Porsche’s plans to run a pair of works 991 GT3 RSRs in the World Endurance Championship and at this year’s Le Mans were confirmed today by the respective championship organisers: FIA and ACO.
Stuttgart is keeping us gagging for all-new RSR pics, but the drivers have been rubber stamped. Porsches number 91 and 92 will be run by Manthey and driven by six works pilots: Lieb and Lietz in the 91 car, partnered by Romain Dumas at Silverstone, Spa and Le Mans, while the 92 car goes to Bergmeister and Patrick Pilet, with support from Timo Bernhard at the same three races.
Everyone else will be battling it out in ALMS for the year, so I wonder what the chat is like at the Porsche drivers’ training camp in Tenerife right now (pic from today by Michael Christensen).
The works cars race in LM GTE Pro at Le Mans, while three customer cars fall into LM GTE Am. IMSA Performance Matmut and Proton return, both running 997 GT3 RSRs. Shame no Nic Armindo with the tri-coloured IMSA team, instead Raymond Narac will drive with Jean-Karl Vernay: reigning champion of Carrera Cup France.
Vernay has support from Porsche to race in Supercup this year, which should be interesting. IMSA will also run a second GT3 RSR featuring Pascal Gibon as lead driver. All we need now is Seb Loeb, and we’ll have most of France driving Porsches this year. Loeb Racing’s entered an ORECA-Nissan, but a lot can happen in 24 hours.
As for the second customer team, Mrs Glynn will be delighted to see newest ALMS GTC Porsche driver, Patrick Dempsey, popping up in Ferdinand posts from Le Mans this year. The Gray’s Anatomy heart throb and rather handy racing shoe will chalk up 24 hours in the number 77 Dempsey Racing-Proton Porsche RSR at Circuit de la Sarthe, along with topping Sarah’s list for the fifth or sixth year running. Patrick Dempsey & Ewan McGregor: nothing else matters to SG on TV. Apart from David Tennant.
I’ve got three girls, but that doesn’t mean all television is My Little Pony. My two youngest are quite technically minded and like to know how stuff works, so Discovery Channel’s How It’s Made is perfect.
Here’s a piece we just watched together – the two youngest are home from school with colds this week. How It’s Made filmed this at Brembo’s manufacturing plant for ceramic brake discs. It’s pretty fascinating stuff: no wonder ceramic brakes are not the cheapest things out there.
Porsche 911 997 GT3 models with centre lock wheels built between February 2009 and April 2010 were recently recalled for an issue with the rear wheel hubs and bearings. Transport authority notices note that “in rare circumstances, the wheel hubs and wheel bearings on the rear axle may break. If the rear wheel hubs and bearings break, the driver may lose control of the vehicle and create a hazard to the driver and other road users.”
Porsche representatives have allegedly told other mags that hubs and bearings “don’t break” and are being replaced “to standardise the revision intervals”. But owners discussing this in a Rennlist thread note that Porsche Cars NA has been telling owners not to drive their cars until the replacement has been carried out.
A number of owners on GT3 forums have shared how their hubs did break, causing their cars to go out of control. Something else to check if you’re in the GT3 market and another big reason to buy from a Porsche 911 GT3 specialist. This video below shows what happened when one owner’s hub gave out at speed on the Nurburgring. Much harder treatment than the majority of owners will ever give their hubs, but still pretty scary when you know what is coming!
Twenty-six New York hedge funds have just a few days left to appeal a state court’s dismissal of their lawsuit against Porsche.
The funds claim they were defrauded by Porsche in 2008, when it bought a huge amount of VW stock behind the scenes, while outwardly claiming it had no intention to raise its stake in Volkswagen. When it transpired that Porsche had amassed a stockpile of Volkswagen shares in a bid to take over the company, prices for Volkswagen soared and funds who had bet on a decline in the stock price lost fortunes.
The action was Porsche suicide, ultimately leading to the collapse of the company and takeover by the intended victim. The hedge funds weren’t happy with that and brought a $1.4 billion lawsuit against the carmaker in the NY state courts.
Last August, New York courts gave the lawsuit a green flag to continue, but the decision on December 27th axed that decision, on the basis of Porsche being a German based company, stating New York state courts were an inapproropriate forum. Porsche’s burden of proof on this regard was described by the courts as ‘heavy’: only the NY state appeals court can now rule in the hedge funds’ favour. A decision is still outstanding on a seperate $2 billion lawsuit in the federal appeals court. Yes: two lawsuits.
Meanwhile, German legal action surrounding the affair continues, with Stuttgart prosecutors recently bringing charges of market manipulation against former Porsche Chief Executive, Wendelin Wiedeking, and former CFO, Holger Haerter. Legals for both denied any misconduct by their clients. Not sure if I’m on either side here, but the whole sorry tale is incredible.
I keep coming back to the notion that gamblers should expect to lose, as both parties eventually did. I’m far too naiive for the world of stocks and shares.
Googing & Company just brought a record price for a Porsche 718 RSK at their sale in Scottsdale, Arizona. Running Friday and Saturday, January 18 & 19, the auction got the year off to a flying start, with some excellent results in the sale hall.
There was plenty of Porsche content scheduled. The most rarified Porsche on the programme was lot 112: a 1959 Porsche 718 RSK Spyder, chassis number 718-023. Number 023 is one of 35 RSKs built at Stuttgart, and is a matching numbers car with its original body. The history was unbelievable: huge detail available and most recently owned by a prominent New York collector.
Gooding wrote a terrific description and advertised the sale everywhere: likely instrumental in the impressive end result. Estimated at $2.8M to $3.2M, the car was greeted by some excited bidding, quickly shooting up from the early $2m mark to looking like a sale at $2.6M. But no – there was still life left at that stage and it went on to finish at $3.135M: a record price for an RSK at auction.
I love auctions and miss that sale hall buzz when watching Gooding’s excellent Internet stream. Gotta get to a few more sales this this year: I’m guessing Essen will be my first of the season.
Doing the school run today, my ten year old asked “where would you go if you could travel back in time?”
For me, the answer is obvious. 356 Speedsters awaiting delivery – how could any man resist a brand new Speedster, even before they were worth what they are nowadays?
I was born at the end of the 1960s. I’m glad I arrived when I did, but to be amidst great Porsche history being made would be my choice. What about you? Targa Florio, Le Mans, a certain motor show, a certain film star? 😀
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