For the 2010 season ProSpeed Competition is entering two brand new Porsche 911 GT3 R in the FIA GT3 European Championship. The Finnish duo Markus Palttala and Petri Lappalainen as also the Austrian driver Niki Lanik, winner of the FIA GT3 Porsche Manufacturer's Cup with ProSpeed in 2009, are the drivers withheld.

The FIA GT3 European Championship is now entering its fifth year and with each year the championship grows in appearance and sporting importance. In addition to Porsche we come across almost all other prestige makes in this championship, with amongst others Ferrari, Lamborghini, BMW, Jaguar, Aston Martin and Corvette, not forgetting such exclusive exotics as Morgan, Ford GT or Alpina. The FIA GT3 European Championship is comprised of six meetings, of which four held jointly with the brand new World Championship for GT1s, and with in each case two races of 60 minutes. It goes without saying that these races are fought out on a knife’s edge; “In the previous seasons the championship decider never fell before the final race, an indication of the sporting and technical level of the European Championship for GT3s”, Luc Goris, the technical director of ProSpeed Competition, emphasised.

Porsche won the European title in 2006, “and we want to achieve this once more”, an ambitious Rudi Penders commented. “We are therefore calling on fast drivers, with in one Porsche 911 GT3 R a full Finnish team: Markus Palttala and Petri Lappalainen. Niki Lanik, who drove for us last year, has every intention of getting behind the wheel of the other Porsche 911 GT3 R. We are presently looking at various other avenues to find another fast driver to join him. Niki has now obtained the ‘Silver’ category and another ‘Silver’ would be the most appropriate option, notwithstanding the fact that there are also some good ‘Bronze’ drivers. During the recent test days at Paul Ricard Niki clocked up some top times and is aiming high in this championship.”

Last season Markus Palttala competed in the last meeting in Zolder with Petri Lappalainen and this collaboration is now being extended. Markus Palttala: “Petri was my team manager in the Finnish GT championship and has been competing for years with Porsche in the Scandinavian GT championship as also the Scandinavian Carrera Cup. I’m fully convinced that he’ll turn up trumps. ProSpeed Competition and Porsche is the best combination for us, especially with the new Porsche 911 GT3 R, which is far easier to handle than its predecessors, and I think that we have every opportunity of achieving excellent results.”

Niki Lanik also confirmed this opinion. “The new car is far more stable and allows for far more when trying to discover its limits. Porsche has truly produced some great work and I’m convinced that with this new Porsche 911 GT3 R you can cause quite some damage in such a prestigious competition as the FIA GT3 European Championship.”