Porsche Road & Race

Your favourite online journal covering Porsche's rich motorsport heritage

Porsche Road and Race Shop leaderboard ad
  • Motorsport
    • WEC
    • Supercup
    • Carrera Cup
    • Imsa Weathertech Sportscar Championship
    • Intercontinental GT Challenge
    • Other Motorsport
    • Fact Files
      • Current Race Cars
      • Racing Drivers
        • Current Racing Drivers
        • Past Racing Drivers
      • Team Personnel
  • Yesteryear
    • Motorsport
    • Race Cars
    • Road Cars
    • Profiles
    • Other
  • Road Cars
    • 911
    • 718 Cayman
    • 718 Boxster
  • My Porsche
    • My Story
    • Pic of the Week
  • News
    • Porsche News
    • Porsche Museum News
    • Around the World
    • Auction News
    • Other News
  • Videos
  • Books
    • Book Reviews
    • SPECIAL BOOK OFFERS
  • Calendar
  • About us
    • Contributors
      • Glen Smale – Editor
      • Elke Smale
      • Martin Raffauf
      • Kieron Fennelly
      • Lucian Sonea
      • Kevin Ehrlich
      • Andrew Hosking
      • Richard Wiley
    • What We Do
    • Disclaimer
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
  • Donate
  • Shop
  • Basket
You are here: Home / Featured / The Porsche-Lola T600 Affair

The Porsche-Lola T600 Affair

7th June 2019 by: Martin Raffauf | Leave a Comment

Cooke-Woods Racing team photo following a successful technical inspection
Le Mans 24 Hours, 13-14 June 1981: Team photo following a successful technical inspection

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 wealthy businessman who among other things, also owned the Washington Redskins Football team. Ralph was an odd one. He was a Hollywood type from southern California who dabbled in movie making and other such pursuits in the southland. He would routinely have his people (he himself would never call) in Los Angeles call our workshop in Northern California to see who was there and working. We learned to just say, all is well, everyone is here! Roy Woods, on the other hand, we knew well. He was an Oklahoma oil man who had been involved in racing for many years. He in fact, drove with us in 1979, and won Sebring with our team. Together though, they were an ‘odd couple’ for sure. Roy, a racer, easy to deal with, Ralph, an LA-type who seemed to have no idea of what was required.

Advertisements
Both cars loaded up and ready for the trip to the technical inspection
Le Mans 24 Hours, 13-14 June 1981: Both cars loaded up and ready for the trip to the technical inspection

The plan for 1981 consisted of a two-pronged effort with the two 935s that we had, and two brand new Lola T600s that were on order. Bob Garretson would run for the world endurance championship, and Brian Redman would attempt to win the IMSA championship. The 935s would be used early in the season, for the longer races because the Lolas were not ready by the beginning of 1981. John Bright was working feverishly at Lola to complete these cars to be ready early in 1981.

Advertisements
The Lola goes through the technical inspection
Le Mans 24 Hours, 13-14 June 1981: The Lola goes through the technical inspection. Crew Chief John Bright holds the door open (left), while Ron Trethan is at the right with hat (red brim)
The Porsche-Lola is hoisted up at one of the tech stations
Le Mans 24 Hours, 13-14 June 1981: The Porsche-Lola is hoisted up at one of the tech stations

The season started off well enough as the team won the Daytona 24 Hours in the 935 (chassis #009 0030). They then took second place at Sebring in the second 935 (chassis #930 770 0911) and finished third and fourth at Riverside with the two 935s. By Laguna Seca, the first Lola was ready, and it duly won its first race with Brian Redman behind the wheel. The plan had been to run a 935 and a Lola at Le Mans. Around the end of April, the decision was made that the second Lola was to be built up with a 3.2-litre Porsche air-cooled engine, as the 6-litre Chevrolet (run in the IMSA car) was deemed not a good 24-hour engine – although in hindsight, we should have just run a Franz Weiss Chevrolet engine and be done with it. Porsche was not supportive of this action at all as they viewed the car as an outlaw, a non-Porsche vehicle. However, by 1983, Al Holbert had convinced them to support this kind of development, as he built a March-Porsche using an 83G March chassis.

After a herculean effort by both Brian Redman and Bobby Rahal to qualify the Porsche-Lola, it was too slow and did not start
Le Mans 24 Hours, 13-14 June 1981: After a herculean effort by both Brian Redman and Bobby Rahal to qualify the Porsche-Lola, it was too slow and did not start

Since John Bright had left Lola cars and come over to join our team as chief mechanic on the IMSA T600, the second car was of course delayed and did not arrive on schedule. While part of the team went on the road to run the IMSA T600 in the races up to Le Mans, several of us including Jerry Woods, Roger Hamlin, John Johnson, myself, Bob Garretson and a few others, stayed home to prepare the 935 for Le Mans and to build the Porsche-powered T600. Since no one had ever fitted a Porsche engine in a T600, a lot of the componentry had to be designed from scratch, to make all the systems fit and work. I spent most of my time, building the 935, while Jerry, Roger Hamlin, and Bob (Garretson) spent a lot of time designing and building the pieces for the Porsche installation.

Advertisements
Advert for Porsche 956/962 book
The 935 gets its tech sticker. That was always the first big hurdle at Le Mans, to pass technical inspection
Le Mans 24 Hours, 13-14 June 1981: The 935 gets its tech sticker. That was always the first big hurdle at Le Mans, to pass technical inspection

We certainly needed to test everything prior to shipping it to Le Mans, and this was planned for Sears Point just prior to air freighting the car to France. Unfortunately, we had not received all our spares from Lola at that point. And so, the other half of the team who were on the road with the IMSA car, sent us their spare suspension and wheels after the Lime Rock race via FEDEX. I had to go down to FEDEX and pick up the spares and when I walked in and announced I was to pick up the Garretson shipment, they all looked at me quite strangely. There sat four corners of Lola suspension uprights, drive shafts, wheels, and tyres. I guess that just showed FEDEX could ship anything, anywhere.

Our team timer Judy Stropus and her assistant setup their stand in the 935 pit
Le Mans 24 Hours, 13-14 June 1981: Our team timer Judy Stropus and her assistant setup their stand in the 935 pit. Before the age of computers, someone like Judy was critical to keep track of where we were as the ACO timing sheets only came out once per hour

I got all the spares back to the shop for the trip to Sears Point for testing, and Bobby Rahal was flown out to do the driving. We never made it. By late afternoon the engine was finally running in the car, but it was too late to go testing, and early the next morning the car was on the plane to France!

Anny on the grid chatting, she would start the race
Le Mans 24 Hours, 13-14 June 1981: Anny on the grid chatting, she would start the race. From left rear is Ralph Kent Cooke, mechanic Brian Carleton and Jean-Pierre Avice (with moustache, our local ‘fixer’ from Le Mans)
The 935 on the grid, Anny gets suited for the start
Le Mans 24 Hours, 13-14 June 1981: The 935 on the grid, Anny gets suited for the start

Everything arrived safely at Le Mans, but Porsche was very unhappy with the car and they did not want to support the Lola with a Porsche engine at all. At that time, they did not deem this to be a Porsche, so they would not sell us any parts for it, and we could only could get parts for the 935. The Porsche Lola was to be driven at Le Mans by Brian Redman, Bobby Rahal and Skeeter McKitterick, while the 935 was to be driven by Bob Garretson, Ralph Cooke and Anny Charlotte Verney.

Le Mans 24 Hours, 13-14 June 1981: The Kremer 917-81, a complete new car built by Kremer from factory plans. It was a large crowd favourite, but alas was now 12-year-old technology and was a DNF
Le Mans 24 Hours, 13-14 June 1981: Kremer also entered a new 935-K3 for Ted Field and the Whittington Brothers. This was chassis 01-0020. Although it set a blistering qualifying time of 3:36, it was a DNF due to engine failure

Since Anny was a French rally driver, we had no problems with the Technical Inspection, and we started practice. The Lola broke a drive shaft on the Wednesday in practice and was stuck out on the circuit for the whole time, so it did not run at all. And Brian informed us, “Oh, by the way, there is no boost!” We spent all day Thursday before the night practice at the airport next to the circuit running the Lola up and down the runway, testing it and trying to find what was causing the lack of boost. During the last practice on Thursday, the T600 could only do a 4:18, which, while it was not the slowest car, it did not meet the 120% rule in the group 6 class. The 935 qualified without difficulty when Anny Charlotte Verney clocked a 3:55 with Garretson and Cooke posting 3:59. This meant that the Lola did not qualify, and Ralph Cooke said to Brian Redman, “Lets go see Alain Bertaut and tell him who we are.” Ralph expected the ACO to bend the rules for him, but of course that did not happen. Bertaut said, “Brian, you are one of our favourite drivers, but your car is not qualified.” And that was that!

After turning a 4:16 lap time in the Lola, which only had the power of a normally aspirated engine as there was no boost, Bobby Rahal had no ride
Le Mans 24 Hours, 13-14 June 1981: After turning a 4:16 lap time in the Lola, which only had the power of a normally aspirated engine as there was no boost, Bobby Rahal had no ride. The car was quick enough on overall time but fell short of the 120% of class rule

So, we had a large crew to run one 935, and we got to work in shifts which was quite nice for a 24-hour race. Ralph Cooke offered Redman his seat in the 935, but Brian refused and while Rahal was ready to take the seat, it was not offered to him. The team wanted Rahal to drive, as Ralph was kind of a loose cannon, an unknown. The discord in the team was already starting between Ralph Cooke and the Garretson Enterprises side. We went about our business and the 935 ran without any issues for quite a while. Next to us in the pits was a strange team with a Group 6 car called an IBEC. It was some kind of Lola-based open cockpit car with a 3.0-litre Cosworth engine. It looked rather like a go kart, but went pretty fast. It only had two drivers, Tiff Needell and Tony Trimmer with an all-English crew. The car was in the pits with a lot of problems and sometime during the night the car came in, and the crew, led by a guy in dress pants and white dress shoes went to work on the gearbox, for the second or third time. Tiff Needell got out, sat in the pit box and made himself a cup of tea. We asked him what was up, he said, “Gearbox broken again, the lads are on it, I’ll have my tea now.” Little did we know then, we would see Mr. Needell again at Le Mans in 1990, with the Alpha 962.

Le Mans 24 Hours, 13-14 June 1981: The winning 936 (936/81-003) of Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell approaches the Ford Chicane
Le Mans 24 Hours, 13-14 June 1981: Factory 944 Turbo driven by Jürgen Barth and Walter Röhrl was entered as an IMSA GTP car, as it was not yet homologated. It finished seventh overall and won the class

By Sunday morning the 935 was well up in the standings. It looked like we might win the IMSA class again but then Anny came in with a shifting problem. One of the bolts holding the front of the gearbox to the chassis behind the driver had come loose and stripped. Jerry Woods fashioned a restraint using a truck tie down strap. It held and we continued. At that point, we had fallen a lap down on a French Ferrari 512 BBLM for the IMSA lead. We put Anny back in as she was faster than Bob or Ralph, but Ralph got upset as he was replaced by a woman when speed was needed. At the next stop, the Ferrari had trouble restarting, so Jerry Woods and I went down to watch their stop. The car would not start, and we watched them use a jump battery which was totally illegal. Of course, since this was a French entered car, the pit marshals ‘saw nothing!’ When we complained, they just looked at us like we were from…the USA. Les Americans, what could you do? So, we ended up sixth overall and second in the IMSA class.

Anny makes a pit stop (from L-R): John Johnson, Greg Elliff, author, Gary Cummings and Jean Pierre Avice
Le Mans 24 Hours, 13-14 June 1981: Anny makes a pit stop. John Johnson on left in fueller gear (with red headphones), Greg Elliff, author (with goggles), Gary Cummings washing the window and Jean Pierre Avice, our local team ‘fixer’ on right
Ralph Kent Cooke in 935-009 0030: the car would finish sixth overall and second in the IMSA class
Le Mans 24 Hours, 13-14 June 1981: Ralph Kent Cooke in 935-009 0030. This car would finish sixth overall and second in the IMSA class

Ralph Cooke was so upset after he was replaced by Anny when we needed some speed, and the fact that the Lola failed to qualify, he ended the relationship with Garretson and took all his cars back to Los Angeles. The Porsche-Lola, it turned out, had a leak in the intercooler air inlet. As soon as John Bright welded up the connections and took the car to Willow Springs, it ran like a rocket. If the car had been delivered on time, and we had the time to test, we would have found this relatively quickly. But, so it goes, in racing.

Anny Charlotte Verney on the Mulsanne Straight on Sunday morning
Le Mans 24 Hours, 13-14 June 1981: Anny Charlotte Verney on the Mulsanne Straight on Sunday morning
The Garretson 935 passes the Mulsanne signal pits and gets the time board
Le Mans 24 Hours, 13-14 June 1981: The Garretson 935 passes the Mulsanne signal pits and gets the time board. We tried to run laps right at 4:00 minutes

The 935 continued the season with Bob Garretson, Bobby Rahal and various other co-drivers. Bob Garretson won the 1981 World Endurance Drivers Championship in this car.

‘The Day After’ – after the race, part of the team is snapped figuring out the route back to Paris
Le Mans 24 Hours, 13-14 June 1981: ‘The Day After’ – after the race, part of the team is snapped figuring out the route back to Paris. Led by Sharon Trethan in the red shirt (our chief map reader), Ron Trethan in yellow shirt on left, John Johnson and Sandi Johnson on right. Mechanic Jeff Lateer on far left is laughing, wondering how many mechanics it takes to read a map…

Written by: Martin Raffauf
Images by: Martin Raffauf, Jerry Woods, John Johnson, Anny Charlotte Verney Collection, Cooke-Woods Racing

Save Article as PDF

OTHER ARTICLES YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN

Share this:

Categories: Featured, Motorsport, Yesteryear Tags: 935, Cooke-Woods, Garretson Enterprises, Le Mans 24 Hours, Lola, Porsche, T600

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

E-mail Subscription

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE and be the first to receive new articles directly into your inbox:

Archives

Connect with us

  • E-mail
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Book Reviews

50 Years Porsche 914

Whether you love it or hate it, the 914 served as a very important family member in the Porsche

DBR 9 – The Definitive History

At Porsche Road & Race, we receive many books for review, and these include books on all manner

Porsche 964: The Modern Classic

The history of Porsche sportscars is peppered with iconic models that stand out as special, from the

More Book Reviews ››

Our Other Websites

Virtual Motorpix new website icon
Virtual Motorpix blog link with new logo

OTHER ARTICLES YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN

Join us on Facebook

Join us on Facebook

Disclaimer

Porsche Road & Race is entirely independent and is in no way connected with the company Dr. Ing. H.C. F. Porsche AG or any of its affiliates or subsidiaries. Please also read our full Disclaimer.

Follow us on Twitter

Tweets by Porsche Road & Race

Contact us

We welcome your questions, comments and feedback. Please click here to contact us.

OTHER ARTICLES YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN

Advertising

Please contact us if you would like to discuss advertising opportunities on Porsche Road & Race.

OTHER ARTICLES YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN

Connect with us

  • E-mail
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Please share our website

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

Copyright © 2021 Porsche Road & Race