![Spa: Porsche 919 LMP1 takes Pole for Spa 6 Hours]()
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.
![Spa: Porsche 919 LMP1 takes Pole for Spa 6 Hours]()
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 22, 2014 | Classic Porsche Blog, Race and Rally
The 2014 Sydney-London Marathon Rally is in full swing. As the cars approach the last of thirty-three stages raced in Australia, two Tuthill Porsche 911s hold station in the top five, split by just over a minute.
Previous winner of the event, Francis Tuthill, is following the rally and and supporting his Porsches as they play a long game behind a trio of Z-cars. It’s impossible to win a month-long classic rally event in the first two weeks, but very easy to lose it through unreliability or lack of concentration.
The beautifully built 911s of Joost Van Cauwenberge and Simon Connolly cut a handsome shape through the Australian bush in these photos. Sydney-London is the third outing for the white car of Joost and he’s come a long way since his Moroccan debut, when the initial support plan involved a Sprinter van and champagne. Love that Belgian style!
Simon makes his marathon debut on Sydney-London and is doing a really superb job. To be fifth, just twenty minutes behind the leader after nine hours of competitive rallying keeps him in touch with opportunity. Both cars are well placed to move up should problems arise as the Australians leave their native soil and we head towards familiar Porsche territory.
I know my Aussie mates will be torn between supporting their guys and supporting the Porsches. I have no such worries!
by John Glynn | Apr 21, 2014 | Classic Porsche Blog, Race and Rally
At the end of 2011, Brumos Porsche in Jacksonville, Florida announced a tie up with Porsche AG to produce a limited 911 edition of just five cars, commemorating Hurley Haywood’s record five overall wins in Porsches at Daytona in 1973, ’75, ’77, ’79 and 1991.
Modelled on Brumos Porsche’s famous Number 59, the base car chosen was the Carrera GTS: easily my favourite water-cooled 911 to date. The UK launch of the 997 GTS was our last trip out with Porsche and, as grand finales go, it was excellent. With over 400 horsepower on tap, 997 Carrera GTS is all the 911 you need.
The Brumos Porsche 911 B59 edition is Brumos’ factory-manufactured special. Featuring custom 59 paint and some cabin decor highlights, the chassis options say it all about sport purpose: LSD with sports suspension, heated front seats with adaptive sports backrests, sports shifter, Sport Chrono Plus and extended navigation.
The limited edition sold out quickly, and Brumos has just released a great short film, showcasing where they ended up. It’s a journey through some incredible car collections, and some indisputable Porsche fans. Take a look:
by John Glynn | Apr 20, 2014 | Porsche News, Race and Rally
Away from the Porsche LMP1 hybrid’s debut, the evergreen 911 soldiered on at Silverstone today. Porsche Team Manthey took a solid 1-2 ahead of Darren turner’s Aston Martin, with new boy Frédéric Makowiecki piloting the number 92 Porsche 991 RSR shared with Marco Holzer and Richard Lietz to a GTE Pro win.
“That is exactly how I imagined my first race as a Porsche works driver,” said Frédéric. “A great race, but really challenging. We started on a dry track, then it began to rain which made our tyre choice difficult. We changed the rubber quickly without losing too much time. Even switching back to slicks went smoothly thanks to our swift pit crew. A big compliment to our whole team: that was a great job.”
“It’s fantastic to kick off my first WEC season with a victory,” enthused Marco. “After two laps it began to drizzle, which made it very difficult to drive consistent lap times. My first priority was not to fly off the track. It’s been a long time since I’ve had to compete under such changeable conditions. You enter a corner that looks completely dry on slicks only to suddenly find your car going sideways and you’re looking ahead out of the side window. That was pretty hair-raising.”
The number 91 Tandy/Pilet/Bergmeister car started from the front row, but a stop/go penalty saw them in the pits eight times versus number 92’s six. Finishing P2 was a pretty good achievement, all things considered.
“We had a very good car, regardless of whether the track was dry or wet,” reflected a philosophical Mr Tandy. “In my first stint I enjoyed a great fight with a Ferrari. The rain gave us a few hairy moments, but I love it when unexpected things happen and you have to adjust your strategy. It proved really difficult not to make a mistake. I’m pleased that everything went so well, especially here at Silverstone. Driving on this circuit is always fun, particularly in such difficult conditions.”
The WEC now moves on to Spa on May 3rd. I’m at Donington with EB Motorsport at the FIA Masters Historics that weekend, but we’ll find a way to watch the boys do battle.
