Corkscrewed
The combination of Laguna Seca in the fall, Rennsport IV and David Lister is irresistible. This gallery of images from last weekend is inspirational, shows how the job should be done, from composition to post-processing.
A MasterWerk.
John Brooks, October 2011
I don’t send solicitor’s letters…………I apply a bit of……………pressure.
The immortal lines from Chas in the epic movie “Performance”, all understated menace.
Perhaps a bit more Max and Paddy-like were the antics of the GTE Pro leaders on the last lap of the 6 Hours of Estoril. Rob Bell and Richard Lietz, in a typical Ferrari/Porsche battle, had been going at it, hammer and tongs, for over an hour. It was an utterly engaging contest between two top line pros in two top line cars, either would be a worthy winner. Most other photographers had legged it back to the pits for the finish but Pedro and I just knew it was all going to kick off…and it did. Handbags swinging, panels bashing, the pair contested the penultimate corner, whoever emerged in front would win, simple as that. Well, our Geordie Lad held his nerve and his line to take a well deserved victory, proper GT Racing.
To both drivers and both teams, Salut!
It has become a tradition. Every three or so years, since the start of the new century, the Porsche faithful gather to celebrate Porsche’s legendary competition record with a one-marque version of Goodwood’s Festival of Speed. This time around Rennsport IV was staged at the famous mountain top Laguna Seca course overlooking the Monterey Peninsula on the Central California coast, where no less than 400 racing Porsches turned up; many of them truly historic, and some of them from Porsche’s own museum.
And, while an undertaking such as Rennsport is the product of many people, its birth was due to the passion of a single man; the late Bob Carlson. Porsche Cars North America’s longtime PR representative, he had a vision of encapsulating Zuffenhausen’s motorsport history through an event that was nothing less than a living museum, where the cars could not only be seen, but could be seen being driven hard on a race track, they way they were intended to be.
In a way, Rennsport was, for the American historic and vintage community, an intellectual departure from the norm, in that it didn’t so much revere the Porsche racers as “works of art,” but rather celebrated their careers as “tools” intended to boost Zuffenhausen’s image (and that of their owners) at the tracks, in hillclimbing and on the rally stages of the world. Put another way, what Bob Carlson did was to remind us of their true purpose, something all too often forgotten in the bidding wars found at auction houses today, where these vehicles have become trophies of a rich and successful life.
After Carlson’s death, there were fears that Rennsport would die with him. However, the movers and shakers at Porsche Cars North America kept the faith, and in the process produced the most successful yet rendition of his dream, for which they are to be congratulated. Even so, there very existence of the Rennsport tradition is a reminder that manufacturer participation in motorsport is not an altruistic excise, but one driven by commercial corporate goals, a fact evidenced by the ties between the 911 theme and the introduction of the Type 991, the latest version of the venerable and iconic Porsche bestseller.
It is this latter fact which leads us to look forward and not backward to the future of Porsche’s competition fortunes. Ever since 1998, when Norbert Singer’s 911GT1 98LM won Le Mans outright, Zuffenhausen has focused its motorsport efforts on the customer-driven production car arena with its 911GT3 program; the only exception being, the RS Spyder project which flourished for three years in the American Le Mans Series under Roger Penske, and which subsequently showed the way at La Sarthe in the LMP2 division.
Now, however, it has been decided to return Porsche to the forefront of sportscar racing in 2014, through a new prototype project stressing alternative energy sources as mandated by the rules package which will go into effect that year. The only problem with all of this is the effect this will having on the racing future of Porsche’s Volkswagen Group partner Audi, whose record as a winner in the prototype sandbox has made it a sales leader in the road going universe.
At one point earlier this year it seemed that Audi might abandon the sportscar scene for Formula One, leaving the way clear for Porsche to “its thing.” With the decision to scrap that tentative plan, the VAG board is facing the possibility of having to fund two multi hundred million Euro projects to have two of its brands compete against each other on a highly visible stage where defeat could compromise reputations at a time of economic distress.
Many within the sport see no problem with this, noting that the two potential combatants will be demonstrating different approaches to energy conservation and therefore will not be affected by the dictum that there can only be one winner in a race. In a world where the decision to purchase or not to purchase is largely the function of favorable impression, pitting Audi against Porsche is at best a hugely expensive gamble that those responsible for VAG’s financial well being might not want to take.
Fortunately for those of us on the sidelines where we have to make no such choices we can take refuge celebrating the past in grand style thanks to Bob Carlson and Rennsport –may there be many more.
Bill Oursler, October 2011
Images Copyright and Courtesy of Porsche Cars North America
Holy Trinity
Off to the land of dreams again, David Lister works his magic at Laguna Seca, 917 and 908/3……….what could be more agreeable?
Better Days
David Lister is currently out in Laguna Seca covering the Fourth Rennsport.
Great light and great ability produces great images, as can be seen.
He dropped me a note to go with his shots.
It’s not just the cars which are the stars of the various shows here at the 4th Porsche Rennsport Reunion, but there are also some pretty handy drivers peddling the cars out on the track, including four outright winners of La Ronde Infernale…
Gijs van Lennep, Jürgen Barth, Hurley Haywood and Jochen Mass.
Gijs is driving the 1970 David Piper 917K in the “Sandemans” Sherry livery, the car which he originally shared with Piper in the 1970 Le Mans 24 Hours. Recently restored by Gunnar Racing, the car looks stunning in its original yellow and red.
Jürgen is out in a couple of cars, in the various classes. His older ride being a 356, he is pictured here in a 1979 era 935.
Three time Le Mans’ winner Hurley Haywood also has two rides, an older 914 and, pictured here, a 1975 era Brumos/Ecurie Escargot RSR, putting him into the same group as his ’77 co-driver, Barth.
Jochen is alone amongst his Le Mans winning peers here, in that his victory came for Sauber Mercedes, and not for Porsche. He has a long association with Porsche, though, and is driving the youngest of the cars that is being driven by the past winners of the 24 hours here, a 1988 Texaco Havoline sponsored 962
The four drivers’ Le Mans victories were:
Gijs van Lennep:
1971, Porsche 917, with Helmut Marko
1976, Porsche 936, with Jacky Ickx
Jürgen Barth
1977, 936, with Hurley Haywood and Jacky Ickx
Hurley Heywood
1977, Porsche 936, with Jürgen Barth and Jacky Ickx.
1983, Porsche 956, with Vern Schuppan and Al Holbert
1994, Dauer 962 Le Mans, with Yannick Dalmas and Mauro Baldi
Jochen Mass
1989, Sauber C9 Mercedes Benz, with Manuel Reuter and Stanley Dickens
It is held that the past is a foreign land, once visited, but one that we are destined never to return to. Well, that may be true but sometimes, in special circumstances, we can bring the past to us in the here and now.
“He was the craziest devil I ever came across in Formula 1” Niki Lauda on Gilles Villeneuve
It is hard to imagine that Fernando Alonso or Lewis Hamilton will be racing on Italy’s roads in late October but some 30 years ago that is what happened. Gilles Villeneuve, Ferrari’s Grand Prix star and runner up to Jody Scheckter in the 1979 F1 World Championship took part in the Giro d’Italia that autumn.
Gilles…………..
The Giro d’Italia was a madhouse event, part rally, part race held on the roads and tracks of Italy from 1973 to 1980.
I’ll have mustard with that………
Italy will be celebrating 150 years of unification in 2011, so some bright spark had the idea of reviving the Giro to add to the nation’s gaiety. How inspired. I am planning to cover the event when it happens in late October.
So when the organisers of the 2011 event put out a series of photos from the 1979 and 1980 events it seemed a good excuse to run some Group 5 goodness.
Villeneuve’s co-drivers on the 1979 event were Walter Röhrl and Christian Geistdöfer, here enjoying 70’s style hospitality.
Stratos
The star trio finished top of the pile in their Lancia but were later disqualified, the reason I am informed, is driving on a motorway!
Group 5 Madness
Also disqualified was the other factory Lancia, which finished second on the road.
Lancia Battle
Here is the Lancia on one of the circuits.
Patrese and Son
The second car was driven by Riccardo Patrese.
Patrese was driving for Arrows in F1 that year.
Now Maximum Attack
His co-drivers were Markku Alén and Ilkka Kivimäki, the reigning World Rally Drivers Champion.
The Serious Bit
The Lancias were the class of the field.
Momo
After the exclusion of the Italian pair, victory fell to that great expat Italian in US Sportscar racing, Giampiero Moretti.
935 K3
Moretti was accompanied in Italy by Giorgio Schon and Emilio Radaelli (ITA) in his Porsche 935 TT biturbo. He is famous for winning the 1998 Daytona 24 Hours and, of course, was founder of the Momo brand of racing accessories.
Porsche Power
The 935 would have been a handful of the roads.
Attilio Bettega
Factory Fiat/Lancia rally driver Attilio Bettega along with Maurizio Perissinot and Enzo De Vito in the Fiat Abarth Ritmo 75 Alitalia.
Tour de France?
Another rally star, Guy Frequelin ran in a Renault 5 turbo
Simian?
F1 star, Vittorio Brambilla, also known as The Monza Gorilla, raced in an Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV 2000.
GTV
His co-drivers were Mauro Pregliasco and Vittorio Reisoli.
Porsche v Alfa
Here the Alfa encounters another 935.
Andrea de Cesaris
A 70’s classic Italian super car, the Lancia Stratos HF, entered by The Jolly Club.
Jolly Japes
Top Italian rally pair, Tony Carello and Renato Meiohas were joined by Grand Prix aspirant, Andrea De Cesaris, in the Stratos.
That is it for 1979. 1980 will be along some time soon.
John Brooks, September 2011. Photos courtesy of and copyright Giro d’Italia/Photo 4
The Blancpain Endurance Series round held at Magny Cours last weekend saw the debut of yet another brand to join this class, Nissan.
Power and Glory
This GT-R has a proper V6 Turbo engine, not the pick up truck V8 that is found in the current GT1 racer. JR Motorsport were understandably modest in their expectations, billing their maiden appearance as a public test session.
New Kids On The Block
The GT-R, driven by David Brabham and Richard Westbrook, had a dream debut finishing 8th overall. To put that into context, one only has to contrast that result with the two retirements suffered by the other new boys, McLaren. GT3 is an intensively competitive arena but it is clear that the established brands will be pushed hard by the newcomers.
GT3 in 2012 just became even more interesting.
John Brooks, August 2011
The Spa 24 Hour race is only a year younger than the more famous Le Mans 24 Hours. Yet this splendid Belgian event, first run in 1924, has built up a wonderful tradition with its entry lists including a variety of interesting marques that have never graced its French counterpart.
It has not been run quite so consistently over the years, the Belgian club, the R.A.C.B., lacking the mighty resources of the A.C.O. ; there was a notable gap from 1949 until (1953 excepted) its resumption fifteen years later and that thanks to the initiative of that worthy journalist-cum-driver Paul Frère.
In 1964 it became a Touring Car event, and no less hotly contested for that, and has embraced the GT category since 2001 ; this year the entry was more straightforward : GT3 and GT4. For many years the race included the award of the Coupe du Roi, effectively a team prize donated originally to the Club by King Albert in 1912. Manufacturers were naturally very keen to win this prestigious trophy, sometimes entering teams for this sole purpose such as Delage in 1931 who, when one of their cars hit a tree, withdrew the other two and went home!
Sadly in more recent times this trophy has been cast aside – the Spa 24 Hours has lost something of its prestige as a result Nevertheless it remains a big event – 62 starters this year – and generates an atmosphere all of its own, especially by night with headlights winding their way through the dark forested valley lit up only by the spectacular fireworks at around 11 p.m. And the circuit allows little chance for the drivers to relax particularly with the frequent risk of rain for which the Ardennes, like its extension in the Eifel region of Germany, is so well-known.
This year’s race is memorable for Audi winning at last and for this being the first 24 hour success for the R8 LMS. Like Porsche the company has been content to leave the car in the hands of good professional private teams but until now the model never quite made it in the big 24 hour races. The factory gave greater backing this year, hence the presence of Audi Sport chief, Dr Ulrich. Let us not forget that the R8 LMS had its first ever race win here at Spa in the first of two Belgian GT events during the weekend of the Spa 1,000 km race in May 2009. Such “firsts” prompt the memory to recall that Peugeot achieved the French marque’s first success in a 24 hour race when it won the 1926 Spa event with its sleeve-valve 18cv Sport model.
Top Dog
No less than seven of the new Mercédès SLS AMG GT3 s started the race and of special interest was the car no. 35 which eventually finished in third position overall. Although run by the Black Falcon team it was painted red as a tribute to the 40th anniversary of AMG’s first entry in this race in 1971. They used the car that came to be known as the “Röte Sau” (red pig) and was a 300 SEL saloon with a 6.8-litre version of the V-8 to be found in the big Mercédès 600 Saloon. Carrying the number 35 it finished 2nd overall just 3 laps behind the winning Ford Capri driven by Hans Heyer (father of Kenneth Heyer, one of the drivers of the red SLS) and Clemens Schickentanz.
This over-weight saloon was on show in the race paddock for all to admire – it turned out 420 b.h.p., it had a 4-speed automatic gearbox, disc brakes all round and air suspension! Not surprisingly the heavy machine was somewhat handicapped by having to refuel frequently and by its tyres which wore out rather too rapidly, but it represents history for Aufrecht Melcher Grossaspach (AMG) which grew to become the in-house sporting arm of Mercédès Benz. Interestingly, Mercédès themselves also had their first 24 hour race success when one of the two SSK cars entered won the 1931 Spa 24 Hours.
Klassic
AMG
The McLaren MP4-12C had of course made its race début three weeks earlier at Spa when the British GT cars had two rounds of their Championship at the Belgian circuit but it was exciting to find three of the very new cars on the grid for the 24 Hour race. Fate was not exactly kind to them: the no.59 slammed violently into the barriers just below La Source after a coming-together with the GT4 BMW M3 in the early laps and the no.58 decided to catch fire coming away from the Les Combes corners on the highest part of the circuit later on the Saturday evening.
Fire Drill
Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
The remaining car no.60 did reach the finish albeit in a lowly 25th position but don’t forget that these are completely new cars with their own completely new engines.
Soul Survivor
The GT4 class had just four runners after a Porsche had been withdrawn. The little Lotus Evora had things its own way for a long time until its engine sadly cried enough creating an internal fire and when the Aston Martin Vantage retired the BMW M3 had to play second fiddle to the Nissan 350Z which eventually scooped the category.
Class Leader
GT4
David Blumlein, August 2011
Fifteen years ago today I was in Japan, covering the Pokka 1000 kilometers at a baking hot Suzuka circuit.
Jan da Man
1996 was the time of the BPR Global Endurance Series, McLaren F1 GTR against Ferrari F40 against Lotus Esprit with an armada of Porsche 911s to make up the numbers. It was also the end of that era, as the Porsche 911 GT1 would appear at the next round and the game would be over for the cars mentioned………a gun to a knife fight.
JJ
Ray Bellm was chasing the driver’s title with his regular partner, James Weaver, but for the long distance Japanese event they were joined by Finnish ace, JJ Lehto. The 1995 Le Mans winner had raced with the Gulf McLaren outfit earlier at Le Mans and was widely regarded as one of the fastest drivers in the endurance arena.
I See it Shining Plain
Although in the long term it means little in an endurance race, competitive instincts rise to the surface during Qualifying, Suzuka 1996 was no exception. Jan Lammers, Pierre-Henri Raphanel and especially JJ Lehto had designs on pole position. I was shooting the session out on the inside of the exit of turn seven, behind the pits. The cars would pop into view having climbed up from the lowest point of the track, with little ground effect the GT1 machines were more than a little wayward. Naturally JJ was a bit wilder than most and on his last lap I was convinced that I had caught him mid corner. Back then, no autofocus, no digital, just rolls of Provia. Somehow that shot came out and that moment stayed with me. Strange to say that I was looking through the archives for something this morning, there it was. A bit of research in Time and Two Seats and there is was 24th August 1996, exactly fifteen years ago.
Of course I did not realise it at the time but it truly was The Land of Lost Content. Ask JJ.
John Brooks, August 2011