Today, Porsche can boast a total of 19 overall victories together with countless class successes in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the world's most respected and revered endurance motor race. Porsche’s first year of participation at Le Mans was back in 1951 when the company was just three years old, but it would have to wait nineteen years before it could claim its first overall … [Read more...]
Motorsport
Mini-Series Porsche GT Racing Part 3
This feature, the third in our four-part mini-series, picks up where we left off last time (Part 2: 2010-2012) and highlights the continued growth and success of the evergreen Porsche 911 on the UK and European motorsport scene between 2013 and 2016. Having benefitted from full media and photographer access at these races, PORSCHE ROAD & RACE was able to get trackside as … [Read more...]
Mini-Series Porsche GT Racing Part 2
This feature, the second in our four-part mini-series, picks up where we left off last time (2005-2008) and highlights the continued growth and success of the evergreen Porsche 911 on the European scene between 2010 and 2012. Having benefitted from full media and photographer access at these races, we were able to get trackside and in the pit and paddock, and we can now bring … [Read more...]
Pulling the Rabbit out of the hat – 1980 IMSA Portland
By the time the Dick Barbour Racing team arrived in Portland for the Rose Cup IMSA race in August of 1980, we were in good spirits. The week before at the Sears Point IMSA event, the team had finished 1-2 with two 935s driven by John Fitzpatrick and Bobby Rahal. The Portland race was of the 100-mile sprint variety, just as it had been the prior week at Sears Point in … [Read more...]
A decade and a half of 911 racing in Europe Part 1
Over the years, we have attended many motor races and seen first-hand how the performance of the evergreen Porsche 911 has improved. This feature, the first in our four-part mini-series, starts with the 2005 season where the iconic 996 GT3 RSR was a potent force on the GT racing scene, and rolls through to 2008. The story of 911 racing in Europe is like no other, because the … [Read more...]
Porsche 956/962 engines – Group C vs IMSA
In the early 1980’s there was a divergence in the rules for sports car racing world-wide. IMSA (International Motor Sports Association) in the USA proceeded with the GTP concept. The GTP (Grand Touring Prototype) was a prototype car using street car based engines. By 1982, the FIA was moving to a fuel based formula for sports cars. Porsche knew the 935 was no longer competitive … [Read more...]
The Porsche-Lola T600 Affair
A lack of testing proved to be the downfall of the Porsche-Lola T600 in the 49th running of the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1981. But let us not get ahead of ourselves... The 1981 season had started out well for the Garretson team. The team was preparing the cars for Cooke-Woods Racing, which comprised Ralph Kent Cooke and Roy Woods. Ralph Cooke was the son of Jack Kent Cooke, a … [Read more...]
What is your favourite Porsche Le Mans livery?
In the week leading up to the Le Mans Test Day, Porsche announced their new liveries for the 24-hour race on 15-16 June. In response to this announcement, we ask you, the reader, what your favourite Porsche Le Mans livery is. It might be the current crop of cars, or it might be one from the ‘70s, it doesn’t matter, just let us know which is your favourite. In the early … [Read more...]
How a Porsche survived at Le Mans on Coca-Cola
When you were last with Richard Wiley, we were hurtling around a damp La Sarthe in 1988 with Stuck in the Shell Dunlop 962, trimming the grass and setting up great plumes of spray as the Porsche barked its flat tones in a relentless but ultimately fruitless pursuit of a howling Jaguar V12 which was on the brink of grinding to a halt with no gears but which somehow survived to … [Read more...]
A Sting in the Tale
In Part 1, Stories from Le Mans – with a Porsche flavour, our intrepid scribbler who hails from that beautiful part of South Africa, the Western Cape, shares with us some hilarious and revealing stories from his many trips to Le Mans. Richard Wiley, a lifelong motoring journalist, has always loved Le Mans, Group C and especially the Porsches of that era. A sting in the tale, … [Read more...]
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