This year was the 58th Running of the Daytona 24. It started in 1962 at just three hours in length, expanded to 2000 km, then 24 hours in 1966. The 1972 race was shortened to six hours, and the 1974 race was cancelled due to the fuel crisis in the Middle East. Since 1975, it has continued as a 24-hour event, under the auspices of IMSA sanction (although for a time it was under … [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...]
2019 Petit Le Mans – Did IMSA leave the best for last?
IMSA of course has several Marquee events, including the Daytona 24-hour, Sebring 12-hour, Watkins Glen 6-hour, and the Petit Le Mans. The Petit Le Mans is a hold-over from the ALMS series of Don Panoz in years gone by, and in the years since the merger (Grand-Am series and ALMS), is the last race on the schedule at the end of the season. It is always run over a 10-hour … [Read more...]
Nissan GTP & Group C Race Cars 1984-1993
Yes, I know, this is not a book about Porsches, but it does cover one of the 962’s greatest rivals in IMSA and the Group C championships. Over the next few months, we will be bringing you a series of book reviews about some of Porsche’s biggest competitors in these two international racing championships, as these other marques slowly but surely challenged the mighty 962 for … [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...]
2019 Porsche 911 RSR with 4.2-litre engine
What better way to introduce a new race car model, than to do so as the 2018/2019 Super Season World Champions? This weekend, at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, Porsche launched the 2019 Porsche 911 RSR with 4.2-litre engine, the largest engine to power a 911 ever. With this car, Porsche will defend the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) title in 2019/2020, it will contest … [Read more...]
IMSA 1969-1989
Simply titled, IMSA 1969-1989, this recently published book gives the inside story of how John Bishop built one of the world’s greatest sports car racing series. In truth, there can be little doubt that the two decades of IMSA racing covered by this book includes some of the most exciting, dynamic and varied motor racing of all time in the United States. The IMSA series also … [Read more...]
Porsche double-header at Sebring – weekend preview
This weekend sees the first double-header at Sebring with the running of both round 6 of the World Endurance Championship WEC, as well as round 2 of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. This weekend’s activities will be a challenge for all involved in the organisation, the drivers and at team level, as everyone seeks to deliver the best performance possible. For the … [Read more...]
Interview with Patrick Pilet – official Porsche driver 2019
We met up with Patrick Pilet recently at the Carrera Cup prize giving ceremony and were able to have a word with him… Patrick, the 2019 season started one month ago at Daytona 24 Hours. How was that first race of the year for you and for the works team? It was a difficult race, due to the weather conditions. For us, it was a good debut that weekend, we were on top of the … [Read more...]
Counting the cost of the Rolex 24 at Daytona
The 2019 season opener at Daytona will certainly go down in history as memorable, but perhaps not for the reasons that the race organisers would have wanted. The race got underway at 14h35 local time (20h35 CET) as planned, but the race organisers and teams all knew that a storm was heading their way. Little could they have known that before the end of the race, they would be … [Read more...]
