Perpetual Motion
Kerry Morse, who else, sent this on to me today from one of his storage facilities way out West……………
It lays quietly in a field, with its dreams of the days of La Sarthe, so very long ago…..
Where it has gone, we will follow.
John Brooks, November 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
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
Motorsports has its own language, just as does the other endeavors of mankind. So why, then, am I having to learn and deal with the language of the financial world when it comes to racing? The obvious answer, of course, is money: the ingredient without which neither motorsport, nor the rest of the planet would function, or even exist.
Anyone want to sit on my boat?
Clearly, the basis for Formula One is more greed than sport; a fact that might sadden and frustrate F1’s fans and true believers, but reality nevertheless. The sandbox that is sports car racing is perhaps less obviously based on greed. However, it too is financially driven these days as manufacturers increasingly are turning to it as a viable marketing tool not only to promote what is built now, but the technologies of the future which will reshape not only the sport, but the automotive industry itself.
Heavy Metal
America, where Detroit continues to try and rebound from the monetary crisis of 2008, there is less emphasis on performance than there has been in the past, the U.S. public more concerned with gas mileage than horsepower. Nevertheless, the real issue facing the Michigan-based manufacturers is their size and influence within the industry itself. With Chrysler now owned by Fiat, and General Motors having been forced to cut its brands down to just three to survive; only Ford remains a true global automotive powerhouse. However, there’s no need to worry for there is another global giant building up a head of steam in Europe, name Volkswagen.
Flying Start
Conceived by Hitler to provide Beetles to the German masses, the Volkswagen Group now embraces such prestigious brands as Bugatti, Porsche, Audi and Bentley, not to mention Lamborghini in its portfolio. And, it is this wealth which, friends and neighbors, leads us to the motorsports dilemma now facing VAG.
Racing Green?
Although the Italian nameplate has not won Le Mans’ Holy Grail, the other four marques have. Moreover, three of the remaining four could be in the running to do so again. However, those notorious bean counters are unlikely to allow Audi, Bentley and Porsche to compete for the same prize at the Sarthe, much less run against each other for a whole season. So, who goes where? That is the unanswered question.
When We Were Kings
Normally, it would be an interesting, maybe even a somewhat humorous discussion. However, in this case the future of the sports car competition universe could well hang in the balance. The reason for that is simple: the retrenchment by many of the participants on which the enclosed bodywork set of depended, particularly among the Japanese car makers, has drastically reduced the number of potential players down to just a few.
Vive La France
For the moment, only Peugeot appears committed to the sports car scene, with BMW perhaps moving to join the French manufacturer. Two other likely candidates, Mercedes and Renault, are far more focused on F1, and will probably remain so. That leaves VAG’s Audi, Bentley and Porsche camps as the only resources for the two seat scene to draw on. But, what about Ferrari, you say? The Italians, in this case, likewise appear to want make F1 the mainstay of their motorsports efforts, providing only privateers oriented GTs machinery for the sports car arena.
Jump for Joy
So, who gets the brass ring at VAG? Is it Porsche, which needs, and has announced it will run a prototype at Le Mans in 2014; or will it be Audi, which, has, with the exception of 2003 and 2009, the latter occasion marking Peugeot’s only 24-Hour triumph in this century so far, has dominated at the Sarthe since the year 2000? And, what about Bentley, which took the top prize at Le Mans in 2003, and which now, perhaps is ready to jump back into the fray? While it would be a tremendous boost to see all three fight it out, as we would put it in America, “it just ain’t going to happen folks.”
Wild Things Run Fast
Closing matters let me again introduce another possible scenario. Assuming that Porsche will take the lead at Le Mans, and assuming that Audi will continue in the German Touring Car Championship and with the R8 programs, could the be-ringed brand then follow Mercedes into F-1? Perhaps? However, perhaps not. What if Bentley became VAG’s Formula One standard bearer and Audi returned to a rejuvenated rally arena where it could demonstrate the new automotive technologies now being developed just as it did with four-wheel-drive in the form of the Quattro during the first part of the 1980’s?
Some would suggest that all this is outlandish thinking on an old fart’s part. But, then again old farts have been known to occasionally get it right. In this case it is a case of “pays your money: takes your choice.”
Bill Oursler, August 2011
The Great Men. Norbert and Bob
During 1986 and 1987 the combination of Bob Wollek and Rothmans Porsche 962C were irresistible at Le Mans, at least during Qualifying. The races proved more problematical.
Before the Storm
Teammate Jochen Mass was involved in someone else’s accident, which accounted for the 86 race and the following year Bob did not even get to drive a lap as his 962C was the highest profile victim of the engine problems that afflicted the Porsche competitors during the opening stint of the race. It was not Bosch’s finest hour but the real villain of the story was poor quality fuel supplied by the ACO.
Porsche at Porsche Curves
I had started to get media accreditation at Le Mans back then and I recall attending the annual press conferences at that time. Actually there serious incentives to go along and sit through an hour of French, in 1986 Moet et Chandon provided all attendees with a magnum of their vintage Bubbly. I still have the bottle, if not the contents. The usual routine was to have the FIA President Jean Marie Balestre, bellow at the assembled hacks about whatever issue was troubling him at the time. It was usually to do with Formula One, which would confuse us all mightly.
A Day in the Office
I do remember the President being stopped in his tracks after an intervention from the taciturn Bob Wollek. He had listened to the rant, took issue with some particularly egregious assertion, then quietly and firmly contradicted Ballestre, for once silencing the garrolous Frenchman. Those in the crowd such as me, who did not really know Bob were impressed. He could talk the talk, as well walk the walk.
Crowd Pleasing Man
1988 saw the end of the association between Rothmans and Porsche, so Wollek joined Joest to partner Klaus Ludwig. However the 962 was not really up to the level of either the TWR Jaguars or the Sauber Mercedes. Le Mans once again saw disappointment with his factory Porsche lose the lead with engine failure.
Victory Lane
Whatever the frustrations La Sarthe brought, on the other side of the Atlantic things were very different. Four outright wins in the Daytona 24 Hours told a completely different tale of Bob Wollek from the results at Le Mans.
The end of Group C, driven down by the madness of the the F1 based engines and technology and the spending war in IMSA almost killed sportscar racing for good. Wollek’s career like so many of his contemporaries was on hold till matters improved.
Courage, Mon Brave
A gradual revival in the mid 90’s brought Bob Wollek back to the top table. Once again a Le Mans win went begging in 1995. In truly awful conditions, co-driver Mario Andretti was forced to avoid a spinning car and clouted a wall. The repairs cost the car six laps, when the Chequered Flag was waved the next day the Courage was just over a lap down on the winning McLaren.
911 GT1
Porsche returned to racing and Le Mans in 1996 with the 911 GT1. Somehow Porsche decided to shoot themselves in the foot by allowing Joest to run the ex-TWR Porsche WSC prototype. It outran the fancy GTs winning by a lap from Wollek.
In 1997 there was more cruelty for the Frenchman at Le Mans. The relative performance of the Joest prototype and the 911 GT1 had been reversed. So as dawn broke on the Sunday morning, Wollek’s wait for victory, in the race he cherished above all, looked to be finally over. Then a half shaft failed pitching the Porsche off the track. A few hours later the sister car caught fire, handing another win to the Joest team.
Cheese!
1998 would be Bob Wollek’s last chance to take outright victory at Le Mans. He was originally down to drive one of the prototypes that were entered in support of the new 98 GT1 cars. Yannick Dalmas had a training accident and as a result swapped cars with Wollek. Good luck coming his way?
Rub of the Green
The 1998 race was a fantastic contest. After the demise early in the race of Mercedes Benz and BMW and the lack of pace from the Nissans, the battle was going to be between Toyota and Porsche. The Japanese had a speed advantage but suffered with gearbox problems. Both teams had accident damage to contend with after localised showers during the night. Brundle’s Toyota was eliminated whereas the undertray on Wollek’s car was replaced in 30 minutes after Müller had taken a trip across a gravel trap. The other Porsche had a leak in the cooling system but got back on track slightly quicker than #25. Come 3.00pm on Sunday that would prove the difference between first and second.
This could be the last time……….
There was no fairy-tale ending for Wollek, tears on the podium from him and his team mates, generous applause from the huge crowd.
Champion Stuff
Porsche cancelled their prototype racing project at the end of 1998 and decided to focus on a 911 customer programme. Wollek was retained by the factory and parachuted into cars as necessary. So the Champion 911 GT1 EVO for Sebring.
Portland Pavement
Other destinations were the Konrad and Freisinger teams.
On Parade
For 2000 Wollek joined Dick Barbour Racing at Le Mans and in the ALMS. Le Mans produced another class win and then it didn’t, as there was a squabble about fuel tank capacity. As ever the ACO had the final word.
Head of the Pack
The team dominated the ALMS GT class. Bob surprised his younger colleagues such as Lucas Luhr and Dirk Müller with his speed, it drove them up the wall trying work out where the pace came from.
Texas Two Step
2001 saw Wollek join Petersen/White Lightning, another Porsche customer. Then came Sebring.
Memorial
Take a trip down Highway 98 towards Okeechobee, you will find the above marker, a simple tribute to a great champion.
Rest in Peace, Bob.
John Brooks, March 2011
The Victory Lane Roll
2003 saw the introduction of the Daytona Prototypes to the Rolex 24. Well, as their SRP 1 and 2 ancestors had found out in 2000 and 2001, any hint of delays due to mechanical problems will let the GT mob in. They are like a pack of hyenas relentlessly hunting.
So it was not a huge surprise to see a Porsche coming out on top, it’s what they do.
And of course it would not be Victory Lane without a crowd of clueless guys in bright shirts milling about purposelessly, oblivious to the TV and photographers trying to get a shot. Traditions are traditions after all.
John Brooks, January 2011
A step too far……..
The expression legendary has been thoroughly debased by application to people and things that are nothing of the sort. However amongst the Pyrite are to be found nuggets of the Real Stuff.
Porsche 956/117 is such a car, taking back to back victories at the 1984-85 Vingt Quatre Heures du Mans as well as 12 other wins in its three season career. A third win at La Sarthe in 1986 seemed on the cards till the engine expired during the night. Following the fatal accident of Jo Gartner, the race had been run under a safety car for several hours and this was believed at the time to have caused the problem.
Legend can be appropriately and deservedly applied to this Champion.
John Brooks, January 2011
2010 was a golden year for the Porsche pair, Marc Lieb and Richard Lietz. GT2 class victory at Le Mans and in the Le Mans Series put them right at the top of the tree.
This a golden moment from Hungary.
Sunset Boulevard
John Brooks, 2011