I spent the morning at Tuthill Porsche, doing more stuff on Safari packing operations to share via Tuthill social feeds on Twitter and Facebook. The Team Tido cars are back for last minute checks and all looking fine. Check out this one, built using terrific Almeras-kit Porsche panels from our friends at EB Motorsport: *drool*
Alongside the two container-loads of tyres, wheels, suspension parts, roll cages and more, each car being run on the 2013 Safari Rally by Tuthills has a crate of all-new parts that travels with it. Charlie B has been gathering those parts, and her guys are now building up the metal frames to go in wooden crates, boxing them up for shipping next week. Open the crate, put the frame in your Landcruiser and hey presto: ready to rock.
Race week is getting ever closer! There’s a ton of other stuff happening in Wardington,with Safari right at the heart of it. I’m always thrilled to be part of the Tuthill crowd, but I think this year is the most exciting ever.
Apparently, the 2013 Tuthill Safari team is the biggest single rally team ever assembled. I’m keeping mum on numbers, but easy to count how many parts crates are in that container, assuming everyone turns up. Every crate of parts used would be best-case scenario, or should that be worst?!
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It’s the Silverstone Classic this weekend, with added Porsche content by way of the UK 911 50th Celebrations and the FIA Masters Historic Championship, featuring the Tuthill-built 3.0 Porsche RS and RSR of EB Motorsport.
Taking place from Friday 26th to Sunday 28th of July, Silverstone Classic claims to be the world’s biggest classic motor racing festival. The spectacular three-day event features the best historic racing, covering more than eight decades of motor sport.
Tickets for this year’s Silverstone Classic have only been available to buy online in advance, with no tickets sold on the gate. We’ll see how that works over the next three days: hopefully everyone who’s hoping to come got the memo.
For those who do get in the gates, the festival has something for all race fans, including Sabine Schmitz in a 962! Classic F1, Group C heroes, sportscars like the Lola T70 and classic Chevrons and a ton of car club parking to wander through.
I’m there with Mark and James from EB Motorsport. EB’s yellow Porsche 911 RSR is currently running joint second in the 2013 championship and the boys are hoping for some rain this weekend to give EB a chance of pulling points back. The forecast is not too encouraging for rain, but you never know at Silverstone!
EB cars qualify today and race tomorrow. Sunday is the Hungarian GP – a tough one to resist on Sky F1 – but also on Sunday, the Porsche Club GB will have over 1,000 911s lapping the track, in celebration of the model’s 50th birthday. Somewhere in there will be Tuthill’s Safari-winning Porsche, fresh from Goodwood, the EB Motorsport cars and who knows what else.
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Sabine Schmitz will drive a Porsche 962 at the 2013 Silverstone Classic, which runs this Friday to Sunday at our home track here in Northamptonshire.
Since first appearing on Top Gear and thrashing Clarkson around the ‘Ring in a Transit van, Sabine Schmitz has carved an unassailable niche as totty of choice for the discerning Porsche racing fan. The 1995 and 1996 Nurburgring 24-Hour winner will share a Porsche 962 with Klaus Abbelen in the Group C showdowns at Silverstone.
“The Porsche 962 is such great car for the purists – I just love driving it,” said Sabine Schmitz. “With all the downforce in the fast sections, racing the 962 is going to be a fantastic experience, if a little painful on the poor old neck muscles!”
This year’s Group C grid includes six Porsche 962s, with ex-F2 racer Herve Regout the predicted pacesetter. Others worth watching include Japanese Katsu Kubota in his Nissan R90C – a winner at the 2011 Classic winner – plus the 1989 Mercedes C11 ‘Silver Arrow’ shared by Gareth Evans and triple FIA Thoroughbred Grand Prix champion, Bob Berridge.
The Group C race through dusk on Saturday was a blast last year. Here’s hoping for more of the same! When we’re not watching the action, you’ll find us in the paddock with EB Motorsport, racing in FIA Masters this weekend. Stop by and say hello if you’re passing.
Jersey Porsche mate Jamie sent me this pic a while back and I am well overdue in sharing it. It’s his 1972 911S, now running as an ST. Originally Viper Green, the car runs a 2.9-litre flat six built by Bob Watson, so goes well enough.
Jamie hillclimbs the car on the island: you’ve got to do something with a car like this on an island with a blanket 40 mph limit! Given that it’s 911-50 year, the most recent Bingham hillclimb as part of the Jersey Motoring Festival had a significant Porsche focus, so no doubt his beautiful car turned a few heads.
“We had 30-plus 911s from the 1970s to date, including RS 4.0, original RS and various 993RS etc all doing parade sprints. Healeys were over in force from the UK, so there were a lot of very nice, very quick cars taking part. We had our work cut out for us versus the 450bhp race-prepped Healeys, but we gave it a good go! Just nice to be out in the car, having fun with like-minded people.”
Original Viper Green 1972 911S running as ST. Is there any finer expression of the roadgoing early 911? That 76 912E shell I’ve got in the USA is heading in this direction.
Jamie’s car appears in this video from the 2012 event. His 2013 entry led to fourth in class and lots of Porsche fun. Good job mate!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QGSUjDebFQ
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Ferdinand blogs my freelance adventure with Porsche at the centre. To support the blog or engage with me in other ways, you can:
Love this photo of current Belgian Historic Champion, Glenn Janssens, back in action this weekend in his Almeras-style Tuthill Porsche. Glenn returns to action following his super scary crash at over 100 mph in Haspengouw.
Car and driver are running in this weekend’s Ypres Historic, Belgium’s most storied event and an unmissable part of the European classic rally calendar. Anyone who has been to Ypres will know the town, the atmosphere and the territory around this unique part of Europe. It’s a proper setting to rally through, and we wish Glenn all the best for the weekend.
The car has had quite a bit done to it over the months it’s been at Tuthill Porsche in Wardington, Oxfordshire. The Tuthill boys have repaired the damage suffered in the mega-shunt and added a few chassis tweaks here and there. The transmission is all new – an evolution of the Tuthill Porsche dog ‘box – and the engine has been refreshed.
Belgian driver, Mats Myrsell, was recently asked for his best memory of the Ypres Historic by an interviewer. His reply was “that gorgeous waitress I met in a cafe off the square”. Hopefully this year, a few people will leave with the best memory of Glenn Janssens’ fire-breathing 911, en route to victory in 2013.
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Ferdinand blogs my freelance adventure with Porsche at the centre. To support the blog or engage with me in other ways, you can:
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