Few things are more important to me than motorsport. While my first love has always been Porsche rally cars, the absolute top line of motorsport in my eyes will always be Formula 1, so I am super excited that 2015 WEC Champion and current WEC series leader, Porsche’s Brendon Hartley, is racing at the US Grand Prix in Austin this weekend in one of James Key’s beautiful Toro Rosso F1 cars.
To me, Hartley is one of the top five drivers in the world and easily capable of winning in F1. A former Red Bull driver and Toro Rosso reserve driver, who was dropped from the Red Bull programme eight years ago for whatever reason, Brendon has been typically candid in his own assessment of how things were back then and insists he is now far more prepared for the psychological challenges of this weekend’s opportunity.
“It’s a dream,” Brendon told Sky F1’s Ted Kravitz in his first interview at Circuit of the Americas. “I have dreamt about this moment all my life and support back home has been crazy. Honestly, I am trying to take the pressure off myself and tell myself “it’s just another race, it’s just another car”. In reality, I know that’s not quite true: it’s not just any other race and it’s not just any other car, but I’m trying to separate myself from that.
“Obviously, the support back home has been incredible. It’s been quite a while since we saw a Kiwi in Formula 1 and we’re very proud people. There’s a few of us in the motorsport world doing a good job, raising the flag at a very high level, but it’s been a long time since one of us was in Formula 1, so I’m well aware of what that means.”
Kravitz asked Brendon’s former Porsche team mate, Nico Hulkenberg, whether he was pleased for his former colleague. “Yeah, it’s fun and quite cool,” said Nico, “I didn’t see that coming. “No,” agreed Ted. “They needed a Red Bull person with a superlicence, so that narrowed it down to [Sebastien] Buemi or him. So I guess it’s him. Would you expect him to pick up this F1 lark pretty easily?”
“Probably a little bit more challenging for him than for Carlos [Sainz, who is switching teams to Renault from this weekend], because he hasn’t sat in an F1 car for quite some time now, but the WEC cars also produce a lot of downforce and he has raced here quite recently, so that should help him, but it will be interesting to see how he feels these cars and how he gets on.”
“I guess it’s a bit of an advantage for me coming here recently,” notes Brendon, “but I think that the biggest ask is driving a modern Formula 1 car and that’s going to be the bigger learning curve. In some ways I feel prepared for this: a lot more prepared than in 2009-2010 when I was a reserve driver. I wasn’t ready at that time.
“I know Max [Verstappen] came in at a very young age, but at that age I wasn’t ready. I’ve learned a lot since then. Being with Porsche in the LMP1 taught me a lot: high pressure scenario, representing Porsche, working with guys like Mark Webber and Timo [Bernhard] and you learn a lot off each other in that environment when you actually work together. So from that side, I feel very prepared and mentally strong.
“Unfortunately, in terms of driving a modern Formula 1 car I’m completely underprepared – i.e. not prepared at all – but I think I’ll know a lot more after Free Practice 1 tomorrow. I’m looking forward to stop talking about what I’m expecting. Just get that first session under way, see how I feel in the car, see where I’m at and then figure out what I’ve got to work on to get towards Sunday afternoon, which is the big debut.”
What’s interesting about the debut is that Hartley himself set the wheels in motion, calling Red Bull’s Helmut Marko when Porsche canned its LMP1 programme earlier this year and offering his services should a spare seat materialise. As the twisted handshakes of the McLaren/Toro Rosso Honda/Renault engine swap deal unwound, it turned out that Toro Rosso had been left without a driver for Austin.
A good performance in Texas could potentially lead to more F1 activity, but Brendon insists that no one has spoken of this as yet and no performance targets have been set. It is hard to imagine that Brendon’s considerable talent won’t find some pace in the car, so that will make all three practice sessions unmissable viewing. Hartley will be off to IndyCar if this doesn’t lead on to better things and F1 will be poorer because of it. Fingers crossed for a great weekend!
Porsche has unveiled a triptych of new special-edition 911s celebrating three British racing drivers who have taken Porsche to the top step of the podium at the Le Mans 24 Hours. The British Legends series honours Richard Attwood, Nick Tandy and Derek Bell.
British Legends: Richard Attwood
Richard Attwood helped claim Porsche’s first Le Mans victory in 1970. Driving a theoretically outdated 4.5-litre 917 in the Porsche family colours of Salzburg Racing, Attwood and partner, Hans Herrmann, outlasted many other competitors including the newer 4.9-litre 917s to reach the finish first. Just sixteen of the original fifty-one starters took the chequered flag.
Herrmann – a Porsche factory driver from the early 1950s – had promised his wife that a Le Mans win would be his last ever race. After the race, he kept his word and retired, much to the surprise of his Salzburg team bosses. Attwood raced another 917 at Le Mans in 1971, finished second and retired at the end of the season. Attwood currently features in a Porsche 928 racing video.
British Legends: Nick Tandy
After a blistering early career in Ministox and single seaters (Formula Ford and F3), Bedford-born rockstar and Porsche tart extraordinaire, Nick Tandy, first blipped on Weissach’s radar with an exceptional Carrera Cup debut at Dijon for Konrad Motorsport in 2009. Despite no testing beforehand, Tandy finished second in this round of the highly competitive Carrera Cup Germany, so Konrad invited him back for the Abu Dhabi race, where he impressed them again and earned himself a full season Carrera Cup drive for 2010.
Tandy went from strength to strength in 2010, narrowly missing the title to Rene Rast, who was insanely quick: the pair were the class of the field. The championship was Tandy’s in 2011, at which stage he shifted to the world stage, ending up in Porsche’s LMP programme and taking his first Le Mans win for Weissach in 2015 alongside Earl Bamber and Nico Hülkenberg. He continues to be a key part of the Porsche works driver squad.
British Legends: Derek Bell
Born in leafy Pinner in 1941, Derek Reginald Bell went on to claim five wins at Le Mans – four of them with Porsche – and remains Britain’s winningest Le Mans racer.
Bell’s first Le Mans 24 was in 1970: the same race won by Richard Attwood in a Porsche 917. Driving alongside Ronnie Peterson in a works Ferrari 512S, the duo was forced to retire from the race, but Bell stayed on afterwards to help his friend Steve McQueen film the classic: “Le Mans”. The 512 used in the film caught fire with Bell in it, and he narrowly escaped with minor burns.
DB’s most memorable successes at La Sarthe came when teamed with Jacky Ickx. The pair claimed victory for Mirage in 1975 and then for Porsche in 1981 and 1982. Bell’s other Porsche Le Mans wins came in 1986 and 1987, alongside Hans Stuck and Al Holbert.
Carrera GTS ‘British Legends’
The ‘British Legends’ 991s are based on 991 Carrera 4 GTS models and come with options including LED headlights, Sport Design body styling and satin-finish mirrors, lots of carbon and a Union Jack badge on each car with the driver’s signature alongside. Porsche says:
“Using the design of the winning race cars as the starting point of each car, joint workshops between Porsche Cars GB and the drivers ensured their passion was built-in to each 911. The ideas were then taken forward by the design team at Style Porsche in Weissach and the craftsmen at Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur in Stuttgart.
“Each British Legends Edition is finished intricately by hand in the new Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur workshop. Special features such as the Satin finish black door mirrors, carbon floor mats with Alcantara edging and a steering column casing in Alcantara make their first appearance on this 911.”
The 911 Carrera 4 GTS British Legends Edition is on sale from 9 October, priced at £122,376 inc VAT for Attwood Red – add an extra £900 for Tandy White or Bell Blue paint. A bargain! Whatever about the cars, there is no doubt that all three drivers are proper Porsche legends so it’s great to see them get the hat tip of a special edition. Watch the video below – it has some nice archive stuff in it:
No fan of Porsche racing will have enjoyed the recent news that former Porsche R&D supremo, Wolfgang Hatz, had been arrested in connection with ongoing investigations into the Volkswagen diesel emissions cheating scandal.
Hatz’ arrest is not the first in this story and will not be the last. The most detailed piece I have read regarding Hatz was on Arstechnica, in an article which said the former VW and Audi engine chief was the fourth arrest made so far in relation to the dieselgate scandal:
“Hatz, who is reportedly being held without bail, is the fourth VW Group employee to be arrested in connection with the scandal (VW Group as an entity pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Air Act in early 2017). James Liang, a former VW engineer, was arrested in 2016 in the US and sentenced to 40 months in prison; Oliver Schmidt, a German emissions compliance executive who worked in the US, was arrested in Miami in December; and Zaccheo Giovanni Pamio, an Italian citizen who was the former chief of thermodynamics in Audi’s engine development department, was arrested in Germany earlier this year.”
One senses the growing inevitability of further arrests amongst former or current board members. Exactly what punishment might be meted out to directors and board members convicted of wrongdoing is unknown, but the situation continues to be closely monitored by many news outlets. VW’s (presumably vast) media spend to underpin positive public perception of the organisation has not brought the carmaker out of the woods just yet.
Knowing that one of the people at the very top of Porsche Motorsport success has been arrested for allegedly cheating air quality regulations leaves an unpleasant taste. It is also very hard to accept that Volkswagen remains the only car manufacturer that has ever done this sort of thing, so who is investigating the rest of them?
Diesel Emissions effect on Porsche SE
Two years after the emissions scandal broke, Porsche SE continues to feel the pain. When Volkswagen recently announced further “negative special items” (i.e. big numbers in red ink) of more than €2.5 billion due to the ongoing emissions crisis, Porsche SE – which holds more than 30% of VW’s shares – announced that this would inevitably hit its own profits, which were now expected to land somewhere between €2.1 and 3.1 billion.
Summing up SE’s press release in the words of Monty Python’s Black Knight, missing the first arm: “I’ve had worse.”
The 2017 Porsche Supercup season kicked off in style during the Spanish Grand Prix weekend at the Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona. Although experienced Supercup racer, Michael Ammermüller, took the win in both races, it was perhaps Norwegian Porsche Junior, Dennis Olsen, who set out the most exciting challenge for Supercup honours in the opening round of the championship.
Barcelona has a long downhill run from the grid to turn 1, so race starts here are always exciting. Olsen’s fellow Porsche junior, Matt Campbell, had seized pole position, but wrong-footed the start and almost stalled the engine when the lights went out. Ammermüller had no such issues and made a blistering getaway, with the track to himself on arrival in the braking zone.
Had the German time to study his mirrors, he would have enjoyed a chaotic scene, as cars took to the grass and well into the pitlane exit to avoid tripping over each other. None of the lawnmowers seemed to lose too much time, and many had literally made progress ‘through the field’ by the end of lap one. Lap two brought the safety car out when Berton got beached in the gravel. While the stricken car was removed, Ammermüller worked his 911 hard to keep heat in the tyres.
The aggressive manoeuvring paid off: Ammermüller got the jump on his rival at the restart. As the leader focused on stretching the advantage, a queue of cars formed behind Cammish, with Olsen at the front. The 21 year-old calmly held position for five or six laps but, once the race passed half-distance, he began to distract with his car in that irritating way that only a precocious youngster with a factory drive seems capable of.
Watching Dennis race was a joyous experience. A phenomenal kart driver, he started karting at six years old and has claimed titles including several Norwegian kart crowns, the prestigious German KF3 and KF1 titles and the World SuperKart Cup Final KF2 title. From 191 kart race starts, Dennis has claimed 90 wins. He has uncanny control, particularly over the front of his car, being able to place it with absolute precision. It was this skill that ultimately got him in front.
After harrying Cammish for lap after lap, darting around at the end of the straight and with a few cheeky nudges to boot, he stuck to the left and forced Cammish into braking super-late to defend. As Cammish locked up and ran slightly wide, Olsen bolted right, picked up the inside and shot into P2 on three wheels. It was pure karting brilliance. They held this order to the finish.
Round 2 was held on Sunday. I haven’t yet seen the race, but Ammermüller again finished first with Olsen in hot pursuit and much closer at the chequered flag. Campbell and Cammish came home third and fourth with Dylan Pereira in fifth (above: another young talent with kart pedigree). This puts Ammermüller ahead in the championship, but Olsen is going to have a very interesting season. I look forward to watching him racing at Monaco and trying some kart lines there too.
I’ve been eagerly anticipating Olsen’s first Supercup season since the thrilling reports of his debut Carrera Cup Germany season last year. The young Scandi has also started this year’s Deutschland season in style, winning both races at the recent Hockenheim double header. Watching Olsen race a Cup Car is reminiscent of Kevin Estre’s finest moments: no doubt that a successful sports car career lies ahead if Olsen sticks with good management.
Here’s a video of the full race without commentary. These things normally disappear within a few days, so it lasts as long as it lasts!
I had an email today from my friend Heather, wife and business partner of motorsport artist and designer, Nicolas Hunziker, reminding me that the duo are celebrating ten years in business this month. The mail was well timed, as I am also celebrating a work anniversary today: my seventh year as a full-time freelance, working in and around the classic Porsche hobby.
I still remember parking my company car in the office car park for the last time, returning my work laptop and security pass and catching the train from Weybridge back to Banbury – I think I even kept the ticket stub. Mrs G picked me up in our old Landcruiser and we drove home through the leafy lanes, on a beautifully bright, sunny day. Still got the house, the Landcruiser, the Mrs and the sunshine (today, at least), but I no longer work for a company owned by a hedge fund and run by a revolving door of MDs, each of whom loved to send us on wild-goose research missions to find the secrets of future profit growth, but did nothing in response when we brought home the data.
It’s now seven years since I was a wage slave and I don’t miss a bit of it. What a joy it is to wake up in the morning, walk downstairs, put the kettle on and instantly be at work. I am truly grateful for what the last seven years have taught me and oh, to have learned it all so much earlier! I look forward to reaching my tenth anniversary and considering my own answers to the questions I just asked Nicolas. Here’s what my artist friend says after a decade of working for himself.
JG: How long did it take until you felt the new venture was going to work?
NH: I was fortunate as I was able to quit my job in advertising (I was writing and directing TV commercials) and take up painting full time, one year into my painting career. In the early days, I would deliver a painting without knowing when or where the next sale would materialise. The mortgage was late more than once, but Heather never discouraged me from pursuing my passion. She always stood by me and put her entrepreneurial spirit to work. And if it hadn’t been for the support of a few early patrons – support which continues to this day – I might not be where I am now.
JG: Can you share a high point from the last ten years?
NH: I can think of several. Obviously getting the official nod from Porsche and McLaren, Gulf, Le Mans etc. to gild my paintings with their logos was huge. A couple of corporate commissions that stand out came from the Porsche Museum and PCNA. But one thing that has surprised me more than anything else is all the doors that my art has opened for me: My own racing activities, meeting people who I have long admired and now I’m lucky to call many of them friends.
JG: Has being in business changed your attitude to/experience of the classic Porsche world?
NH: Yes and no. On the one hand, I’ve had a peek behind the curtain through our apparel company where we were a Porsche OE apparel supplier. On the customer side, it’s been very rewarding to see how our creations have been accepted by the Porsche scene. We started our apparel line in 2011 but we still get a kick out of seeing someone wear one of our shirts walking around Goodwood, Le Mans Classic, Monterey or the local Cars & Coffee event.
JG: Have you learned any surprise lessons about people through your work?
NH: I don’t know if there were surprises, but I’ve learned the following:
1. Develop your own style.
2. Passion is the best inspiration.
3. Art opens doors.
5. Defy convention.
4. Art has value.
I love Nic’s approach to creativity: he is always thinking ahead. Hunziker Corp has some interesting projects in progress, all being documented online. Check out the Hunziker Art Car project (a 996 GT3 built through parts donations in exchange for artwork) and, of course, the famous Hunziker Driving Shoes, as worn by half the car guys in America, going by Heather’s Facebook shares.
Thinking about the questions I asked Nic to answer, my own answers would probably be that I knew it would work before I got started, as I had been data researching and writing full-time for ten years, working as a part-time Porsche freelancer since 2005 and already had an independent Porsche client base. There have been a few upsets in my seven years of freelance (mainly debtors going bust and causing a few headaches – not all financial), but I now recognise these as excellent learning experiences. The most recent upset was easier than the first, having learned how to spot, react and mitigate the effects of such occurrences and acting on my instincts early.
A better business radar is one good thing that has come straight from freelance, but it has not arrived at the expense of being harder with money. I started my freelance career working with people who charged for every single thing they did and I followed their example in the early days. I don’t do that so much nowadays: my attitude to earning has mellowed substantially. Going easier with this aspect has brought in many fun experiences and also taught me to say ‘no thanks’ more, and earlier. Time is the most valuable commodity for any creative, so better to draw a line under things as soon as warning flags are raised and move in a better direction.
Have I met inspirational people? Most definitely: valuable lessons have been learned from good friends all over the world. Have I inspired other people? One or two would say yes. Do I still feel the same passion? Yes, I maintain a deep love for the cars and people of this excellent hobby, but no doubt the movement is different today compared to seven years ago. A new generation has taken the world of classic Porsche in many different directions and we oldies accept that this is how all things go eventually. Some of the hot new trends are nothing new at all, but no point losing sleep over it. Things that don’t excite us so much are the best things ever for other folks, and that is OK.
As layers pile on top of layers, the core just gets buried slightly deeper, so we must dig harder to find it. The passion, support and encouragement I get from my hardcore Porsche friends (i.e. most of the people I work with) deliver all the energy one needs to press on. These people have shaped my last seven years and continue to exert a huge influence. I guarantee that if you are thinking of starting something new, it is your similarly passionate friends who will help get you through it. That said, all final decisions on what to do next are yours alone to make.
Freelance Advice (if you need it)
For anyone considering leaving their job and trying something new and different, I urge you to go for it, especially if you have a unique skill that is sought after. Do your research well and include contingency plans for all realistic worst case scenarios (not zombie attacks or nuclear holocausts) before walking away from the wage packet. With due diligence done and dusted, stop worrying and think and talk positive.
Walk away from anyone negative. They will kill what you are about to embark on. Avoid all negativity: negative people have nothing to offer the entrepreneur. They are not realists, they are buzzkill and you have already done your homework. Put your headphones on and walk away. Do not let buzzkillers inside your energy fence (I just made that up: please use it unwisely).
Add a few marketing skills to package the products/skills you intend to sell and then work your butt off doing something you love. It is so easy to work doing something that just flows in and around you. It is also incredible fun, most of the time. When it’s not fun, know you are learning something important. Also, never forget that the lesson may be to quit and do something different: I have changed tack many times in the last seven years.
Verify the market you are aiming to work in, nail the skills required (night school, online, private tuition or whatever) and as soon as you are ready to start, go for it. Worst case scenario: you get another job when the money runs out. Best case: there is no limit. You are the limit. I know so many of you have wonderful talents: let them shine brightly, follow the light and see where it leads!
Credits
ps: I have a few people to thank for their unflinching support over the last seven years (even over the last twelve years) but none of them would want to be mentioned in public: that’s just not how we do things. I am sure they know who they are – I talk to most of them daily! One or two people not so often nowadays, but the feeling is still the same. Thank you.
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.
