According to recent paleontological research, the Tyrannosaurus Rex was not a quick animal – its top running speed was potentially only 10 miles per hour. The Rex, the present overall leader in GTD Pro IMSA, is way, much faster.
Rexy, vivid green with a jagged grille for a snout and tiny arms on the door panels, is a Porsche 911 GT3 R — or, as he’s affectionately called, the 911 GT3 Rawr. He’s joined by Barbie’s twin sister Roxy and a purple LMP2 dragon automotive called Spike — and together, the three distinctive liveries form the AO Racing team. For obvious reasons, the reptilian trio have made an indelible impression on the paddock and its fans over the past two years. And their story begins with a cartoon helmet design and a friendly rivalry with a unicorn named Sparklefarts.
AO Racing is a comparatively recent name within the sports automotive paddock, having come about in late 2022 when co-founders PJ Hyett and Gunnar Jeannette were seeking to compete within the IMSA Weathertech SportsCar Championship season. For the primary races in January — the 2023 Roar Before the 24 and the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona — AO Racing fielded a Porsche Type-992 Porsche 911 GT3 R with a livery that was pretty near and dear to each owners’ hearts: Their No. 80 automotive sported the identical livery because the Porsche 935 that won the 1983 Rolex 24. A automotive that, not coincidentally, is now owned by Hyett. Jeannette, who can be the team principal at AO Racing Porsche, also had a private connection, as his father worked on that championship-winning 935. But the team really desired to have its own livery for the remainder of the 2023 season.
The helmet that inspired every part
Photo: Porsche
The inspiration got here from a custom helmet Hyett wears while racing his Rolex, designed to maintain his kids near him on the track. One side featured a scene of a prehistoric dinosaur for his son, who’s fascinated by dinosaurs; the opposite had a “fancy unicorn” for his daughter. The team pushed for a paint job that children and Porsche fans would love — however the Super Trofeo Lamborghini Flying Lizard ran the 2022 season dressed as a pink unicorn, jokingly named “Sparklefarts.” So AO turned to a dinosaur theme; specifically, a T-Rex.
With the assistance of designer TJ Harley, a friend of the team, Rexy, the brilliant green No. 80 Porsche 911 GT3 Rawr debuted on the 2023 Sebring race. Harley’s design used the GT3’s uniquely rounded body lines to emphasise Rexy’s dinosaur features: its flared rear fenders were hindquarters, its little T-Rex arms flanked the door handles, and the front was a cartoonishly flattened dinosaur face with green headlights as eyes and a low grille perfectly matched Rexy’s toothy grin. This was not a automotive you’ll miss on the track during practice, qualifying, and the 12 hours of racing on the unforgiving bumps of Sebring International Raceway. I used to be there in the group that weekend, and I remember smiling each time it passed.
Rexy arrived on the pasture accompanied by a super-cute cartoon mascot, stickers for everybody, and a teammate in an identical green inflatable dinosaur costume who gave him high-fives (if a T-rex can do this).
Roxy arrived later that yr. As a partner of the Project 1 team within the WEC, AO needed two Porsche GT3s running at the identical time. Instead of cheating Rexy, they got here up along with his sister, and Hyett’s daughter selected the recent pink paint plus blue and purple claws of Roxy. She made her debuts on the 2023 Michelin GT Challenge at VIR (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 was running with the Project 1 team at Fuji and Circuit de la Sarthe.
Spike, the AO Racing LMP2 automotive, on the right track.
Photo: AO Racing
The AO prehistoric family grew to a few for 2024, when the team expanded to incorporate a second full-time automotive in IMSA’s LMP2 class. The challenge was finding a creature that, as team PR rep Kelly Brouillet explained, “would fit into the complex LMP2 bodywork and also not be intimidating to kids.” It took several iterations of color combos, wings, tails, and teeth before the peerlessly purple Spike the Dragon debuted at Daytona in January to have a good time the team’s first IMSA anniversary.
2024 also brought a “promotion” for Rexy: AO was promoted to GTD Pro for the season — at the identical time that Canadian racer Pfaff Porsche left the category in an unrelated move. The promotion worked out well for Rexy and the team: AO’s vivid green T-Rex leads the category points, having won at Laguna Seca and Detroit this season. Rexy earned a gold tooth for every victory — a unusual addition inspired by fan comments on the team’s social media.
Fans receiving autographs within the AO Racing paddock.
Photo: Porsche
“For many years, the unofficial ‘most popular team’ in the IMSA paddock, based on the lines at autograph sessions, was Corvette Racing – and they still draw a crowd,” says Nate Siebens, IMSA’s director of communications. “But Rexy and Spike (and Roxy when he shows up) have definitely made an impression in the paddock.”
And they definitely made an impression at Porsche. Volker Holzmeyer, president and CEO of Porsche Motorsport North America, said AO Racing had created something special — an identity that captured the interest of fans, appealing to the youngest fans, while also supporting it with on-track performances that made Roxy, Rexy and Spike favorites with adults.
Walking across the track during an IMSA race weekend, it’s unimaginable not to note the impact of AO Racing’s technicolor Jurassic presence: mascot merch is plastered throughout, and fans wave vivid white AO Racing flags or plush versions of their favorite characters. Some fans at the moment are showing up in inflatable dinosaur costumes. Rexy and Roxy are getting die-cast versions of the Hot Wheels that go on sale — the results of a deal that began to form during Rexy’s first IMSA season in 2023.
You won't see Rexy at VIR this weekend for the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR, but Roxy will probably be tearing up the track within the GTD Pro class for her brother, in all her hot pink dinosaur glory. With three races to go, it's entirely possible that the top of the IMSA season could see the Tyrannosaurus Rex return to the highest of the food chain, as AO Racing races toward a possible championship title
