A great orange RSR hillclimbing video has been doing the rounds of the ad-packed ‘German Car Scene’ blogs lately. It shows the Porsche 911 of Swiss hillclimb driver, Willi Jenni, competing on a number of national championship rounds. This is it:
My orange 911 Carrera 3.0 came from Switzerland, and was maintained out there by former Swiss hillclimb champion, Alain Pfefferle, who won the title in a Porsche 935. Here’s Alain driving Bergrennen Oberhallau 2010 in the car: note this is a real one!
Also note just how tidy these boys are on track: there’s very little opposite lock. Sideways might look fun, but tyres hooked up and pushing the car forwards is the fastest way to go.
Oberhallau 2011 will be held at the end of this month: 27/28 August. You can follow live web timings on the Bergrennen Oberhallau website here. I’m going to have to get myself to one of these events one day: they look absolutely superb.
No matter how many horror stories you hear about the Swiss speed camera obsession, Switzerland is a great place to go mountain climbing in a 911. The drive that little brother Sammy and I enjoyed at the start of the 2010 Bergmeister Tour was absolutely unforgettable. The fact that it was totally illegal might have had something to do with it, but who can tell with hindsight?!
Just surfing Youtube for some rally videos and tripped over some nice footage of the GT1 at Le Mans in 1996. Forums are starting to buzz about this year’s Le Mans trips, so I thought we could add to the excitement.
Porsche 911 GT1 at Le Mans 1996
Le Mans 1996 was the debut race for the beautiful 911 GT1 (seen above at the Porsche Museum in both road and race uniforms) and it was expected to do well.
At the start, the GT1 of Dalmas took the lead for an hour’s racing, before being passed by the Joest prototypes. In the second GT1, Stuck and co watched, and waited. After 24 dramatic hours, the GT1s finished second and third. The Joest was first to the flag, followed by the experienced Stuck/Boutsen/Wollek combination. Had both GT1 cars not been in the gravel and required repairs as a result, they could have stitched it up.
Irony of ironies, the Joest was a car Porsche had changed their minds on. Built by Tom Walkinshaw, it ran Porsche power (a 3.0 version of the 935 engine) but not the manufacturer’s name.
The Joest beat the second place GT1 by a single lap. In 1997, it repeated the feat, and Porsche decided to bring the project back in house. Thanks to a raft of quick cars from the competition, it never won again. In 1998, the GT1 finally won Le Mans, and Porsche retired their bespoke racing efforts for almost seven years.
I wrote a few days ago about the upcoming Porsche Youtube coverage of Röhrl/Geistdörfer at Targa Tasmania. Some questions over the classic 911 rally car they’re using: is it an SC RS? Engine shots do look similar, but the chassis is quite different to the SC RS that was being restored on my last Stuttgart visit. I’ll find out when it comes home again (edit: see the SC rally video Porsche have just posted).
Here is an SC RS though, in the closest finish I can remember in Irish rallying. The Donegal International Rally is a tough three-day event that takes no prisoners. Running through the rugged terrain on Ireland’s north west Atlantic coast, it is all mixed weather and dry stone walls. There are no second chances here. One slip and you are in deep trouble – as the video shows.
1985 was a landmark year. Legend Austin McHale in his Manta 400 was chasing a win after two years of playing bridesmaid. The rest of the field was Manta 400s and hot rod Escorts: the last gasp of old-school RWD rallying before the AWD philosophy really took hold.
Tony Pond was present in the first real outing for the Group B Metro 6R4. By SS6, the car had a 1 minute 45 second advantage over P2: over two seconds a mile faster, and Pondie was not flat out. If you’ve ever seen a 6R4 apart, you know that is utterly terrifying as they are made of fresh air. Thankfully the car retired before anyone could impact the scenery.
When the event gets going, Billy Coleman (the King of Irish Rallying), is on mesmerising form in the Rothmans 911 SC RS. 911s always went well at Donegal: Cathal Curley won here three times in a row in a 911 in the early 1970s. Coleman too has tasted success on the event: winning in a Lancia Stratos in 1977, and then in a Manta 400 in 1984. He’s the natural choice for David Richards to take on Donegal in 1985.
At the end of day two and a fairly major hold up, the man from Milltown has climbed back from being over a minute and a half behind McHale, to what he thinks is 9 seconds behind. Turns out he is 39 seconds behind, with 40 miles to make it up the following day. In fact, it is less: the final stage is cancelled due to spectator problems.
Can Coleman do it? You’ll have to watch and see. Coleman came back in a 6R4 the following year and won the event.
This month’s 911 and Porsche World magazine features a story on Derek Bell and his 928 Club Sport, written by me with photos by my partner in crime, James Lipman. Thanks to Derek’s hectic so-called retirement, the job took me a few months to set up, but it was well worth the wait: it was a truly fantastic experience from start to finish.
Porsche at Weissach built a small number of tweaked 928s for the works drivers. At the time of shooting, the car was owned by Justin Pressland, but it has since sold to a Belgian enthusiast and well known collector of important Porsche cars. Partly a shame as Justin was the perfect owner: an outright aficionado of the model, who regularly used and enjoyed the car. The 928 is now in good hands, however, and I expect to see it out and about on the European classic Porsche scene in 2010.
As for Derek Bell: what hasn’t already been said? As a five-time Le Mans winner, Derek is obviously a driver par excellence, but behind the glamour of racing, Derek is an intelligent, engaging conversationalist and a very entertaining man to spend time with. He is certainly deserving of his revered status within the Porsche community.
Here’s a brilliant bit of video illustrating the genetic connection between man and machine. This is Derek Bell in the Porsche 956 at Le Mans in 1983. The 24-Hour Le Mans race went right to the final lap, between the number three Porsche 956 of Al Holbert and Bell’s number one car.
Entering the final stint one lap down on Holbert, the number three car began to slow as a blocked radiator generated engine damage. Bell unlapped himself and charged on. On the very last lap, the Holbert car’s engine seized and then stalled. Holbert managed to get it running again but crossed the line just 17 seconds ahead of Bell. What a story!
Observe and absorb the awesomeness of that speed along the Mulsanne Straight: it was a privilege to work with this legend of Porsche. We had lots of fun with Mister Bell and hope to work with him again in the future.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.AcceptRead More
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
