by John Glynn | Dec 21, 2014 | Porsche News, Race and Rally
Porsche has announced a series of changes to its motorsport programme for 2015. Next year’s schedule was set out at the annual Night of Champions, where Jaap van Lagen was awarded the Porsche Cup as the most successful private driver competing in a Porsche during 2014.
Van Lagen is in rarified company, as only the second Dutch driver in the trophy’s long history to win this prestigious award. The other Dutch champ was the great Gijs van Lennep, who claimed the first Porsche Cup from Ferry himself back in 1970. Jaap’s prize: a brand new 911 Carrera S. Well done that man!
This was a week with much to celebrate. Weissach enjoyed a successful roll-out of the 2015 Porsche 919 LMP1 Hybrid with Marc Lieb piloting. The first test is scheduled for January 18-22 in Abu Dhabi: hopefully will coincide with a trip I am taking there also.
Porsche Motorsport 2015
Great to see Earl Bamber get a works drive for 2015: another richly deserved step towards a very bright future. Bamber’s awesome performances in Supercup and as a works stand-in did the trick.
A pair of works RSRs will race in America, from the Daytona 24 season opener. Bamber will partner Fred Makowiecki and Jörg Bergmeister in car 911, while Nick Tandy, Patrick Pilet and Marc Lieb share the sister 912. No mention yet of what super-quick Marco Holzer will be up to next year, but he was happy to tweet this pic of the boys decompressing with slot cars:
Taking Earl’s slot in Supercup is highly talented Italian teenager, Matteo Cairoli. I’m excited to see what Matteo can do in Supercup against the 2015 Porsche Juniors, Sven Müller and Connor de Phillippi. Also new to Supercup is incoming championship manager, thirty-three year-old Oliver Schwab. The former motorsport chief at Porsche China takes over from Jonas Krauss, who is leaving the company.
Every year, new names join the Porsche works squad and every year I expect to see someone lose out. While it has dropped two Juniors this year – farewell to Klaus Bachler and Alex Riberas – Porsche still maintains the biggest works driver lineup that I can remember, and more names will join for Le Mans, when Nico Hülkenberg (below) slides into the Porsche LMP1. We’re all keen to see who will partner the German, and how he will fare at La Sarthe. No one is keener than Porsche CEO, Matthias Müller.
“Motorsport is the soul and principle of this company,” said Herr Müller. “The best and most innovative technologies in our roadgoing sports cars come directly from motorsport.” A sentiment echoed by Wolfgang Hatz. “For Porsche, racing is more than an end in itself. On race tracks around the world, we test and develop technologies that are relevant for our sports car customers on the street.”
For all the chat about racing to develop road car technology, some of us go racing for one reason only: beating the rest. If we’re not winning, we’re losing, and we don’t like to lose! I’m not that bothered about how many cars Porsche sells, as long as each of these boys races their nuts off, and hopefully brings us to victory. The 2015 team looks like a potential winner to me, as it must be to beat the awesome Toyota squad. Roll on 2015!
by John Glynn | Nov 30, 2014 | Classic Porsche Blog, Race and Rally
Congratulations to Carlos Sainz Junior for securing a Formula 1 drive next year with Scuderia Toro Rosso. The well-deserved drive comes following a championship-winning season in World Series by Renault, and a few days sliding the Tuthill Porsche Below Zero Ice Driving cars, which Junior’s dad and two-time World Rally Champion, Carlos Senior, decided would boost his son’s speed in tricky conditions.
“Carlos Jr. is fully focused on his racing career, so of course we are here mostly for fun,” said Carlos Sr. (below) at the Below Zero Ice Driving campus, “but the experience should still help him understand the feel of a car a bit when grip is reduced, such as when it is raining.”
Carlos Sainz Jr Porsche Ice Driving
Arriving straight from Rally Sweden, the Sainz family enjoyed Tuthill’s Below Zero Ice Driving on the frozen lakes around Åre, one of Scandinavia’s premier winter sports resorts. Carlos and his brother Antonio are popular faces in the Tuthill Porsche camp. Antonio runs rally Porsches in Spain which Carlos employs to great effect, and the cars feature many Tuthill Porsche rally parts.
While discussing the impending engine rebuild on my 1976 Porsche 911 Carrera 3.0 with Tuthill’s engine guru last Friday, another engine arrived from Spain with Antonio’s name on it. A great relationship exists between the rally families, and Tuthills are also gearing up for some WRC R-GT filming with Carlos Junior’s Red Bull sponsors this winter. Hopefully we’ll see some of that before Rallye Monte Carlo, where the 997 R-GT will be back to rallying action.
Following the warmer temperatures Sweden has experienced in the last few winters, Below Zero has a shortened season on the frozen lakes next year. The team has set just six weeks aside for ice driving in 2015, from the 14th of January to the start of March.
Almost 150 car days have already sold out, so the team is looking forward to its most successful season yet. Those interested in joining an increasingly prestigious list of participants (including Mr Adrian Newey!) should email Belo Zero. Tell them we sent you, of course.
by John Glynn | Nov 30, 2014 | Classic Porsche Blog, Project Cars
The Porsche 911 RSR used an external gearbox oil cooler on its modified 915 transmission for better heat dissipation and increased reliability. The external housing for the additional oil pump gears required by an external cooler has been unavailable for decades, but EB Motorsport has now recreated the RSR oil pump housing using the latest production technology.
The EB oil pump housing is recreated in cast aluminium, using an original RSR assembly including the transmission end case to ensure an accurate fit in reproduction. A series of complex engineering procedures is required to achieve the high quality associated with all EB parts.
EB Motorsport’s reproduction 915 transmission oil pump housing is supplied assembled with bushes for pump gears. EB’s part also includes the correct metric/fine adaptors and crush washers. The price is £296 plus carriage and VAT.
As an additional service, EB can supply the complete system including transmission spray bars, pick-up drive gears and pressure relief valve. Prices for additional services are available on application via the website at www.eb-motorsport.com.
by John Glynn | Nov 27, 2014 | Porsche People, Race and Rally
One of the Porsche F1 driver rumours previously reported on Ferdinand was confirmed this morning, when Porsche announced that Nico Hülkenberg would drive for its LMP1 squad at Le Mans 2015. While there is no further news on Jenson Button, it proves that the third LMP1 car is not set aside for works GT drivers.
“The Hulk” currently drives for Force India on Formula 1 (based just down the road from us in Silverstone) and enjoyed a solid start to the 2014 F1 season. Recently confirmed with Force India for 2015, the Porsche drive will give him something else to do next summer.
“Porsche and Le Mans: this combination probably attracts every race driver,” said Nico. “I’ve been a Porsche fan for a long time and have been watching their return to the LMP1 class closely. The desire grew to drive that car at Le Mans. I am very pleased the 2015 Formula One calendar allows for it and I’m grateful for Sahara Force India’s generosity in letting me go for it. Now it’s up to me to work hard to satisfy both commitments.”
Nico Hülkenberg Porsche Drive Le Mans 2015
When Nico takes the start of the 2015 Le Mans on June 13, he will be the first active F1 driver to race at Le Mans since 2009. While The Hulk is no stranger to Porsche (he previously tested the 997 Hybrid at the Nürburgring), Porsche is bedding him into racing the 919 at the 6 Hours of Spa on May 2.
Quotes from the Porsche race personnel read like every other press release – “this proves our 919 Hybrid is a worthy race seat etc” – but there is no doubt that Porsche has pulled in another exceptionally quick race driver who has dominated most of the championships he has raced in. After some really impressive F1 race drives in less than stellar machinery, Hülkenberg missed out on a works Ferrari seat by the barest of margins and has always qualified well: his pace should put down a challenging benchmark.
Also important is Hülkenberg’s long-term Dekra sponsorship and experience with F1’s new drivetrain technology. Very few people have raced the latest generation of F1 cars and ,while there is little outward similarity between the two series, driving quickly with hybrid power demands a specific approach. Nico’s intelligence and understanding of high-level hybrid racing could give his car a distinct advantage: who knows until we go racing.
While this deal is just for a driver, it may also be that Porsche could somehow explore connections to Force India’s technical know-how and commercial activities. Vijay Mallya knows how to make a buck or two and India has a proper F1 circuit doing nothing. Perhaps there’s an opportunity to bring WEC to that part of the world. I’m just throwing it out there.
by John Glynn | Nov 24, 2014 | Porsche News, Race and Rally
Porsche has just announced a third 919 entry for Le Mans 2015. Anyone who has been following the Jenson Button Porsche rumours will be completely unsurprised and hopefully excited by the news of a third LMP1 entry, as it clears the way for a certain could-be ex-F1 driver to join the Porsche Le Mans 2015 team for the 24-Hours and maybe more.
The additional chassis also allows a few of the GT drivers to step up to the big one for the Le Mans 24-Hour, and means Stuttgart will be mob-handed at La Sarthe next year. The pitlane will be a hive of Porsche activity with three Porsche 919 Hybrids and perhaps another eight Porsche 911 RSRs buzzing around the place if 2014 is anything to go by.
Porsche Le Mans 2015
Le Mans 2015 dates are 13-14 June for the main event, with the testing taking place two weeks prior, on Sunday May 31. Scrutineering will be on Sunday/Monday 7-8 June. The schedule allows the teams to set up camp inside the Le Mans circuit, and leave their arenas assembled until the 24-Hour race has finished.
Whoever ends up driving them, three 919 Hybrids racing in France is quite a draw for the fans. No doubt a few convoys will be leaving the UK headed for Le Mans. Could we see new dad Mr Tandy in an LMP1?
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