Porsche Honour Brumos with Daytona Liveries
Following on from the ‘retro’ liveries run by Porsche’s 911 RSRs at last year's Le Mans 24-Hours, the German Marque is looking back to its illustrious race history once more this weekend with its two works entries at the 24 Hours of Daytona wearing Brumos Racing colours. In a further trubute, the disctictve blue and red striped on the cars are made up of the number '59' - the race number carried by Brumos cars to numerous successes.
The Brumos team from Jacksonville (USA) was active in the North American motor racing scene for over five decades. Claiming four overall victories at the Daytona endurance classic makes Brumos one of the most successful teams in the history of the race.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the Porsches of Brumos-Porsche were decked out in a distinctive yellow and orange. Their further successes, all of which were claimed after the arrival of sports car driver Peter Gregg and the associated name change to Brumos Racing, were achieved in the colours of white, red and blue.
The Porsche race cars from Brumos netted 15 titles and 48 race victories in the IMSA series. The squad proved formidable at its Daytona home race with triumphs in 1973 and 1975 (Porsche Carrera RSR) as well as in 1978 (Porsche 935/77) and 2009 (Riley Mk. XI with the Porsche 3.99-litre engine).
The Brumos name originates from the owner of a car dealership in Miami Springs. In 1955, Hubert Brundage was one of the first to field a Porsche vehicle in a racing series outside Europe. In the 1950s, his enterprise Brundage Motors had the telex address BRUMOS.
Not only did the colours of the team from Florida become the epitome of sports car successes, but also the starting number 59. Brumos co-owner Peter Gregg, also known as “Peter Perfect” in the American racing scene, achieved a total of 41 victories in the IMSA series at the wheel of his Porsche racing vehicles with the starting number 59.
Hurley Haywood, who joined forces with Gregg in the cockpit for the 1973 and 1975 outright Daytona wins, notched up four titles in the North American sports car series in the No. 59 car. With five overall victories at Daytona to his credit, the now 70-year-old from Chicago (USA) is the most successful Porsche driver at long-distance races. In the 1980s, Haywood was part of the management team at Brumos Racing an the American still represents Porsche as a brand ambassador.
“Brumos was a real icon in motor racing thanks to its many successes. The name was known around the world,” says Haywood. “No matter if we competed in Porsche sports cars or Daytona Prototypes with Porsche engines, Brumos was always one of the premier teams.”
