Under unseasonably hot conditions for late September, the 88th running of the Le Mans 24 Hours is finally a reality. Postponed from its traditional mid-June date, the world famous endurance race fell victim to the global Corona virus pandemic, but at least we have a date for the race, and so its all systems go at Le Mans. In many ways, this running of the 24-hour race … [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...]
The many lives of the 935 K3/80 Red Baron
In the mid-70s, Porsche developed the 935 model, a race car homologated on the 930 road car and aimed at the Group 5 ‘silhouette’ series created by the FIA for the 1976 season. As the records will show, the 935 was a formidable race car and it quickly dominated the Group 5 class, becoming the weapon of choice for numerous privateer teams. Because of the flexibility of … [Read more...]
Twice Around the Clock: The Yanks at Le Mans
Over the years, there has been a lot written on the history of the Le Mans 24 Hours, a race which has earned the reputation as one of the most challenging endurance races on the international motorsport calendar. The 24 Heures du Mans enjoys the reputation as the world’s oldest active sports car race in endurance racing, and has been held annually since 1923, with the … [Read more...]
Ferrari 333 SP
I first caught sight of the Ferrari 333 SP at Kyalami in Johannesburg, South Africa, in December 1998. It was hot, as Johannesburg is at that time of the year, but the track action was even hotter with no less than four Ferrari 333 SPs in action. It was the final round of the ’98 International Sports Racing Series (ISRS), and the media briefing room was packed, as the local … [Read more...]
Le Mans: The Official History 1970–79
This edition of Quentin Spurring’s fabulous series covers the 1970s in his well-known and valuable decade-by-decade history of the Le Mans 24 Hours endurance race. The decade from 1970 to 1979, certainly saw some of the most memorable race cars in recent times take to the track. This ten-year period commenced with Porsche’s first victory in the French race (1970), and … [Read more...]
Hans Mezger: 1929 to 2020
It was with great sadness that the motoring and motorsport world learned last week of the passing of Hans Mezger, Porsche engineer extraordinaire. He died at the age of 90 years, having grown up and lived near Stuttgart all of his life. His contribution to Porsche’s engineering prowess was nothing short of exceptional. Hans Mezger was born on 18 November 1929 in … [Read more...]
50th Anniversary of Porsche’s first victory at Le Mans
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...]
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...]
Kremer’s Uber 935 – the ultra-rare K4
In the mid-1970s, Porsche developed the 911 for racing, and in the process, it created the all-conquering 935. In 1978, Norbert Singer was responsible for building the ultimate factory 935, the Moby Dick 935/78, and although this race car had a very short active racing life, it has gone down in history as one of the most iconic 935s of all time. Despite winning only one race, … [Read more...]
