by John Glynn | May 15, 2012 | Porsche News, Race and Rally
This weekend is the 2012 Nürburgring 24-Hour race. I’m there with Falken Tyres Europe and in the garage with Porsche works driver Wolf Henzler, Peter Dumbreck, Martin Ragginger and Sebastian Asch.
As 170 cars take to the most famous racetrack in the world for the 2012 24-Hour, I’ll be attempting some live Porsche reportage through the weekend, via the Ferdinand Porsche Magazine Twitter feed, and blog posts with pics. It all depends on decent wi-fi availability, so fingers crossed for that.
One team that is bound to be in the news is Manthey Racing. Manthey will field four 911s with most of the Porsche works drivers amongst their pilots. This year, Manthey will not use the GT3 RSR, but the GT3 R. “Last year’s winning car has earned its place in the Porsche Museum,” says Olaf Manthey. “We will use two GT3 R (as lead cars). Both vehicles are cared for in Meuspath since 2010, and we have modified the cars over the winter to bring good performance, as the last VLN races have shown.”
Manthey’s leads cars run numbers 10 and 11. 10 is a Moskovskaya Pinstripes GT3 R, driven by works boys Marco Holzer, Jorg Bergmeister and Patrick Long, alongside SuperBrit Nick Tandy. 11 is the Wochenspiegel Assist-liveried 911, piloted by Stuttgart’s own Marc Lieb, Richard Lietz and Romain Dumas, with former works driver Lucas Luhr also in the car. 12 and 14 are also run by Manthey: a GT3 MR and GT3 Cup respectively.
The team is guarded on this year’s chances. “We did win in VLN already, but that does not make us favourites for the 24-Hour,” says Marc Lieb. “The fast factory BMW, and factory-backed Audi R8 and Mercedes-AMG SLS show how close the GT3 competition. In changing conditions, the Z4 goes around corners as if on rails, until they arrive at the Döttinger Height so far ahead that you cannot challenge. Our advantage is the top speed on the straights and the fuel consumption. The 911 has a four-litre engine with six cylinders: the engine is the smallest among the top cars.”
This all sounds like sandbagging, but outright speed did not bring victory in last year’s race. Peerless reliability was Manthey’s route to victory. This year, their intention is identical. “For the 24-hour race, we check once every screw, every clip and every part, however small it may be,” says Olaf. “We started early with the complete routine inspections, well before our last VLN race. As for the typical Eifel weather, we are well sorted. Our company is located in the Rufreichweite Döttinger Height, and in 30 years based here, we have overcome every possible Nürburgring weather situation already.”
Last year’s 24-Hour really switched me on to modern Porsche motorsport: the Hybrid’s charge and the Carrera World Cup was the best racing I had seen in ages. Follow Ferdinand Porsche Magazine on Twitter, or track our updates here.
by John Glynn | May 1, 2012 | Project Cars, Race and Rally
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.”
![Porsche Carrera Cup Germany: Thrilling Season Opener]()
by John Glynn | Apr 29, 2012 | Porsche News, Race and Rally
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.
by John Glynn | Apr 28, 2012 | Porsche News
Spotted this 991 Carrera with a duck tail on the Porsche stand at Essen. I was not entirely mesmerised by Porsche’s stand at this year’s Essen Techno Classica. Previous stands felt better as the heart of the action in Hall 3 with the rest of the Porsche World, rather than in amongst the VW-Audi Group offerings.
There were some nice Porsche cars on the stand, but all felt lonely surrounded by unrelated product. Maybe that’s just me. One thing I did like was this 991 Coupe with the duck tail spoiler: seemed to work well on the new shape 911.
The Porsche sales guys present couldn’t tell me much about the ducktail, apart from it would form part of an options pack. There was no information on said options pack, though they thought it might cost around €4,000 for the front and rear bumpers and this ducktail.
Fit and finish was perfect so I presume this was not a prototype – the plastic looked very productionised. The Porsche folks couldn’t tell me if it was factory fit, so maybe your dealer will have to paint it for a cost on top of that. You can see from the pics that it is static: the flap above opens up to check oil and – yes – water. Not much else to see, really.
The front end looks good and I like those wheels, but wonder how it would look with 19″ or 20″ Fuchs instead. Those wheels are coming: keep in touch with UK Fuchs dealers for more info on the bigger Fuchs.
by John Glynn | Apr 21, 2012 | Porsche News, Race and Rally
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.
