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by John Glynn | May 3, 2014 | Porsche News, Race and Rally
No podium places in the Porsche 991 LMP1 Spa challenge today, as the number 14 hybrid failed to capitalise on its pole position start. That is not to say the race was disappointing! It was great racing all the way, with strategies right through the field playing out in the closing stages.
Porsche 919 LMP1 Hybrid Sets Early Pace
The first hour of racing was electric. Porsche works driver, Neel Jani, set his fastest lap early on: a 2:01.898, the fastest lap number 14 would achieve over 360 minutes of racing. With the chasing number 8 Toyota unable to close the gap, Jani double stinted, while Toyota pulled an early stop, putting Sebastian Buemi in the car.
Handing over to Marc Lieb in the lead, Buemi had been logging very quick laps, but was not close enough to take the lead with a clean Porsche pit stop. However, a problem in the stop caused a hiccup for the 919 on exit, allowing Buemi through.
Buemi Toyota shows untouchable pace
Once in front, the former Red Bull junior brought his A game and took off. The Toyota was soon almost half a minute in front, but Porsche had already decided to switch strategies, putting the number 14 on a fuel save and double-stinting tyres. Toyota’s game was drive it flat out: a driver swap to Anthony Davidson brought fastest lap of the race: a 2:01.3.
Behind the 14 car, Timo Bernhard’s sister Porsche hybrid was spending more time in the garage. Early in the race, the number 20 Porsche LMP1 car had a rear suspension problem which brought it out of pit lane two laps down. There followed a series of front end interventions, costing Porsche a lot of time: down 22 laps at one stage.
Number 20 Porsche Hybrid Reliability Problems
As the race rolled on, the Audi LMP1 cars were surprisingly slow on the straights, but came into play as the race rolled on. Both Toyota and Porsche advised their drivers to stay off the kerbs: apparently some driveshaft issues for the 20 over hard kerbs at Eau Rouge and Raidillon.
We live tweeted the event, which proved to be a lot of fun, as US followers searched web feeds and Romain Dumas struggled with electrical problems on the 14 car, dropping it a lap and a half at much-reduced pace. We were following pictures on Motors TV with commentary by radiolemans.com. A tweet of their comment “Porsche’s decision to leave Romain Dumas out and press every button he could reach has paid off” brought a few smiles.
When the chequered flag fell, Neil Jani took fourth, one lap down in the number 14, while the always-awesome Patrick Pilet in 911 RSR number 91 had hunted down some GTE Pro Ferraris and nabbed class second: fourteenth overall. With one car on the podium despite a 25-kilo penalty, the GT championship rolls on to Le Mans.
Le Mans test will follow Spa Francorchamps
LMP1 glory was never going to come easy. While Porsche leaves Spa with some work left to do, there was good early pace in the hybrid. Some gossip shared online suggested the Porsche 919 leaves the garage with a fully charged energy store, but that energy can never be fully replenished on track. How true that is is anyone’s guess.
Next month is Le Mans. The pre-Le Mans test day will be covered by radiolemans.com, and who knows how Porsche will fare in France. This is the culmination of their ‘return to racing’ promo: can the LMP1 project retain public attention post Le Mans?
It will be a huge shame if it doesn’t, as the car is clearly rapid. It should have winning potential when reliability is sorted and they start to get the max from the power train. The battle with Toyota is fascinating and those Audis won’t stay slow forever.
Are you following the LMP1 car? Share your thoughts on Spa in the comments.
by John Glynn | May 3, 2014 | New Models, Porsche News
A pressure group formed by UK 911 GT3 owners has won compensation from Stuttgart in the Porsche 991 GT3 fire scare, reports the Daily Telegraph.
Denied the use of their all-new Porsche sports cars following the failures which led to fires on 991 GT3 models, group leader Sunil Mehra says owners who received their cars will get a £5,500 lump sum from Porsche, with a further £1,500 payable per month until the cars are returned to working use.
Buyers who ordered cars that have arrived in the UK but not yet been delivered will be refunded £4,000, as well as being paid £1,500 a month while their cars are off the road. Ferdinand Magazine has already been in contact with owners who have returned their GT3s to Porsche for a full refund.
Inconsistent Compensation
“I wish it had happened sooner,” Mehra told the Telegraph, while sharing tales of inconsistent treatment for owners whose cars have not yet left Germany. “I’ve heard from two members of the same family, one with a car here and the other with a car in Germany, and only one of them is getting compensated. It’s grossly unfair.”
The Telegraph claims that owners in other countries are receiving more money than those in the UK. The paper has been shown emails from Dubai Porsche 991 GT3 buyers receiving £12,000 back in compensation payments.
About Porsche 911 991 GT3 Fire Scare
Porsche is replacing all engines on the brand-new 911 GT3 model. In February, two cases of engine fires destroying 911 GT3 cars led to a full investigation by the Stuttgart manufacturer, which eventually decided that con rod connectors were to blame. The suggestion is that con rod bolts fail, leading to engine internals breaking through the crank case and spraying hot oil onto the exhaust. This then sets fire to the rear of the car and quickly spreads to the whole 911 bursting into flames.
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by John Glynn | May 3, 2014 | Porsche News, Race and Rally
The Porsche 919 LMP1 Hybrid has taken pole position for the 2014 FIA WEC Spa 6 Hours. The race is being run today (Saturday) and will be shown on Motors TV from 1PM UK time.
Wet Qualifying for Porsche at Spa
Spa Francorchamps 6 Hours is the second race for the LMP1 Porsche prototype. Qualifying took place on a drying track: unprepared for in a wet practice 1 and dry practice 2. The number 14 919 of Neel Jani, Romain Dumas and Marc Lieb will lead the field off the grid after Jani set a time of 2:00.334: 2.5 seconds faster than the number 20 sister car.
Behind the 919 are group of winning cars and drivers. Led by Davidson, Lapierre and Buemi in the Toyota, the third place Audi and fourth place Toyota will all be chasing hard, as will Webber, Timo Bernhard and Brendon Hartley.
“Brendon Hartley did improve his lap time as well but had no time left for a second lap,” said Andreas Seidl, Porsche’s LMP1 Team Principal. “What the team did today is just amazing. This result is a great reward for a very tough job.
“We made all the right calls in difficult conditions. It was clear that the track would improve and that is why we decided to get those drivers back in the cars who were running on intermediate slick tyres in the beginning. Their lap times had the biggest potential for improvement.”
“In qualifying I stayed out for a bit too long so there wasn’t enough time left for Brendon to do two flying laps, said Timo Bernhard. “Nevertheless it was a great qualifying. Congrats to the guys of car number 14 – we will keep working to improve our car for tomorrow’s race.”
TV Coverage of the Spa 6 Hours
Motors TV will cover the race with more than 7 hours of airtime scheduled. There is huge potential for proper motorsport drama so get yourself to a comfy chair and enjoy! We will live tweet highlights and updates from our feed at @cultofporsche: Ferdinand Magazine’s motorsport twitter feed.
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by John Glynn | May 1, 2014 | Porsche News, Porsche People
Porsche CEO Matthias Müller has revealed the carmaker’s plans to spend “significantly more than one billion euro this fiscal year, in substantial investments and significant expenditures”.
Porsche: Sharapova, Webber and record Q1 Revenue
“We are focused on fulfilling the promise of our brand – to offer the sportiest and technologically cutting-edge vehicles in our segments – on a long-term basis,” said the Chairman (above with the sugarcubes, Sharapova and Webber). “The improvement of fuel efficiency as well as a responsible use of resources are integral parts of Porsche strategy.”
2014 has started well for Stuttgart. Q1 deliveries were up almost 5% on last year at 38,663 vehicles. Q1 revenue is up 20% year-on-year to just under 4 billion euro. Operating profit has increased by 22%, while employee numbers have also risen, topping 20,000 people in February.
Record Workforce at Porsche AG
Employee numbers are a good indication of how well things have been going. Three years ago, total employees was 13,000. Since then, the company has increased staff numbers by more than 50%. That is seriously going some.
At the end of March, the total number employed by Porsche was 20,416 people: up 15% year-on-year. Almost 1,000 people were added in Q1 alone and that number will keep rising in the run up to Macan, which will be built at Leipzig. Want to work at Porsche with these guys? See all Porsche jobs here.
“Porsche sales will rise once more in the 2014 fiscal year,” predicted Matthias Müller. “The market launch of the Macan will give us an additional boost.”
Porsche Macan: High Expenditures
To make money, one must spend money, and Porsche has more to spend on Macan. “There are high expenditures for meeting the CO2 requirements and substantial investments in the build-out and modernization of the Zuffenhausen, Leipzig and Weissach locations,” noted Lutz Meschke, the board’s man in finance. “Assuming that sales in Europe will continue to stabilize despite the unresolved structural problems*, our aim is to achieve at a minimum a profit comparable to the previous year.”
I’ve just spent a while looking at government budgets by country. Porsche AG could start issuing passports if it keeps up this level of spending.
*Not sure what this means but am checking it out.
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by John Glynn | Apr 29, 2014 | Porsche News, Race and Rally
Tuthill Porsche customer and former Belgian Historic Champion, Glenn Janssens, has taken his first win in the Rallye de Wallonie, round three of the 2014 Yokohama Belgian Historic Rally Championship.
Three Days of Hard Charging
Chased hard from the start by Raphael Borman’s Escort, Janssens could not relax when the Ford hit trouble. Right behind Borman was long-time rival Dirk Devereux in another Escort, closely followed by Patrick Mylleville in a Tuthill-fettled Porsche.
When the chequered flag fell after three days of flat-out action, it was Janssens and experienced co-driver Stefan Prevot who crossed the finish line first, and on top of the championship leader board. The Tuthill Porsche team could not contain its excitement following another strong European win.
Tuthill Thrilled to Win
“The Belgian Historic championship is a true test of rally machinery,” said Richard Tuthill. “This country may look flat, but the courses demand tough cars and precision driving. Glenn excelled with this win and rightly takes the championship lead.
“Nothing excites Tuthill Porsche more than great competition. Glenn is a great competitor and a pleasure to work with. The championship runs to November, so we’ll be working flat out to keep the car on song, ensuring Glenn and Stefan get the support and equipment required to fight for victory. A second Belgian Championship title for a Tuthill 911 would be an amazing achievement.”
“This weekend, we used three different brands of tyres,” said Glenn. “I started on Dunlop but found more grip with the new Pirelli tyres we used on Saturday afternoon. On sunday I switched to Michelin rubber, which was most effective in this excellent weather. I’m really looking forward to the next round of the season.”
Round 4 of the 2014 Belgian Historic Rally Championship is the Sezoens Rally, starting on May 16th. Here’s some video of Glenn Janssens in action last weekend:
by John Glynn | Apr 28, 2014 | Classic Porsche Blog, Porsche News
Now Ted the Jack Russell Terrier is here, I’m probably going to run a split dog guard in the Cayenne and maybe get a roof box for the odd time the whole family takes off in it. Seems the standard Cayenne roof bars are too wide for most aftermarket boxes: need to try and find a Porsche one.
Looking at Cayenne roof box pictures on Rennlist (mostly a deterrent to my idea), I found these pics of Andy Roe’s paint-to-sample 1991 964 C2 Coupe with a Thule roof box fitted. Seemed pretty handy so I dropped him a line.
“At 320 litres, this is more than enough space for what I need,” says Andy, a Briton now living in Bologna, Italy who tours with his family in the Porsche. “There’s enough space for 4 or 5 reasonably-sized bags. I keep the heavier bags in the car.”
People will no doubt ask about the change in noise and efficiency. “No real change in wind noise at 65mph,” Andy explains. “Fuel economy did suffer slightly: maybe 5-10% difference. Some change in the way the car accelerates and how hard you need to brake when fully loaded, but nothing major. I recommend this to anyone trying to make their 964/993/911 more practical.”
No doubt there will be a few haters, but I bet Andy clocks up more miles fully loaded than most of them. This to me seems a great way to use a 911 more often and avoid the dreaded 320 Touring. It’s not going to damage the car and keeps the car in regular use for more than weekend meets.
