Somebody Stole Broken Parts From Beloved ‘Rexy’ Porsche 911 GT3 Race Car

AO Racing, the team that runs Rexy, seems pretty cool about all of this. But just because something's broken doesn't mean it's OK to take.
Photo of 'Rexy' Porsche 911 GT3 R race car with a new, clean front bumper in the pits.
AO Racing via X

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It’s always thrilling to see race cars up close and in person. On TV, they seem larger than life, but you gain a much deeper appreciation for what they’re capable of in the flesh. You could imagine the rush of excitement that fans of the beloved “Rexy” Porsche 911 GT3 R must’ve felt this past weekend during the 24 Hours of Daytona, when they had a chance to visit team AO Racing’s garage. But as the saying goes, if you truly love something, you’ve got to let it go. In other words, don’t steal stuff.

At some point during the race, it seems that spectators presumably with paddock access stole some of Rexy’s parts. It’s unclear if these fans thought the parts were garbage or truly understood what they were taking, but that’s beside the point—making off with anything of any kind from a racing team’s garage without permission is never OK. Not only are the parts that go on race cars expensive, and broken ones can still potentially be mended and reused later, but inspecting why they failed might even help a team build better parts in the future.

“To the fans who (hopefully mistakenly) took crashed body parts from our garage, these were still the property of AO Racing and meant not for the public to take,” said AO Racing in an X post. “We love that you love us and the paddock access but please be sure to ask the teams before you take any items. No matter how damaged they may seem to you.”

AO Racing didn’t specifically say which body pieces were missing, but it had shared earlier that the car’s front bumper was damaged and needed replacing. There are also pictures of the race-worn 911 GT3 R running with a sparkly clean face, as seen at the top of this article. While it’s hard to imagine someone walking out with the entire panel, it’s possible a bumper was the missing piece in question. That would make sense, considering it’s probably the one part that most makes Rexy, well, Rexy.

All told, AO Racing seems to have been quite forgiving about the whole thing and isn’t looking to punish anyone. Instead, it’s just trying to give fans a heads-up about proper paddock etiquette. “If someone is new to the paddock, it can be a very easy mistake to make!” the team said, in response to an X commenter. “That’s why we just wanted to kindly let people know the protocol for the future :)”

Of course, this being the internet where somebody’s mad about something all the time, another individual in the replies mocked AO Racing for supposedly being a wealthy team with a big budget asking for its stuff back. Ultimately, those parts are still the team’s property, and theft isn’t cool. Show some restraint—not to mention, some appreciation for the show these crews are giving us fans—and don’t take what isn’t yours, even if you think the people you’re taking from can afford to lose it.

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