by John Glynn | Apr 28, 2014 | Classic Porsche Blog, Race and Rally
Had a good catch up with the EB Motorsport classic Porsche parts brothers over coffee in Banbury last week, before taking a ride in their newly-finished 1965 Porsche 911 at Tuthill Porsche. The car will debut at FIA Masters at Donington this weekend.
Driving the 1965 Porsche 911
What a car! All steel, it weighs 915 kilos without fuel and an estimated 180 bhp from the FIA-certified 2-litre motor. Light weight is great but it is likely to need ballast to comply with FIA papers. Geared to a top speed in the 120s, it’s running at 4k-ish at 70 mph, but put your foot down at 70 and the acceleration will surprise the cars around you on the motorway.
Nicely finished inside and out, the ’65 is painted in Jo Siffert/Andre Wicky ST tribute livery, and runs Tuthill Porsche’s bolt-in roll cage: something I really want to fit to one of my own projects. The ivory air box has divided opinion: good feedback on Facebook but others are not such big fans! I quite like it.
The car has just been granted entry to the 2014 Classic Spa 6 Hours. Mark ran Steve Winters’ (Jaz Porsche) 1965 car last year and managed 3:09 race laps in a car he’d only just sat in. Looks like the 2-litre 911 lap record at Spa could be up for grabs this year: will have to figure out what that is.
Enjoyed the chat with EB last week: got a week of EB updates coming on the Ferdinand Magazine blog through the end of April. Next one tomorrow!
by John Glynn | Apr 25, 2014 | Classic Porsche Blog, Race and Rally
Rounding off a week of posts from our visit to the Essen Techno Classica 2014 is a few shots of the Porsche Museum’s 917-30 Spyder, which was shown on the Porsche stand as part of its 40 Years of Turbo Porsche. I’ve nicked the first one off Magnus’ blog:
The most famous, most powerful turbo Porsche ever, the 917-30 was built to demolish fellow CanAm competitors. Capable of reaching 200 mph in a little over 13 seconds, the 850-kilo car could go on to almost 240 mph. This was in 1973!
I’m not sure what chassis number this machine is, but I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen the back off it. That seems surprising given the awesomeness that lies beneath. I have no idea why Porsche didn’t make a bigger song and dance about the technical side of the 917-30 at Essen, as that is what the heart of this show should be all about: i.e. TECHNO CLASSICA. They used to show much more 917 stuff.
Back in the Porsche museum lies a cutaway exhibit of the flat-12 917 engine: really incredible to see it. Also some great photo and film history of this car, which was run up the Goodwood hillclimb a few years ago by Brian Redman. Here’s some video:
by John Glynn | Apr 22, 2014 | Classic Porsche Blog, Race and Rally
The 2014 Sydney-London Marathon Rally is in full swing. As the cars approach the last of thirty-three stages raced in Australia, two Tuthill Porsche 911s hold station in the top five, split by just over a minute.
Previous winner of the event, Francis Tuthill, is following the rally and and supporting his Porsches as they play a long game behind a trio of Z-cars. It’s impossible to win a month-long classic rally event in the first two weeks, but very easy to lose it through unreliability or lack of concentration.
The beautifully built 911s of Joost Van Cauwenberge and Simon Connolly cut a handsome shape through the Australian bush in these photos. Sydney-London is the third outing for the white car of Joost and he’s come a long way since his Moroccan debut, when the initial support plan involved a Sprinter van and champagne. Love that Belgian style!
Simon makes his marathon debut on Sydney-London and is doing a really superb job. To be fifth, just twenty minutes behind the leader after nine hours of competitive rallying keeps him in touch with opportunity. Both cars are well placed to move up should problems arise as the Australians leave their native soil and we head towards familiar Porsche territory.
I know my Aussie mates will be torn between supporting their guys and supporting the Porsches. I have no such worries!
by John Glynn | Apr 21, 2014 | Classic Porsche Blog, Race and Rally
At the end of 2011, Brumos Porsche in Jacksonville, Florida announced a tie up with Porsche AG to produce a limited 911 edition of just five cars, commemorating Hurley Haywood’s record five overall wins in Porsches at Daytona in 1973, ’75, ’77, ’79 and 1991.
Modelled on Brumos Porsche’s famous Number 59, the base car chosen was the Carrera GTS: easily my favourite water-cooled 911 to date. The UK launch of the 997 GTS was our last trip out with Porsche and, as grand finales go, it was excellent. With over 400 horsepower on tap, 997 Carrera GTS is all the 911 you need.
The Brumos Porsche 911 B59 edition is Brumos’ factory-manufactured special. Featuring custom 59 paint and some cabin decor highlights, the chassis options say it all about sport purpose: LSD with sports suspension, heated front seats with adaptive sports backrests, sports shifter, Sport Chrono Plus and extended navigation.
The limited edition sold out quickly, and Brumos has just released a great short film, showcasing where they ended up. It’s a journey through some incredible car collections, and some indisputable Porsche fans. Take a look:
by John Glynn | Apr 20, 2014 | Porsche News, Race and Rally
Away from the Porsche LMP1 hybrid’s debut, the evergreen 911 soldiered on at Silverstone today. Porsche Team Manthey took a solid 1-2 ahead of Darren turner’s Aston Martin, with new boy Frédéric Makowiecki piloting the number 92 Porsche 991 RSR shared with Marco Holzer and Richard Lietz to a GTE Pro win.
“That is exactly how I imagined my first race as a Porsche works driver,” said Frédéric. “A great race, but really challenging. We started on a dry track, then it began to rain which made our tyre choice difficult. We changed the rubber quickly without losing too much time. Even switching back to slicks went smoothly thanks to our swift pit crew. A big compliment to our whole team: that was a great job.”
“It’s fantastic to kick off my first WEC season with a victory,” enthused Marco. “After two laps it began to drizzle, which made it very difficult to drive consistent lap times. My first priority was not to fly off the track. It’s been a long time since I’ve had to compete under such changeable conditions. You enter a corner that looks completely dry on slicks only to suddenly find your car going sideways and you’re looking ahead out of the side window. That was pretty hair-raising.”
The number 91 Tandy/Pilet/Bergmeister car started from the front row, but a stop/go penalty saw them in the pits eight times versus number 92’s six. Finishing P2 was a pretty good achievement, all things considered.
“We had a very good car, regardless of whether the track was dry or wet,” reflected a philosophical Mr Tandy. “In my first stint I enjoyed a great fight with a Ferrari. The rain gave us a few hairy moments, but I love it when unexpected things happen and you have to adjust your strategy. It proved really difficult not to make a mistake. I’m pleased that everything went so well, especially here at Silverstone. Driving on this circuit is always fun, particularly in such difficult conditions.”
The WEC now moves on to Spa on May 3rd. I’m at Donington with EB Motorsport at the FIA Masters Historics that weekend, but we’ll find a way to watch the boys do battle.
by John Glynn | Apr 20, 2014 | Porsche People, Race and Rally
Just spotted Frédéric Makowiecki’s name listed as a works driver in one of the Silverstone releases. I had no idea Fred Makowiecki was a 2014 Porsche works driver – a quick search through the Porsche database shows no press release for the signing. He is listed on the Porsche works racing drivers’ homepage, though.
Fred Makowiecki now Porsche works driver
Always fast in a Porsche and a former French Carrera Cup champion, Makowiecki (above, left) was most recently attached to last year’s works Aston Martin squad, where he took wins at Circuit of the Americas 6 Hours and the 6 Hours of Fuji. Seems Aston let a few people go this year – their loss here for sure – and Fred was snapped up by Stuttgart.
Porsche Motorsport boss, Hartmut Kristen, called this one perfectly, as Fred took a win on his first time out for Team Manthey Porsche Racing. Edit: just found mention of the signing in a later Porsche press release (below).
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Frenchman Frédéric Makowiecki (33) will join the ranks of Porsche Motorsport’s GT squad this coming season and pilot a 911 RSR. Makowiecki, who prefers to be called Fred Mako, is a regular competitor behind the wheel of Porsche race cars. He has collected more than nine years of experience in the cockpit of the 911. One of his greatest achievements was clinching the title of the Porsche Carrera Cup France in 2010.
“Frédéric Makowiecki is one of the fastest and most experienced GT pilots,” says Porsche Head of Motorsport Hartmut Kristen. “He has a great deal of experience on virtually all international race tracks and he knows precisely how to drive a Porsche 911 fast. I’m very much looking forward to working with him.”
