Nice to see this superb Porsche 993 GT2 race car tucked away in the pits at Donington on St Patrick’s Day. Even nicer to see it exit the pits and head out on track, driven by ‘Take That’ vocalist, Howard Donald.
I was at Donington with the former Formula 1 driver, Mike Wilds, and Dave Summers’ Porsche 997 GT2 built to celebrate Mike’s 50th year in motorsport, when I spotted a familiar wheel-rim-meets-front-arch shape peeking out of garage 1. Not too many 993s in the world running BBS Motorsport wheels so I hopped straight on pit wall for a look.
Call me surprised to see the Champion Motorsports-liveried Porsche 993 GT2 EVO parked in the garage, very low key. With some “do not disturb” body language from the mechanics and driver, I kept my distance but enjoyed watching the car do some laps through the day. My type of music is more alternative than modern-day pop charts, so I learned the driver’s identity later on, courtesy of the Donington media chief.
A previous ad for this Porsche for sale tells how it started life as a 993 Turbo S factory race car, running in the IMSA Supercar Championship of the early 1990s. John Wood drove the car in 1992/1993 before it changed hands, selling to Champion Motorsports.
Porsche 993 GT2 Evo history
With the help of Andial, Mike Colucci and Porsche Motorsport North America, the new owners converted the car to GT2 EVO spec, competing in the GT1 category of IMSA’s Exxon Supreme series. Champion brought in some superstar drivers including Hans Stuck, Brian Redman, Derek Bell and Dorsey Schroeder, taking a class win at the 1996 Sebring event before the 993 GT2 was sold into private hands.
I don’t know what engine the car is running now, but Andial built a killer motor for it back in the day: a 962-style flat-fan 3.6-litre running over 700 bhp, depending on mapping. Sounds pretty juicy. This 993 GT2 EVO had cockpit-selectable maps, which wasn’t too common back then. The chassis was apparently pretty lightweight for an IMSA turbo car with the NASCAR-style cage, thanks to carbon & kevlar panels. Power delivery is reported as more predictable than a 934 or 935: not that this would be difficult.
Here’s a short video from Ferdinand Porsche Magazine on Youtube of the Porsche 993 GT2 EVO leaving the pit garage at Donington. Subscribe to our Youtube page for more Porsche videos in the future.
This is not the 993 gt2 evo being born out of the John Wood 911 turbo s. That car is in Arizona somewhere. Turbokraft of Tempe, Arizona were the last to work on that rare motor. It was basically the same motor from the 911 turbo Le Mans GT with 3.6 block, 935 flat fan and 956/962 fuel injection intake. But this one here, #393062 was the second 993 gt2 from Dave Maraj Champion Porsche team. It was a real deal 993 gt2. An old friend of mine even replaced the roof on it after a light flip at Daytona when Bill Adam was at the wheel. When I looked at it it looked like an easy skin job. The matter cage was unaffected. Later on it it became part of the late Matt Drendel collection and was sold to pay for the over 40% death tax in the USA. It was bought by Henry Pearman of eagle e types who also owns a bunch of 956 and 962. Henry was a couple of days late when I bought my Konrad Daytona winner 993 gt2 evo #393076 http://youtu.be/8MTzs15SjkA and bought this a year later. He mentioned having sold it so I guess Howard Donald is the new owner.
What great information Ed – many thanks for this. I will update the story.
No problem John. It’s very easy to think one gt2 is another. The gt2 in all it’s forms is sort of a mysterious car. Nobody is even sure just how many full race evos were made. Only Weissach really knows. And then there are the substantial number of rsr and cup rsr were converted into gt2’s. When I bought my gt2 evo we were scratching our heads trying to figure out the true number of 993 gt2’s. Even when you Google the car, the horsepower numbers are way off with 400 and something quoted which is the number for the standard street gt2. Race evos push 600 or more. They will eat gt3’s of any form for breakfast. Anyway, the 74 car, chassis 393062, had a great drive in the 97 Sebring 12 hours. Hans Stuck, during a torrential downpour, managed to lap the field almost twice. ESPN by that point had the in camera showing Hans’ mastery most of the time while showing others spinning off the track. He was passing like nothing I had ever seen before in my life other than Senna in the rain. He passed the Momo 333 sp like nothing. Then they stopped the race. Sadly, later on when the track was dry Bill Adam during his stint had an epic crash with it. Snapped axle. Under full boost. It didn’t finish. But it did allow Franz Konrad, smiling Bob Wollek and Wido Rössler to secure the gt2 win in gt2 evo chassis #394065. Here’s a video of Hans Stuck driving the Champion 74 car. It starts at 1 minute 10.
https://youtu.be/WqCuZ9pxyX8
Interesting story about the Evo ! I am not so sure about a “GT2 eating a GT3 for breakfast” though. I saw these cars running at Monza and Magny-Cours around 2000. At Monza, the best GT3 (RWS) ran a 2:05, the Autorlando GT2 also a 2:05 min. At Magny-Cours, the Freisinger GT3 ran a 1:39 min, the Proton GT2s around 1:43 min. Later in 2004, the Freisinger GT3 RSRs lapped the circuit of Monza in about 1:49 min. Pure straight-line performance could be another Story though.