According to recent paleontological studies, the Tyrannosaurus Rex was not a fast creature, with a potential top speed of 16km/h. Rexy, the current protagonist in the IMSA GTD PRO Class, is much faster.
Rexy, bright green, with a serrated grille for a mouth and tiny arms on the door panels, is a Porsche 911 GT3-R or, as it is affectionately known, a 911 GT3 Rawr.
He is joined by a twin sister named Roxy and a purple dragon LMP2 car called Spike, all three liveries designed by the AO Racing team. For obvious reasons, the reptilian trio have made an indelible impression on the paddock and fans over the past two years. Their story begins with a cartoonish helmet design and friendly competition with a unicorn named Sparklefarts.
AO Racing is a relatively new name in the sportscar paddock, having formed in late 2022 when co-founders PJ Hyett and Gunnar Jeannette wanted to enter the IMSA SportsCar Championship season.
For the first races in January – the 2023 Roar Before the 24 and the 24 Hours of Daytona – AO Racing raced a Type-992 Porsche 911 GT3 R in a livery that was quite near and dear to the hearts of both owners: their #80 car bore the same paint scheme as the Porsche 935 that won the 1983 24 Hours.
A car that, not coincidentally, is now owned by Hyett. Jeannette, who is also Team Principal of AO Racing, also has a personal connection, as her father worked on that winning 935. But the team really wanted its own livery for the remainder of the 2023 season.
The helmet that inspired it all
Photo by: Porsche
Inspiration came in the form of the custom helmet Hyett wore to race at Daytona, designed to keep his kids close to him on the track. One side featured a prehistoric dinosaur scene for his dinosaur-obsessed son; the other had a “fantastic unicorn” for his daughter.
The team was looking for a livery that would appeal to kids and Porsche fans, but Flying Lizard’s Lamborghini Super Trofeo had run the 2022 season with a pink unicorn jokingly nicknamed “Sparklefarts.” AO settled on a dinosaur theme, specifically a T-Rex.
With the help of designer TJ Harley, a friend of the team, comes Rexy, the bright green #80 Porsche 911 GT3 Rawr that debuted at the 2023 Sebring race.
Harley’s design used the GT3’s unique, flowing body lines to accentuate Rexy’s dinosaur features: flared rear fenders were its flanks, its small T-Rex arms flanked the door handles, and the front end was a cartoonishly flattened dinosaur face, with green-tinted headlights as its eyes and a low grille that perfectly matched Rexy’s toothy grin.
This was not a car that would get lost on the track during practice, qualifying and the 12-hour race over the rough bumps of Sebring International Raceway. I was in the crowd that weekend and remember smiling every time it passed.
Rexy arrived in the paddock accompanied by an adorable cartoon mascot, stickers for everyone, and a team member in a green inflatable dinosaur costume giving high fives (as high as a T-Rex can).
Roxy arrived later in the year. As a partner to the Project 1 team in the WEC, AO needed two Porsche GT3s on the track at the same time. Instead of using two Rexys, they came up with her sister: Hyett’s daughter chose the hot pink color and the blue and purple claws.
Roxy made her debut at the 2023 Michelin GT Challenge at Virginia International Raceway and the Battle of the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, almost perfectly timed to Hyett’s daughter’s birthday, replacing Rexy who raced with the Project 1 team at Fuji and Le Mans.
Spike, AO Racing’s LMP2 car on track.
Photo by: AO Racing
The Prehistoric family has grown to three for the 2024 season, as the team expanded its commitments with a second full-time car in IMSA’s LMP2 class.
The problem was finding a creature that, as Kelly Brouillet, the team’s public relations manager, explained, “fitted into the complicated body of the LMP2 and wouldn’t intimidate children.”
It took several iterations of color schemes, wings, tails and teeth before a purple Spike dragon debuted at Daytona in January for the team’s first IMSA anniversary.
2024 was also the year of a “promotion” for Rexy: AO moved up to the GTD PRO class for the season, at the same time as Pfaff’s Porsche left the category.
The move has worked for Rexy and the team: AO’s bright green T-Rex also leads the class in points, with wins this season at Laguna Seca and Detroit. Rexy has earned a gold tooth for each win, a quirky addition inspired by fan comments on the team’s social media.
Fans getting autographs at AO Racing’s paddock.
Photo by: Porsche
“For many years, the most popular non-factory team in the IMSA paddock, based on the autograph lines, has been Corvette Racing, which continues to draw a huge crowd,” says Nate Siebens, IMSA communications director. “But Rexy and Spike, and Roxy when she shows up, have certainly made a splash in the paddock.”
And they certainly made an impression at Porsche. Volker Holzmeyer, President and CEO of Porsche Motorsport North America, said AO Racing created something special: an identity that sparked fan interest, captured the attention of younger fans, and was backed by on-track performances that turned Roxy, Rexy and Spike into adult favorites.
Driving around a track during an IMSA race weekend, it’s impossible not to notice the impact of AO Racing’s technicolor Jurassic presence: Mascot-covered merchandise is everywhere, while fans wave bright white AO Racing flags or plush versions of their favorite character. Some fans show up in inflatable dinosaur suits.
Rexy and Roxy are available for sale in Hot Wheels diecast form, the result of a deal that began during Rexy’s first IMSA season in 2023.
There was no Rexy at VIR last weekend for the Michelin GT Challenge, but Roxy returned to fill in for her brother in the GTD PRO class, in all her pink dinosaur glory.
And with two races remaining, it is entirely possible that the end of the IMSA season could see a return to the top of the food chain for Tyrannosaurus Rex as AO Racing eyes a potential championship title.
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