnership with Hardpoint and Cusick Motorsports that will see Wilson join the Legge and Ferriol for all Michelin Endurance Cup races in 2022.
The early promise faded quickly just after the six-hour mark, however. Still running competitive lap times, now with Ferriol behind the wheel, the Hardpoint Porsche 911 GT3 R ran to the inside of a Prototype 2 class car that was 10 laps off the pace and had run wide in turn three. The Prototype and Ferriol made side-to-side contact, damaging the splitter, front right damper and bending the steering rack, which forced the team to the garage for a one hour and 15-minute repair.
Despite a tremendous effort by the Hardpoint crew, the unscheduled work left the team 37 laps down and in 17th place when they returned to the track.
The team and drivers went back to work, running lap times matching their earlier top-five pace, led by Legge’s team-best 1:45.895 (121.025 mph). The combined effort throughout the night and into Sunday afternoon saw the team make up six additional spots to land in the top 10 at the finish with 672 laps completed for a total of 2,392.32 miles.
Hardpoint returns to action with season-long drivers Ferriol and Legge, along with Wilson, in the No. 99 GridRival/GNARLY Premium Jerky/de Boulle Porsche 911 GT3 R for another historic endurance race, the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring at Sebring International Raceway, March 16 – 19.
Hardpoint Quote Board
Rob Ferriol, Driver and Hardpoint Owner, No. 99 Porsche 911 GT3 R: “We’d be a DNF if it weren’t for the guys and gals behind the wall here. We lost 30 laps after the incident with the P-car and they put it back together. They replaced shocks, splitters, bumpers, diffusers, the steering rack, and got us back out on track so that we could fight and got it back up to P10. At the end of the day, it’s their P10 and their finish. In stick and ball sports, plays can change the momentum of the game. But in racing, one single moment, one error, can change the entire outcome of the race. We had a great car, we had a great lineup, everyone was competitive, and we were very racy. Unfortunately, the incident last night put us behind and I think without that we would have had a really good position. We’ll take that P10 and the positives that come with it and roll on to Sebring.”
Stefan Wilson, Driver, No. 99 Porsche 911 GT3 R: “You have to reset expectations when things happen like that in the middle of the night. I’m really happy with the ability to experience this event and also use it as much as possible as a learning exercise for myself. From where I started this event to where I finished, I learned a ton about driving this Porsche 911 GT3 R and I’m excited to take that experience on to future events. The team did an amazing job and really put us into contention straight away, the car was handling amazing, we just had some bad luck. What was amazing was the bounce back the team had, repairing the car and showing some grit to come back and take a top 10. We cut it close but to get it in the last few laps was special.”
Katherine Legge, Driver, No. 99 Porsche 911 GT3 R: “This showed the promise and how much we had grown since last year because we were fast. If we hadn’t sustained the damage we could have been in with a shot at the podium and the win. So I’m disappointed for that but really impressed with Rob’s pace. Especially his last couple of stints, he was doing the same pace as the leaders and that’s really good news, too. This team fights and they never give up and I think we’ll show them at some point soon what we’re made of and what we’re capable of.”
Nick Boulle, Driver, No. 99 Porsche 911 GT3 R: “The team worked so hard leading up to the race and then all night. Tire guys, fuel guys, they really did a good job and no one made a mistake that cost us a significant amount of time. It’s bittersweet because it was a great top 10, but there was a result in this if we had kept it clean. Hopefully we’ll take this experience on to something bigger the next time and come home with some hardware in the future.”
About Hardpoint:
Hardpoint was founded by Rob Ferriol in 2018 with the vision of combining his experience as a successful entrepreneur with his passion for racing. Headquartered at VIRginia International Raceway, the team captured the 2021 Porsche Carrera Cup North America Pro-Am championship in its inaugural season and competes full-time in the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship in a Porsche 911 GT3 R with co-drivers Ferriol and Katherine Legge. More information on Hardpoint can be found at www.hardpoint.com or through its strong social media presence on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
