Glenn Janssens leads the Belgian Historic Rally Championship, following victory in a Tuthill Porsche 911 equipped with the all new Tuthill Porsche Dog Box on last weekend’s Wallonie Rally.
Wallonie was the third round of the Belgian Historic Rally Championship. Janssens’ victory is the driver’s second podium this season after finishing second on the opening round.
Janssens and co-driver Tom de Geetere stormed to an early lead in their 3-litre Porsche 911, after posting two fastest stage times on Friday. “Friday evening was wet and the opening cobblestone stage was slippery. We started with a reasonable safety margin, but were surprised to find our pace was quickest,” said Janssens.
Over the next two days, Janssens extended his lead. By Sunday’s chequered flag, he had a winning margin of over two minutes, claiming 17 out of 22 class stage wins.
“Our car has been running extremely well since Tuthill built us a specially developed gearbox at the start of the season,” added Janssens. “On this event, the car was absolutely perfect from start to finish; it couldn’t have run better. I was seventh before Wallonie, so it’s fantastic to leave with a championship lead.
“My goal is to be champion this year. We can drop the results from two events out of six so, if I was to drop my second event, I have actually finished first and second so far. I’ve got some big competitors, but if I keep going like this then my chances are good.”
The fourth round of the Belgian Historic Rally Championship – the Sezoens Rally – will take place on May 19, where Janssens will be joined by his regular co-driver, Stephane Prevot.
Richard Tuthill: “It’s been a very successful weekend for Tuthill Porsche; both at home and abroad. On the Pirelli International Rally, Dessie Nutt (above) and Edmund Peel finished second and fifth in class. It was also a fantastic performance from Glenn over the weekend in Belgium.
“With 90 percent of the Belgian championship run on Tarmac, the Sezoens Rally coming up next is unique, because it will challenge the competitors with mostly gravel roads. Glenn is feeling confident: we have a superb suspension set-up on the car now, with good gravel tyres. Last year we finished second with Glenn, so our sights are set on a repeat podium as a minimum.”
British media channels are obsessed with the 2012 London Olympics at present, but British athletes continue to impress beyond the Olympic microsphere. Good examples can be found in motorsport, such as Porsche Carrera Cup racing.
English driver Sean Edwards (below) had a cracking start to the 2012 Carerra Cup Deutschland season at Hockenheim this weekend, narrowly missing out on a weekend whitewash. Edwards is the master in a racing 911, and this first race was proof of that.
Starting race one from the pole, Edwards was second early on but quickly recaptured the lead. A measured pace out front looked like a guaranteed victory, until a lap six puncture put him out. Team-mate René Rast took over the lead, eventually winning the race with his usual determined style of driving. P2 went to Nicolas Armindo, with rookie wheelman Michael Ammermüller finishing third on his debut Porsche Deutschland event.
Ammermüller’s excellent podium finish, from eighth on the grid at the start stamped his class on a second Porsche championship, after an electric performance in Bahrain last weekend on the Porsche Supercup series. Bahrain is an exceptional track that shows 911s at their most exciting.
Race two start positions were set by qualifying lap times. Edwards again took pole, initially pulling out a lead on Estre and Rast. While his challengers managed to catch up eventually, Sean never conceded the position. The win (above) was well-deserved, but René’s third place means he maintains the championship lead. The driver standings show Rast out front on 36 points, followed by Armindo on 27, then van Lagen third with Ammermüller fourth on 23.
Could this be the year a rookie wins Carrera Cup Deutschland, once Michael Ammermüller (above) has the car how he wants it? Rast and Edwards had better watch their mirrors: we’re in for an exciting Porsche racing season. The Porsche Carrera Cup Germany is really an incredible race series: all Porsche motorsport enthusiasts should check this series out.
Reading Porsche’s press release from the first round of the 2012 Supercup, it’s tempting to think “procession”: a race led from start to finish, with a follow-me-home podium. In-car shots of winner René Rast en route to victory might help that impression, but footage screened on Eurosport from the on-car cameras tells a different story.
Starting from the clean side of the track, pole man Norbert Siedler lost out to Rast when the lights went out: the canny two-time champion held the line from his dusty grid slot to the first corner turn-in, sticking his 911’s nose ahead of Norbert (below).
Siedler stayed close, punting Rast up the rear at one stage, but René was inch-perfect with track position, leaving no open doors. As Siedler’s tyres howled protest as early as lap two, Britain’s Sean Edwards stuck it up Siedler’s inside and kept his tyres together, eventually finishing P2: two and a half seconds behind René.
Tyre management was the story of this ten-lap torture. Track temps for the Formula 1 qualifying were in the mid-40s, so the Supercup Michelins were worked hard from the start. The F1 teams are all complaining of heavy tyre degradation here, and TV pictures show chunks of rubber being flung from front tyres at various parts of the track. Five laps in, the Porsches were sliding all over the shop, clearly demonstrated by the rear-facing cameras of cars out in front.
The differing fall-off in tyre performance led to some great battles down the field. Christian Engelhart and Michael Ammermüller (above) had a terrific scrap over fourth: Ammermüller’s rookie energy urging him on. Michael’s eventual move on Christian into tricky turn ten took some balls. Up front, Edwards showed style to stick with the winner. It’s early doors yet, but a smart man into his 911s might stick a few quid on Sean for the title.
Race two is tomorrow, with plenty mixed-up grid positions. The race will be shown on Eurosport and Sky around 11 AM. If I find race one online, I’ll share the link.
As per my Porsche Supercup in Bahrain post, I attended last year’s Nürburgring 24-hour with Falken Tyres and their Porsche 911 GT3 R. It was a great event from start to finish, so I’m delighted that Falken Tyres Europe is supporting new Ferdinand magazine by taking us out there again.
Last year was fun, resulting in a decent Total 911 article and much blog coverage. This year we’re hoping to go more in depth, and blog some unique live coverage while on site.
The 2012 Falken drivers are as last year: Porsche works driver Wolf Henzler, Le Mans hero Peter Dumbreck and Porsche Junior, Martin Ragginger. All are quick and all want to win. The car has also been developed since last year and is even more competitive. It led the field at the opening VLN round before breaking a driveshaft: that part has been uprated as the team chase after reliability.
As for how we’re getting there, Flybe properly messed me around last year so I ended up taking the orange 911 Carrera (below, on site). I’m hoping to have that in with Racing Restorations for its strip down and refresh by the N24, so it’s time to service the Subaru and get it stickered up with the new Ferdinand artwork.
Here’s some video from the Falken Tyres Youtube Channel to show the action we’re expecting. This is top man Peter Dumbreck starting VLN from the lead: love the view of the rest of the field in the rear view GoPro.
At the heart of the N24 weekend is Porsche’s passion to race. Though it trails in the American Le Mans series, Porsche always goes well in the N24, so it’s a thrill to know we’ll be back there again.
Ferdinand blogs my freelance adventure with Porsche at the centre. To support the blog or engage with me in other ways, you can:
Here’s a nice little video of a Porsche 904 prototype from 1963/64 – serial number 904-002 – at the Cars and Coffee event in Irvine, California.
Developed as part of the new 100-car-a-year homologation rules introduced in the early 1960s, Ferdinand A. Porsche is down as saying that the 904 was his favourite Porsche design. Though 904s were initially equipped with the 2-litre four cylinder four cam RSK engine to compete in the under two-litre category, it sounds to me like this car now runs a flat six.
We can see that this prototype has some interesting features. The doors finish at the top of the sill lines: other 904s go down into the sills (see the model box pic above). That rear canopy also looks quite flimsy compared to the later 904 held in the Porsche museum (chassis number 008) which seems much less wavy on video.
My guess would be that early cars went as thin as possible, and the engineers added to the thickness of the fibreglass as development continued: something to read up on later. That said, the finished 904 was a light car. Weight was around 650 kilograms, so it could sprint to 60 in six seconds and on to 160 mph.
The blue colour is interesting: a change from the usual silver. I think metallic colours work better on 904s but a prototype is a prototype: if this is how it left the works, you don’t mess with it.
Ferdinand blogs my freelance adventure with Porsche at the centre. To support the blog or engage with me in other ways, you can:
More great Porsche Rennsport Reunion video has just gone up on Youtube. Some of it is from Friday practice, some from Saturday and Sunday racing. All of it is COOL.
Check the skids, and the height that 911 inside front wheels get to when they’re sliding down the Corkscrew! Awesome!
Porsche Rennsport Reunion Video
About Porsche Rennsport Reunion:
Laguna Seca Raceway hosted Rennsport Reunion IV, the fourth installment of the world’s largest classic Porsche motorsport gathering. Rennsport Reunion is sponsored by Porsche Club of North America, and brings together automotive enthusiasts, owners and collectors of significant Porsche race cars, past and present.
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