1973 saw a return to normality for the Daytona 24-hour race. The distance was set back at 24 hours, after running only a 6-hour length in 1972. Ferrari in 1972 had petitioned the FIA to keep races at 6-hours, as the reliability of the 3.0-litre prototype cars (312PB) was suspect over a 24-hour distance. For 1973, Bill France petitioned to have the Daytona race returned to … [Read more...]
Video: Porsche Triple Victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1982
With the dawning of the 1982 season, the introduction of the Group C era ushered in a new breed of closed race cars that conformed to an 800kg minimum weight requirement amongst a host of other dimensional and fuel consumption regulations. In many ways, Group C which rand for more than 10 years pioneered technical and aerodynamic developments that saw lap speeds rise and times … [Read more...]
Le Mans 24 Hour memories from 2019
As the weekend of the original 2020 Le Mans 24 Hours approaches, 13-14 June, we take a look back at some of the events that took place during the race week in 2019. Had things been running normally in 2020, we would have been on the ground at Le Mans this week, firmly ensconced in the Media Centre and capturing all the pre-race action, practice, qualifying and all the other … [Read more...]
Dauer Porsche 962 LM GT #001
As the Dauer Porsche 962 LM GT celebrates its 25th anniversary (1994-2019), PORSCHE ROAD & RACE looks back at how this car came to exist at all. It wasn’t built in the spirit of the regulations ACO race director Alain Bertaut argued, as they tried everything in their power to get the car outlawed. But the Dauer Porsche 962 LM GT was built to the letter of the law. … [Read more...]
Porsche and the Triple Crown of endurance racing
There are three Sports Car endurance races that have been run over the past sixty-plus years that have been referred to as the ‘Triple Crown’. Arguably, some can say other races should also be included, but these three have withstood the test of time, and they are the Le Mans 24 Hours, the Sebring 12 Hours, and the Daytona 24 Hours. The Le Mans 24 Hours started in 1923, … [Read more...]
Porsche 956/962 remembered
The decline of Group 6 and the growth of Group C saw the emergence of what is today widely regarded as the most entertaining and successful era in modern motorsport. Group C ran from 1982 to 1992, a decade that saw some of the most innovative and exciting engineering solutions to race car development imaginable. In this feature, Porsche 956/962 remembered, we look at some of … [Read more...]
A ‘First Timers’ view of the Goodwood Festival of Speed
I have always wondered, what the Goodwood FOS (Festival of Speed) was all about. Was it a race, a hill-climb, a demonstration of old race cars, or a car show? Well, I had the opportunity to find out this year. In this feature, a ‘First Timers’ view of the Goodwood Festival of Speed, I can safely say that it is all of those things, and more! This year, a group of us got … [Read more...]
My first race as a crewman – Sebring 1978
In the early to mid-1970’s I had been working part time (race weekends) as an IMSA tech inspector at some of the races, mainly the ones that I could fit into my work schedule of my day job as an engineer. At some point, I had decided that eventually I wanted to race myself, but I realised that I needed to work first with some team to learn what was required to actually go … [Read more...]
Hurley – From the Beginning
There are just a handful of racing drivers that can list the number and quality of achievements that Hurley Haywood can. True, there might be more than a handful in total, but within each discipline of the sport, there are just a few that stand out. I won’t risk putting down a list here, because if I leave out the name of your favourite driver, you won’t be happy, but I’m sure … [Read more...]
Dick Barbour goes to Le Mans
Dick Barbour went to Le Mans as an entrant for the first time in 1978. He entered two Porsche 935s at the classic French Enduro. He had started racing in IMSA in 1977 after having bought one of the original ten Porsche 934.5 models offered by the factory for IMSA racing in 1977. He ran some of the IMSA races with mixed success in 1977. Towards the end of the season, he and Bob … [Read more...]
