The past, present and future collide at Rennsport Reunion to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Porsche 911. We also participated in this energetic event!
Porsche fans from all over the world gather at the Laguna Seca Speedway in California. Ron Nudelman drove his 1965 Porsche 911 from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, more than 3,000 miles to get here. Jakob Pospieszynski drove a 993 C4S from Ontario, Canada.
The parking lot was packed with Porsches, mostly 911s, some coming out of garages, some in a higher Baja style, some lowered for the track, and many of the license plate numbers were also Porsche engineering, model ** and era icons – NEIN93, MEZGER6, SWB67S, etc.
They were drawn to the seventh edition of the Rennsport Reunion, a four-day event for Porsche, which this year commemorates the 60th anniversary of the 911 and the 75th anniversary of Porsche.
The golf cart beat the 911 with a jaw-dropping result at Rennssport.
Races from club to professional level take place here, with modern and retro cars racing and even vintage Porsche tractors battling off on the track. There's also a Dolby Brothers Saturday night and a retail village. A steady stream of Cayenne formed a convoy that drove like ants along a steep off-road route towards the spiral bend of Laguna. Although it's Porsche motorsport, the whole scene is like the Glastonbury Contemporary Performing Arts Festival (Rennssport means "motorsport").
California was a natural choice. Although Stuttgart is Porsche's homeland and China is the largest consumer market, the Golden State (another name for California) accounts for the largest share of sales in Porsche's second-largest market – and if California were a country, it would be the fourth-largest market in its own right. Add to that the (usually) more pleasant climate, wealth and the racing environment that has brought us specialties like the 356 speedster since the time of importer Max Hoffmann, and you still want to go **?
We arrived at dusk on Thursday, just in time for Porsche to unveil its latest 911 variant, the GT3 R Rennssport. It's a track-specific car based on a GT3 R race car, limited to 77 units, priced at just over $1 million, not including special paints** and the like. Jörg Bergmeister drove it for a lap in the dark. Although the 911 is long gone, the roar of the horizontally opposed six-cylinder engine and the violent crackling of the sequential gearbox are still clear and shocking as we shudder in the pits.
The sun shone down on us at 8:30 a.m. on Friday morning as we climbed the rollercoaster-like road. Laguna's incredible terrain and countless curves come to mind, followed by the interception wall – a real slap in the face for those who think American racing is just a pediatric.
Almost all important Porsche models and drivers are here. The queue waiting for the autographs of the "legendary" drivers winds around (although the queue in front of the Porsche shop seems to be longer). Wolfgang Porsche drives a 1948 Model 356, one of the first road cars registered by Porsche. Pikes Peak racer David Donohue drove quietly in his father, Mark Donohue's 917 30 Canadian American car.
I got on a shuttle bus and somehow chatted with 1997 Le Mans champion Stefan Johansson and American racer Danny Sullivan, who drove the DAUER 962 that took him to third place at Le Mans in 1994. Greatness often comes from the ordinary. Is it Hans Josim Stark on the other side of the gate?Of course not.
Rennssport doesn't always take place at the Laguna Seca circuit. Its origins can be traced back to the 1998 Double Fifty event at Watkins Glen, organised by British expatriate and former racing driver Brian Redman to celebrate Porsche's 50th anniversary.
The 86-year-old's eyes widened as he talked about the supercharger gauge he drove in his 935 in 1978, and then recalled that in August 1998 former PR supervisor Bob Carlson invited him to test five Porsche classics at the Laguna Secca circuit.
I said, if you send me those five cars in two weeks, I'll do an all-Porsche race at Watkins Glen. "It could have cost $50,000 to $60,000 to run the race, but it was the first race weekend of the year with 20,000 to 25,000 people in attendance, and the roads were blocked — not just to the track, but also to the narrow country roads around the track." ”
Subsequently, the first Rennsport Reunion was held in Lemrock in 2001 and has been since then.
It will be held every three or four years, although the last one will be in 2018.
Redman hasn't been officially involved since 2007 (he's both enthusiastic about its development and obviously a bit bittersweet), but Bruce Canepa has been playing a key role in it since it was relocated to the Laguna Seca circuit in 2011.
Sadly, both Bob Carlson and his external partner (Brumos Racing) Bob DeGrasse have passed away. I wanted to reimagine Rennsport Reunion as a lifestyle event that made more sense for Porsche from a marketing point of view. Talented race car driver Canepa says he's probably best known for his luxury cars** and restoration business right now. (Despite the marketing efforts, Rennssport isn't as popular as events like the Goodwood Festival of Speed – if you like Porsche, there's definitely something for you.) ）
Canepa takes us on a tour of his beautifully upgraded 959 and his 934 Le Mans converted into a road car. Soon after, under the mossy California oak trees at the Spiral Bend, he took pole position in a 1979 Porsche 935 – the last factory built car and one of the wildest 911 designs ever built. The car was already in his hands when it was still very new.
Hordes of vehicles whizzed down steep downhill on the left and right, the horizontally opposed six-cylinder engine made a screeching sound, flames erupted from the exhaust vents, and the heads of the spectators swayed from side to side in an attempt to keep up with it all. Canepa later revealed that he wasn't giving it his all, but his smile said it all.
Laguna Seca's spiral bend has its own unique charm.
There were some really nerve-wracking moments this weekend. In my eyes, the one that stood out was Patrick Lang, who drove a 1980s 962 Group C. It was an unmissable opportunity for a factory racer who was more immersed than most drivers in the history of Porsche motorsport (he even hosted his own 911 event – Luftgekühlt).
But if you've seen four-wheeled drift cars of unimaginable value at Goodwood's vintage car extravaganza or even other Laguna events, many of the historic races seem a little too urbane. Danny Sullivan, 73, told me that he only developed five-tenths or six-tenths of the performance of the DAUER 962. "I'm too old to do anything, and you never know how meticulous the owner or the chief mechanic will be," he said on the bus. I don't want to get hurt, I don't want to crash someone's car, I really don't want to damage this Le Mans. ”
Amateur racer Frank Powell said something similar — he was behind a 1986 Carrera that had been converted into a 300-horsepower wide-body flathead after a series of accidents and mechanical problems, but he said Historic Sportscar Racing told them to take it easy — "Perform well, don't try the track, but don't finish the race with a yellow flag." He concluded.
Jörg Bergmeister: If you could keep up with him, you'd laugh so much.
It rained on Saturday, and plastic sheeting flew over race cars and road bikes worth more than most houses. As the racers made their way to the grid, there was a splash of water along the way. Some owners refused to race in such bad weather conditions, but the Porsche Carrera Cup North America was being held at Rennssport for the first time and the competition was fierce – we watched them race around the track and battle for pole position, bringing some real excitement to the race. Leaders Will Martin and Tom Sargent were separated by less than a hundredth of a second in qualifying. It's so fascinating!
A slogan written on the back of a t-shirt is available to everyone.
When you spend all your money on 911, live in the car.
Thankfully, the weather improved on Sunday, so we set out again to meet Porsche's grassroots fans. Each of them has a story about 911.
After graduating from university in 1971, John Dilger joined a Porsche dealership and sold a 911 on the first day, so he never even thought about owning a car from another brand. He raced in a 1971 model year 911 and arrived here with his girlfriend Silvia in a gorgeous 991 GT3 RS.
She helped him count the Porsches they owned (four 911s and one 356) and recounted their happy times in Riverside, Sears Point, Laguna and Willow Springs. "There were tracks everywhere back then." So did they get that GT3 RS on the track?"Nope!"It's a $240,000 car — if it had been on the track, people wouldn't have bought it!"”
Give your 911 a steampunk makeover, why not?
Mike Whittle owns a highly modified light blue 1972 911. He grew up in Germany to an American father and a German mother, and he came to the United States when he was in junior high school. "I've always been interested in Porsche, but they scared me, I didn't know about them at the time, and I was a fan of Chevrolet at the time," he told us, "but when I got older, I thought maybe I could give it a try." ”
By the time the news reached his home in Lake Tahoe, the 911 was in a dilapidated state, so he called a friend to help him transfer his collection of cars. The 911 was eventually sent to the workshop for gradual cleaning and modification. "I didn't want Singer, and I didn't want Rauh-welt," Whittle recalled, "and the guy at the tuning shop recommended punk rock, and I immediately responded, 'Steampunk, this is it!'"’”
Who wants to tell him that he has two holes in his car door?
Today, the 1972 model 911, weighing 1,200 kilograms and making around 250 hp, was transported here so that Mike could drive another of his 911s (also a 991 GT3 RS).
Most of the people we met were older, wealthy white people, but Drew Manley grew up with Japanese car culture and brought that culture with him in his 964 RS "America" – a slightly pastel RS that was built to meet American regulations and was barely modified.
I fitted it with Volk wheels, MCS suspension and a Bride seat. "I wish it was a little more practical because I'm a driver." ”
He even adorned the bonnet with a rock-inspired Star-Spangled Banner front wing and "RS Murica" motif, which was more confrontational than practical. A convoy of nine like-minded people followed him all the way north from Los Angeles to here.
The streets of Monterrey are full of Porsches.
"Some car enthusiasts in Southern California have seen people like me enter this automotive space and bridge the gap with Porsche," he said. Porsche has always been seen as a premium brand for older men, and this gives it a bit of youthful energy. ”
We had the last game of the weekend, after which the parking lot gradually emptied and Rennssport was over.
A carnival feast of fine wine and luxury cars.
The event costs $10 million, but tickets for a Saturday or Sunday cost $135 and were attended by 91,000 people. Porsche's investment not only paid off handsomely, but also created the largest Porsche gathering in history.
Even in front of Rennssport, the 911 RSR remains the focus.
The Rennsport Reunion is a great way to celebrate Porsche's birthday and to commemorate the 911, the iconic sports car that continues to define the brand.
Everything Porsche knows is incorporated into its track-specific cars.
Inhale easily
The GT3 R Rennssport takes full advantage of not having to comply with FIA rules. So, although its engine is based on a GT3 race car, it's more powerful and sounds more like a Le Mans-spec RSR. This naturally aspirated horizontally opposed six-cylinder engine has a unique piston and connecting rod that makes 603 horsepower.
Full carbonization
Porsche's target is to have a curb weight of 1,240 kilograms, so weight reduction measures are everywhere. The body is made of all-carbon, the brake pads have titanium back plates, and ventilation is provided by the seat cooling system instead of the traditional air conditioning.
Boasting of the capital
The new car, known as the GT3 R Rennsport, is strictly a track-specific car. The eventual winner of the 77 will have no shortage of bragging rights, including some clever details – the first of the sequential gearbox.
Fourth, fifth and sixth gears use the same ratios that Porsche used in Daytona.
Single-seater racing
It is strictly a single-seater with an FIA-spec roll cage that excludes any possibility of hitchhiking. The rear wing has two additional brackets to cope with downforce, a design that references the 935 77.
Text: Ben Barry, Illustrated by Jordan Butters, translated by Li Rong.