Our second day on the 2015 Circuit of Ireland was day one of the rally. Robert Woodside and Allan Harryman would set out from service in the Tuthill Porsche 911 R-GT just after 9am and head into the hills of Downpatrick for the Buck’s Head stage, then on to the famous Hamilton’s Folly, before finishing around Lough Henney.
The rally would then regroup back at service and do a second loop of the same three stages that afternoon, before finishing with two runs through a special stage around Newtownards town centre that evening.
Mood was good in service as a group of us headed for Buck’s Head to watch the Porsche coming through. We would spend the next two days on the road following the rally, led by an expert recce guy and rally driver. It definitely made my Circuit something special: kudos to Robert for organising this, and main man Stuart Woodhead for driving our minibus!
Circuit is a round of the European Rally Championship (ERC) and not the World Rally Championship (WRC), which this Porsche usually rallies in. WRC cars are seeded according to pace, so the 911 and Robert were known to have enough speed to run in the main group, but the ERC crowd put them in behind the ERC cars and just ahead of the National Rally: local competitors in everything from WRC Subarus to classic Escorts.
This was no great hardship for Robert and Allan, but it meant we spectators had to get into position before the rally arrived and then wait 45 minutes for the Porsche to come through. This was not always a trouble-free and Buck’s Head was a perfect example. Couple that with spectator areas where you couldn’t even see the cars and no wonder fewer people go to rallies these days.
Anyway, we got into position and waited. The Porsche was cautious through the square junction on front of us and pace on the opening stage was steady: Robert was playing it cool and keeping it together over a muddy, slippery stage. Leaving that stage later than planned, we headed back to service for a couple of hours then headed back out towards Hamilton’s Folly.
If one stage sums up The Circuit, maybe this is the one. Second longest stage on the event at 17kms, it has the most spectacular scenery and the biggest jumps. Our vantage point was exceptional: we could see just over a mile of high-speed road section that would surely set Porsche hearts pounding.
The lead group came through with no issues – a few wobbly moments on the jump early on in the stage – but one breakdown right in front of us. This narrowed the road quite considerably, so I was a bit worried for the 911, but some spectators got the car running and by the time the 911 came through, it was clear. The boys were definitely pushing harder on the much drier roads.
Lough Henney was also good for the car, but we headed straight for Newtownards to watch the special stage. Our leader was awesome at parking us right by the front, so we walked in to town and prepared for Porsche arrival. As we ate our chips and awaited the sound of the flat six, the commentator announced the Porsche was on the start line. And then it went wrong.
“Here it is: the one we’ve all been waiting for – the superb Porsche 911 GT. The clock’s ticking down – and – oh no, there’s a problem. Robert Woodside can’t get the car off the line. Oh no, this is a disaster for Robert.”
It was a disaster. We went back to the stage start and waited. Allan ran through some resets, but we had definitely lost all drive. The boys brought the van down to the stage, we loaded the car and headed back towards service. What happened next? Find out in part 3.
Just back from the 2015 Circuit of Ireland Rally with Tuthill Porsche, doing team media and shooting some video of the Porsche 911 R-GT rally car. As the first contemporary Porsche 911 rally car to take part in ‘The Circuit’ (as we call it in Ireland) for almost thirty years, this was a proper weekend, worthy of my volunteer status!
Circuit of Ireland Porsche drivers
Robert Woodside and co-driver Allan Harryman were in the car for this event: two great guys whose fathers have both won previous Circuits. Having set fastest stage times in the production class last year, they would be quick and precise. Testing went well and Robert put huge effort into sorting out some great sponsors for the event, including Karcher UK and Rushmere Shopping Centre: Ireland’s second-largest shopping mall.
I flew in on Thursday and went straight to service in Belfast’s Titanic Quarter. It’s eleven years since I was last in Belfast and it looks pretty different now! Titanic Quarter is based around the docks and slipways where the most famous ship in history was constructed. It’s super interesting and a great place for the rally HQ. We were right by the entrance, so our tent was surrounded by spectators throughout the weekend.
As soon as I arrived, we were off: the car was due in scrutineering and we had to make tracks. I’ve just started using a Sony HXR-NX30E camcorder (awesome device), so I had a little play with that as the car went through technical inspection and received official approval to take part. The Sony’s complete lens and sensor unit is internally stabilised – check out the video at the bottom.
Once back from scrutineering with permission to compete, we had a short while to change tyres and get the car ready for shakedown. Robert and Allan took over the Porsche from here, and did two runs on a closed course to see how the car felt (top pic). That all worked out fine, so then they headed off to Belfast City Centre for the ceremonial start, while we retired to the hotel to make preparations for the following day. More of this story tomorrow!
Classic Porsche racing parts specialists, EB Motorsport, scored an emphatic result at Goodwood last weekend, finishing second in a unique race for pre-‘67 Porsche 901 and 911 racers.
Twenty-two Porsche 901s and 911s took to the grid for the Aldington Trophy, honouring Porsche GB founder, John Aldington. Following an exciting twenty-minute race, former BTCC champion Andrew Jordan came home first overall, with EB’s Mark Bates just twelve seconds behind at the flag. Yorkshire’s two-time Masters Historic champion was over the moon with his podium finish in the beautiful Light Ivory 1965 SWB 911 race car, built by Tuthill Porsche.
EB Motorsport 1965 Porsche 911
“With a short practice, short race, and so many proper racing drivers on the grid, I wasn’t sure where we’d end up,” said Mark. “Our 1965 911 has done well in endurance events for FIA cars, like the Spa 6 Hours, but this was a sprint race, and our first time at Goodwood.
“Andrew Jordan is a touring car champion and exceptionally quick: we’re pretty pleased to be best of the rest. 2015 is the first full season for our short wheelbase 911, so we’re still on a learning curve. We’re running a brand new Tuthill Porsche two-litre engine, and an all-new exhaust developed in-house, so it was good to test the package in racing conditions.”
Tuthill Porsche Historic Race Preparation
“This is a great validation of Tuthill Porsche preparation and build quality,” said Richard Tuthill. “The Porsche 2-litre flat six is a beautiful engine, and one that our team enjoys decades of experience with. We made some last-minute tweaks to carburation before the car left for Goodwood on Friday, and were delighted to see them pay off. The chassis and engine package comes together perfectly on track at the hands of a highly talented driver. Well done Mark: roll on the next event!”
The next outing for the EB Motorsport 911 is at the Donington Historic Festival, from May 2-4. Follow all EB Motorsport race news at www.eb-motorsport.com.
I walked into a Porsche showroom on Monday and found an old friend waiting to greet me. Not unusual to find friends in Porsche showrooms, but surprising to find this 1974 Porsche 911 Carrera tribute for sale, as part of me thought the original owner would never sell it.
I first met this Porsche 911 at Tuthill Porsche in 2008. The owner, Oli Wheeler, had bought a very nice silver E-reg G50 Carrera Coupe base from Chris Harris, and then started talking to Richard Tuthill about building a tribute car. He was besotted with a feature I had written for 911 & Porsche World magazine, entitled “Citrus Carreras”.
The story revolved around my own 1976 Porsche 911 Carrera 3.0 in Continental Orange, versus good mate Nigel Watkins’ Lime Green 1975 Porsche 911 2.7 Carrera, which he had used to win the Curborough Sprint Championship. My car is called Orange, Nigel’s was called Limey: hence all the title stuff etc.
To defend his racing crown, Nigel had put Limey on a bit of diet, fitting carbon fibre bumpers and spending a fortune on an engine rebuild and re-cammed mechanical injection pump, amongst other things. However, when he went to go racing back at Curborough, his composite bumpers put him in the same class as a full-carbon Lotus Elise and the like. The shine went off the 2.7 and he sold it to build a 964 RS (replica) for more sprinting, which he managed to sort quite successfully after first buying a real 964 RS, which he found too hard to go racing in. Oh, the conversations we had about that…
Anyway, Limey had gone in part exchange on the RS to another good guy: the charming Neil Dickens at The Hairpin Company. Neil sold it to one man, then bought it back, then sold it on to someone else. In between all his moving it around, he met me and photographer Matt Howell at Bicester for a day out, where we shot the feature that would captivate Oli Wheeler some time later.
“Oli wants to build one of these cars, but he’s not sure which to go for,” said Richard on the phone in 2008. “He loves your Orange, and loves Lime Green: can you bring yours down for him to look at?” In the end it was not needed: Oli went with Lime Green (Gelb Grün) as the colour for his build, in homage to Limey. Jamie and I later shot Oli’s car at Wardington for another 911&PW feature.
Oli’s car was built to a sensible budget. He’d just sold a Ferrari 430 and had a few quid to spend, which went on things like:
Bare metal respray with some backdate cues: rear bumperette delete etc
Engine fettle with Jenvey throttle bodies, Omex ECU
SSIs and Dansk rear pipe
Tuthill billet brake calipers
Suspension overhaul
Recaro Pole Positions trimmed in leather
I drove it for a day and enjoyed how the Jenvey ITBs had improved the driveability. Seats were just perfect, car rode a treat but I didn’t like the 16″ Fuchs that had been left on the car. It needed 15s. Oli had it for a few years before emailing to say he had traded it for a 996 Turbo plus cash, which surprised me then and still surprises me now.
Whoever had the car after Oli fitted the 15″ Fuchs it deserved in the proper daisy petal finish, and now the 1974 Porsche 911 Carrera tribute is for sale, priced at just under £70k. I’ve not had a close look underneath it, but being around this car still makes me smile.
It was good to swap some emails with freelance graphic designer and classic Porsche artist, Arthur Schening, this week. Arthur sent me some examples of his work that really caught my eye: distinctive and evocative renditions of classic Rennsport racing cars. I knew there had to be a theme at work, so I asked him to elaborate. Arthur’s response struck a familiar chord!
Porsche Art by Arthur Schening
When I was very young, my older brother took me to see Steve McQueen’s movie, Le Mans. At that time, the only racing cars I was aware of were American stock cars. The movie cars were different. They were very cool, and exotic, and the sound they made was fantastic. And the Porsches were the good guys – at least that was the way I saw it – battling against the vile Ferraris to ultimate victory. I have been a Porsche man ever since.
Sometime later, I discovered the Porsche 911. It was not beautiful, nor particularly powerful. It was small and odd looking – a bit like me. But there was something about that shape. It was clean and simple, and it looked purposeful. And it fought heroically against the bigger, prettier Ferraris and Corvettes – another villain in my mind. I grew up to appreciate the aesthetic beauty of the Ferraris, and admire (although never love) the Corvettes. But they are not Porsches.
Being a freelance graphic designer and illustrator is not lucrative. I was born to a middle-class family. I am not wealthy, and I will never be able to afford the cars that I desire. But my occupation does give me the ability to create a likeness of the things that I love. If I wanted a Porsche 906 or 910, I would have to create it for myself.
I started working on this series of historic racing car illustrations in my free time a few years ago, when I was not working on client projects (a benefit of working for myself). I never intended to illustrate more than a few cars that I wanted to hang on my walls at home. But with each illustration I complete, the list of cars that I covet grows. I suppose this project will continue on for a while longer.
Visit Arthur Schening’s Online Gallery
Arthur Schening is a freelance graphic designer and illustrator living in Arlington, Virginia. His work is available to purchase as prints from his website featuring an online gallery of classic endurance racing sports cars. I am quite taken by his style: expect to see more of it on Ferdinand Magazine in the future!
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