In the motor world, one of the great goals of every private team is to achieve the greatest visibility to be an attractive platform for sponsors, something important for the structure to grow regardless of the capital contributions that can be done by the owners. Keeping it economical in a range of races is something complicated to achieve, and in that sense, the American AO Racing team competing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans He shows that achieving success is sometimes easier than one thinks. To dance ‘La Bamba’, you just need to put a pinch of grace In this case, imagination. And this is key leave the formality and average weight of car brands. Be original.
This is how it was born Rexythe car that every racing enthusiast knows. Because? For being fast? To win? Nope. It’s simple, because its decoration is a friendly dinosaur. PJ Hyett, co-founder of the AO Racing team, is aware that people may not know the name of his group. But what is clear is that American fans of IMSA (endurance event in the United States) and, since last year, fans of the World Endurance Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, know their cars.
“AO was a company I had before, and I just added ‘Race’ to the end. That’s part of the reason we had to do something fun with the decor, so people could really recognize what we do.”explained PJ Hyett, on the IMSA website.
The team introduced itself to the American public at IMSA with its debut in 24 Hours of Daytona 2023. First, they tried to attract attention by putting a Porsche 911 GT3R (992) in the race with a decoration awarded to the winner in 1983. And a few weeks later, Rexy was born, a Porsche decorated like a green dinosaur, inspired by those are cartoon characters Hyett was incorporated into the design of his helmet to please his children. And it quickly became a hit with fans.
Rexy is one of the most recognized and preferred cars by the public, a true bestseller that was also off the track, with merchandising dinosaur stuffed animals and t-shirts that flew. For this reason, they decided to make a move in the most legendary event in the world of fighting in its centennial edition. Rexy attended the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2023 and did so with a mascot dressed as a Tyrannosaurus Rex on the grid which also went viral chasing Charles Leclerc. A mascot MD was able to verify was one of the most sought-after characters in the run-up to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Everyone likes the photos included Rexy.
A madness born from the ideas of another co-founder of the team, Gunnar Jeannette. Hyett explained it this way: “Jeannette has a lot of marketing genius embedded in a racing driver. You have come up with a lot of these fun concepts. Gunnar thought: ‘People seem to like your helmet, so why don’t we try moving it to the car?’ It was really a simple idea, but then we implemented it at Sebring and people went crazy for it.
“For us, it’s a bit irreverent, but it’s okay to have fun. We take ourselves seriously when we’re in the car. We want to win. But if we have fans watching at home on television, it’s very easy to spot the dinosaur. No one knows what the hell AO Racing is, nor do they need to know what it is. They just need to know that when a green dinosaur or a purple dragon walks by, they recognize it.”. And no doubt, that made them great.
From Rexy to Spike
But Rexy is just the beginning. After that success, Rexy had her ‘firstborn’: Roxy. A pink Porsche 911 GT3 that competed in several IMSA events. And in 2024, the dinosaur ‘evolved’ into a dragon: it was born Spike, where AO Racing returns to the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2024. From the bronze class, the GT3, the team jumped into the silver category of the legendary French competing event LMP2 numbered #99, a prototype recognizable at first sight by its pink dragon ‘livery’ with orange wings.
As in 2023, this car was accompanied by a dragon mascot who delighted hundreds of visitors on the starting grid. Everyone who saw him wanted to take a picture with him. And of course, there was also the merchandising of dragon plushies and t-shirts. At the wheel is the co-founder PJ Hyettbronze driver (in LMP2 it is mandatory that each crew has at least one novice driver in the silver or bronze category) along with Louis Delétraz (former F2), and Alex Quinn. Spike is in good hands.
They didn’t invent anything
No matter how attractive the idea, the AO career He did not invent anything new. And this story is reminiscent of another one he starred in. Porsche at the 1971 24 Hours of Le Mans with its famous ‘Pink Pig’. After the creation of 917/20some of its rivals began to compare this car’s front air intakes to a pig’s nostril, so Porsche decided to use Le Mans with that car painted pink with a design formed by the marks of the cuts a butcher makes on a pig and their names in German. That’s where his nickname comes from: Pink Pig.
In the end, that car was unceremoniously abandoned, but for 180 laps it won everyone’s hearts and remains one of the most photographed and favorite cars of Porsche Museum fans. From a small pig, to a dinosaur. History repeats itself
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
