The origins of the 1998 Porsche 911 GT1 Le Mans winner can be traced back to a roadgoing version of the Group C 962 launched five years earlier. In order to homologate the 911 GT1/98, the FIA required a single street legal version of the race car to be made. You could call it ‘White Lightning’ because this road legal version of the race car had a top speed of 193 mph (310 … [Read more...]
Porsche’s fabulous 968 Turbo RS
The story of the fabulous 968 Turbo RS, one of Porsche’s sweetest front-engined racers, might be full of ‘what ifs’ and ‘if only’ but it is also certainly a story of lost opportunities. The end of the 1992 motor sport season saw the curtain fall on Group C racing, which was quite possibly one of the most lively, innovative and spectacular decades in motor sport in recent … [Read more...]
961 – Porsche’s forgotten jewel
The Porsche 961 was a special racing car. Based on the roadgoing technical showcase, the Porsche 959, the Type 961 showed that it had the stamina to go the distance in endurance racing on both sides of the Atlantic. Sadly though, its competition life was restricted to just twelve months, and as such, it is often regarded as Porsche’s forgotten jewel. Even though the Type 961 … [Read more...]
Kremer Racing mixes with the big players
In motor racing, the performance margin that separates the winners from the losers is often so small that it is mere determination that helps a driver to cross the line first. But that determination must come from confidence on the part of the driver and a belief in the race car, which may all sound very philosophical, but both of these factors can be very strong weapons in … [Read more...]
Twice around the clock
A little more than twenty four hours ago, sixty cars lined up against the pit lane wall, and without exception, every driver on the grid had his/her mind set on winning the race or at the very least, their class. Now, just twenty six hours later, we know which of those drivers was successful, in this most gruelling twice around the clock endurance race. As this feature is being … [Read more...]
Interview with Porsche Junior Julien Andlauer
Writer Lucian Sonea sat down at the Le Mans Test day for an interview with Porsche Junior Julien Andlauer. The response from a young Andlauer was remarkably refreshing. What was your target for today’s Le Mans Test Day? Firstly, I’m very excited to have the chance to drive the RSR here at Le Mans. Today we tried different solutions and finally, we were rewarded with the … [Read more...]
Porsche 935/78 Moby Dick – A Legend in its own Time
Group 5 rules offered manufacturers a great deal of freedom to modify their cars in the Silhouette class. At Porsche, Norbert Singer pushed the rules to the limit, and gave us the Porsche 935/78 Moby Dick, truly a legend in its own time. Introduction In the 1970s, Porsche had several things going for it on the motorsport stage. Firstly, they had built up a wealth of … [Read more...]
Porsche proves that pigs can fly
Well it's official, pigs can fly! The #92 Porsche 911 RSR of Michael Christensen/Kevin Estre/Laurens Vanthoor/Dirk Werner may not have topped the lap charts on Sunday at the Le Mans Test day, but they were just 1.3 seconds off their team mates in the #93 Porsche who did indeed post the fastest time of the day in class. The WEC/ACO has threatened to wield the big stick of … [Read more...]
What the 2018 Le Mans BoP holds for the GTE classes
This weekend sees the official Le Mans Test day on Sunday 3 June for those teams participating in the 86th running of the famous 24-hour race. The GTE field is one of the largest in several years, thanks to Porsche and Ford both running four cars each in the Pro class, plus Ferrari who will be fielding three cars in this class. We ask what the 2018 Le Mans BoP holds for the GTE … [Read more...]
Pascal Zurlinden speaks about the 2018 Porsche 911 RSR
The evening before the opening round of the WEC season at Spa, Porsche Road & Race had the opportunity of chatting to Pascal Zurlinden, Director GT Factory Motorsports, about the 2018 Porsche 911 RSR and the competition in the GTE Pro class. Uppermost in the minds of some journalists was the question of the auto BoP and how Porsche viewed this. Whatever your thoughts … [Read more...]
