by John Glynn | Mar 31, 2014 | Classic Porsche Blog, Race and Rally
Following its record-breaking 17-car entry on the 2013 East African Safari Classic Rally, renowned UK Porsche specialist, Tuthill Porsche, is amongst the first teams to commit to the inaugural Classic Rally of South Africa.
Tuthill Porsche South Africa
Held over five days from September 1, the 2014 Classic Rally of South Africa will cover more than 2,000 kms, including 800 kms of special stages through the incredible Mpumalanga Valley, close to the Kruger National Park, and South Africa’s borders with Mozambique and Swaziland.
The South African Classic is the brainchild of Surinder Thatthi, former head of the East African Safari Classic Rally and FIA World Council representative for Africa. Early rally entrants, John Lloyd and co-driver Adrian Cavenagh, have chosen a Tuthill Porsche ‘Safari’ 911 to attack this epic endurance event. Lloyd has previously tasted success with Tuthills, finishing fourth overall on the 2005 Safari Classic in a Porsche 911 prepared at the rally team’s base in Wardington, Oxfordshire.
“We’re excited to be heading for South Africa, racing to win in an all-new location,” says Richard Tuthill. “The team behind Classic South Africa is the same group that made Safari such a test of car and character. With a challenging route through a glorious landscape, no doubt this rally will be just as exciting.
“Thanks to discounted entry fees on this inaugural event, we’ve created some attractive arrive-and-drive packages with full car support. Enjoying a Tuthill Safari Porsche at speed through some of the most beautiful scenery anywhere is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, not to be missed. The opportunity to break new ground in rallying is rare, so we’re looking forward to a strong Team Tuthill presence in Nelspruit on September 1st.”
by John Glynn | Mar 3, 2014 | Porsche News, Race and Rally
Race fans deserve epic paint schemes. Standing outside in all weathers, watching cars go around with no clue what’s happening half the time, the least teams can do is make the cars sexy with a great livery to inspire followers.
Porsche has finally dressed the 919 Hybrid for in its Le Mans livery. The car is pure sex, but the paint scheme’s got all the allure of a fax machine. Let’s hope there’s a stealth raid on Leipzig with some pig-coloured spray paint.
Bring on the Martini Williams! And where’s the Veltins on LMP1? Can’t be the final version.
by John Glynn | Feb 23, 2014 | Classic Porsche Blog
The name Ferdinand comes from an old Spanish conjuncture of faro, meaning journey and nano, meaning brave. Brought to Austria by the Habsburg dynasty, it spread from there to France, but the origins of Ferdinand are rooted in Iberia, as a traditional name in the house of Castile. In Spain and Portugal, the name is Fernando.
Of course we always have Ferdinand in mind, but we remember a different Fernando today. He is Adolf Ferdinand (Fernando) Roy Stock (above, in the shades): Portugal’s first ever rally champion, finished third in the Tour of Europe and was an Iberian champion in Porsche and Mercedes. Born February 23, 1914, Fernando was celebrated by his family today. Brother Jose sent me a note for his anniversary, and so we remember him too.
Seen here on the 1953 Monte Carlo Rally, Fernando was given the number one plate as lead car on the event. One of 112 participants to depart for Monaco from Lisbon, Fernando and co-driver Pinto Basto drove their early 356 1500 Coupe as one of a record 404 total starters and a highly appropriate 356 finishers.
For all the appropriateness of the finishing tally, Monte Carlo ’53 was not kind to the Porsches. Several of the 356s entered were excluded for being 2cm too low overall, the subsequent furore compounds the mockery earned by Monte organisers over the years. Remember the Mini Coopers.
So many people confuse great Porsches with pristine, ultimate speed machines. But real Porsche is here in these pictures. It is hope and ambition, struggle and risk, joy and pain. Motorsport teaches us highs and lows: don’t forget that all Porsches are born of racing.
Obrigado Fernando, and all those Porsche pioneers. Still a big part of our family!
by John Glynn | Feb 8, 2014 | Classic Porsche Blog, Project Cars, Race and Rally
Just had these pics through from our mate and Japanese Historic racing champion, Tetsu Ikuzawa, of his immaculate short wheelbase 911 fitted with lightweight Porsche doors made by Yorkshire’s EB Motorsport.
Now the Japanese distributor for EB 911 parts, Ikuzawa’s car also runs a bonnet, deck lid, bumpers, polycarbonate headlight lenses, side and rear windows and lightweight engine tins from the EB classic Porsche 911 parts catalogue.
Lightweight fibreglass or ‘glass fibre’ panels on Porsche once conjured up images of ill-fitting parts that failed to inspire. EB literally broke the mould on junk fibreglass: all the EB panels I’ve seen have been of superb quality. EB Equipment has been making composite parts for the agricultural and food production industries for more than fifty years, so those boys know their stuff. And they are great fun to hang out with.
Ikuzawa’s car must be super-light now: I’ve asked him to weigh it for us. Here’s some video of Tetsu in action in a Porsche 906. Stick with it, as the early close-crop madness gets better.
Tetsu Ikuzawa drives Porsche 906 (video)
by John Glynn | Jan 26, 2014 | Race and Rally, Porsche News
Porsche has claimed a richly deserved victory on the maiden event of the 2014 Tudor United Sportscar Championship. Running the 24 Hours of Daytona with a two car works RSR team, Stuttgart combined trademark reliability with masterful pace when it mattered, to bring the lead 911 home just seconds ahead of its closest competitor and take its 76th class win at the high-speed Florida circuit.
I don’t know who called the driver mix of Richard Lietz, Patrick Pilet and Nick Tandy, but the chemistry could not have been better. Running anywhere from P1 to P4 over the course of a hard day’s racing, the trio were supreme against the SRT Viper race cars, which had looked unassailable in qualifying. Not to mention the mighty space-framed GTLM Corvette race car, which seemed to have ultimate speed for much of the race.
Many incredible stories reared their heads across twenty-four hours of racing, but the most exciting came in the final three minutes, when Joey Hand’s BMW Z4 got within touching distance of the number 911. My heart was in my mouth for the last two laps, as TV cameras focused instead on a titanic scrap in the GT Daytona class. When the cameras swung back to the Porsche, it was Pilet crossing the line for the win.
I am in meltdown: that was incredible. If this is a sign of things to come in 2014, we are in for a memorable season. Now we need more factory racing posters!
