by John Glynn | Jul 12, 2014 | Classic Porsche Blog, Race and Rally
Our friends at Tuthill Porsche are chasing a win on Sweden’s Midnight Sun Rally. Porsche virgin, Patrik Sandell, is at the wheel and driving a near immaculate rally on his 911 rally debut.
It’s surprising that Sandell – the 2006 Junior World Rally Champion, currently starring in the US-based Red Bull Global Rallycross series – has never rallied a Porsche 911. There was a time when most budding rallyists would have clocked up 911 seat time, exploring the rear-engined icon on gravel.
But the 32-year old Swede comes from a different generation, where front-wheel drive Ford and Citroen rally cars dominate the junior classes, and there is no perceived need to understand rear-drive dynamics. Nonetheless, Patrik is giving it everything in his Below Zero Ice Driving Porsche to keep in touch with former winner and multiple runner-up, Kenneth Bäcklund in an Escort RS.
““I have finally realised what pure flat out action is,” said Patrik at the end of Day 1. “Driving a no pace notes stage rally with a rear-wheel drive car on great stages is awesome!”
“It’s been pretty interesting out there and Patrik has certainly shown his speed,” says Richard. “Yesterday was ultimately a bit frustrating. The first stage we were bang on the pace, despite a minor overshoot. From then on, due to a very hard packed surface with no gravel at all, plus the stages being very well known by all around us we struggled.
“The good news is that we ran through some setup changes and have ended up with a better setup running EXE TC dampers all round. It will be great to see how today goes on stages that are less well known to the drivers: this will level out the playing field.
“Second place is infinitely doable but to win we will need others to face misfortune. We must also not discount a few quick boys breathing down our necks as well. One mustn’t forget this is Patrik’s first time in a Porsche and the completion at this level is very high.”
With a recent win against the Red Bull Rallycross heroes in Washington, Sandell is clearly at the top of his game. To see a 911 being driven this hard by a relative new boy with no pace notes is thrilling. I am loving this event and the arrival of an exciting new force in classic rallying!
by John Glynn | Jul 6, 2014 | Race and Rally
Michelin has sent through another great “We Are Racers” video, featuring the Porsche Le Mans highlights from 2014. “We Are Racers” documents Michelin at Le Mans 2014 through a series of motorsports visions, shot with French flair and exploring the drama of race life in the pits, as a team.
Watching the video gave me pangs of withdrawal, and I’m just a Porsche enthusiast writer. Imagine what it’s like for a winning mechanic, a driver or car designer. What must their weeks without Le Mans be like?
I recently watched a great documentary on Gordon Murray: the South African-born racing designer, famous for Brabhams and winning McLarens. For all of his F1 wins (more than 50 in total), Murray maintains that Le Mans is many times more difficult than Formula One when you consider what the car has to go through: an entire F1 season in 24 hours. An old school F1 season, that is.
After 20 years in F1 engineering, Murray retired from the sport to seek out new challenges. Keen to keep Murray’s ability away from the competition, Ron Dennis agreed to Murray establishing the McLaren F1 road car programme. Based around drawings from Murray’s early career, the 1100-kilo, 630 bhp F1 was the ultimate supercar: a zero-compromise driving machine, embodying the design philosophy of individual.
“I said from day one that we should never consider the F1 as a racing car because that would compromise it,” Murray noted. “Inevitably, there were customers who wanted to change that, and the GTR was the result. On its first visit to Le Mans in 1995 it won a historic victory.”
I’ve been up close and personal with a number of McLaren F1s, and they are a very special motor cars. Murray tells how only one day was allowed in the wind tunnel to develop the aerodynamics for the Le Mans McLaren F1. An aero-kitted road car, he gives his only regret as not having driven the winning machine to Le Mans and back.
Years after winning Le Mans with a car of his design, Murray’s passion for La Sarthe remains highly intense. But that winning car never bore his own name. So imagine Ferdinand Porsche in 1970, winning with a car that did have his name. Imagine having a hand in that car’s success: success that would be followed by many more Porsche winners. This is the spirit of “We Are Racers”. Perhaps our next win will come in 2015 – Michelin’s video sets us up for that dream.
by John Glynn | Jun 29, 2014 | Porsche News, Race and Rally
America’s Connor de Phillippi was denied a decent result at the Norisring this weekend, when chaos on a wet street course stopped the Californian’s Carrera Cup championship challenge in its tracks. De Phillippi was forced out of both races due to contact.
Both Carrera Cup races held on the exciting street circuit through Hitler’s former Nuremberg parade grounds brought the same face to the top step. Lechner Racing‘s Michael Ammermüller took debut back-to-back Carrera Cup wins in grand style, with a huge lead at the chequered flag in race 2.
I say huge: it was five seconds, but five more seconds separated second through to sixth. Carrera Cup Deutschland is the closest Porsche racing anywhere, so to finish five seconds ahead in these conditions with such strong opposition is super impressive.
First loser in race 2 was Earl Bamber, but the 23 year-old Kiwi who won a €200,000 Porsche Supercup scholarship at the start of 2014 is proving his massive talent every time he takes to the circuit. Starting seventh on the grid, Bamber had a great start, stayed focused and saved his tyres to pull skillful moves on Christian Engelhart and Porsche Junior, Sven Müller towards the finish, and finish second overall.
“It was like go-karts, battling all the way,” said Bamber. The post race video below shows how true that is, as Bamber, Engelhart, Muller and Ammermüller slip and slide on a greasy track within inches of each other. It is great racing and perhaps slightly worrying for Weissach.
Carrera Cup and Supercup is the breeding ground for future works drivers. If the baby-faced Müller can finish P3 in his first wet Carrera Cup race behind an undeniable 911 expert and the prodigious talent of Bamber, where will he racing in twelve months’ time? Weissach’s works squad had better watch out for these Carrera Cup kids: they are easily good enough to challenge for works drives.
Top of the driver’s table now is Konrad Motorsport’s Christopher Zöchling, another rising star. These are all names you will hear much more about! Zöchling leads by two points from Bamber, with De Phillippi a point down in third. Watch this race video from Porsche AG.
by John Glynn | Jun 22, 2014 | Classic Porsche Blog, Race and Rally
Former Belgian Historic Rally Champion, Glenn Janssens, blitzed to victory on the last weekend’s Ypres Historic Rally in a Tuthill Porsche 911.
Close to the Franco-Belgian border, the beautiful city of Ypres is storied in European rallying. First run in 1965, the Ypres Rally has attracted the biggest names in rallying, with previous winners including Walter Röhrl in the Opel Kadett, and a trio of Porsche victors: Bernard Béguin, Marc Duez and the great Henri Toivonen.
The Ypres Historic continues the great rally’s tradition of running through Ypres marketplace at the start before heading to the first special stage at Boezinge. Driving his powerful Tuthill Porsche 911, Jannsens and co-driver Stéphane Prévot dominated proceedings from the evening start on Friday, taking stage wins in all but the final sections of the two-day classic.
Tuthill Porsche wins Ypres Historic Rally
Fending off challengers including five-time British champion, Jimmy McRae, in an Opel Ascona and experienced rivals in quick Ford Escorts and very fast E21 BMWs, Janssens and Prévot married speed and experience to build a dominant lead, before managing their pace on the closing stages to come home first overall.
“Stage results don’t show the skill and concentration required to win at this level,” said Richard Tuthill. “Glenn’s got exceptional natural pace, which is encouraged by complete trust in his Tuthill Porsche platform and partnership with such an experienced co-driver.
“A long-time European classic, Ypres Historic is the Monaco Grand Prix of the Belgian Historic calendar. To take a convincing win against strong competition underlines the pace of our cars and proves Glenn’s fire to win burns brighter than ever. Well done to Glenn and Stéphane from all of the Tuthill Porsche team.”
Tuthill Porsche now moves on to the Goodwood Festival of Speed, charity support with five Porsche rally cars running at this summer’s Carfest and launching a groundbreaking Porsche rally car on this summer’s European WRC events. Top secret at the minute, but all will be revealed!
by John Glynn | Jun 17, 2014 | Porsche News, Race and Rally
There was no mistaking the familiar form of Matthias Müller at Le Mans last weekend. While most CEOs and directors sat in air-conditioned marketing suites, entertaining guests and playing with their phones, the Porsche CEO was in the pitlane with the drivers and mechanics, supporting his team and its efforts.
Not only was Matthias in the pitlane, but he was wearing full team garb, right down to the Adidas shoes. Can you imagine the Ferrari chairman in a mechanics outfit? Luca in a Shell-badged workshirt, jumping in and out of the cameras? Not how Herr Müller played it – he was low key all weekend and seemed to spend most of Saturday and early Sunday morning in the pitlane.
Porsche Racing Tradition
This is the Porsche tradition of old: Ferry Porsche sitting amongst drivers, sharing the highs and the lows. No doubt Matthias and Co – including Klaus Bischof and a visit from Norbert Singer – had their share of the lows last weekend, but such is the nature of racing. With five rounds remaining in this year’s WEC series, anything can still happen. Porsche now has ten weeks or so to take the 919 a step further and further develop the areas flagged in last weekend’s racing.
It’s also worth remembering that Le Mans was twenty-four hours on track, while the rest are no more than six at a time. Six hours into Le Mans, Porsche was sitting very pretty. Let’s see where we end up after racing for six hours in Austin.
WEC Race Schedule 2014
Full details of the remaining races in the FIA WEC race calendar can be found at www.fiawec.com. In a nutshell, you should add these to your diary:
- September 20: 6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas
- October 12: 6 Hours of Fuji
- November 2: 6 Hours of Shanghai
- November 15: 6 Hours of Bahrain
- November 30: 6 Hours of Sao Paolo
Circuit of the Americas is on Singapore Grand Prix weekend. Fuji matches the Russian Grand Prix. Shanghai matches the American Grand Prix, but the rest are all on their own. A busy year of motorsport still to come!
Pic credit: Anyone using Twitter should be following @PorscheRaces, the official Porsche motorsport feed. This Le Mans was a mass of content with some great pics shared online. Follow our own @CultofPorsche feed too.
