Porsche in motorsport

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Targa Florio winning 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RSR in Martini Racing colours at the 2006 Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Porsche 956 and 962C, like this in Jägermeister livery, won the 24 Hours of Le Mans six years in a row in the 1980s.
WEC 6 Heures de Spa-Francorchamps
.

Porsche has been successful in many branches of motorsport of which most have been in long-distance races.

Despite their early involvement in motorsports being limited to supplying relatively small engines to racing underdogs up until the late 1960s, by the mid-1950s Porsche had already tasted moderate success in the realm of sports car racing, most notably in the Carrera Panamericana and Targa Florio, classic races which were later used in the naming of streetcars.[citation needed] The Porsche 917 of 1969 turned them into a powerhouse, winning in 1970 the first of over a dozen 24 Hours of Le Mans, more than any other company. With the 911 Carrera RSR and the Porsche 935 Turbo, Porsche dominated the 1970s and even has beaten sports prototypes, a category in which Porsche entered the successful 936, 956, and 962 models.

Porsche is currently the world's largest race car manufacturer. In 2006, Porsche built 195 race cars for various international motor sports events, and in 2007 Porsche is expected to construct no less than 275 dedicated race cars (7 RS Spyder LMP2 prototypes, 37 GT2 spec 911 GT3-RSRs, and 231 911 GT3 Cup vehicles).[1]

Porsche regards racing as an essential part of ongoing engineering development—it was traditionally very rare for factory-entered Porsche racing cars to appear at consecutive races in the same specification. Some aspect of the car almost invariably was being developed, whether for the future race programs or as proof of concept for future road cars.

Early years

As Porsche only had small capacity road and racing cars in the 1950s and 1960s, they scored many wins in their classes, and occasionally also overall victories against bigger cars, most notably winning the Targa Florio in 1956, 1959, 1960, 1964, and every year from 1966 to 1970 in prototypes that lacked horsepower relative to the competition, but which made up for that, with reliability, low drag, low weight and good handling.[citation needed]

In their September 2003 publication,

Road America 500 in an Elva Mark 7 Porsche powered sports racer driven by Bill Wuesthoff and Augie Pabst
.

Porsche started racing with lightweight, tuned derivatives of the 356 road car, but rapidly moved on to campaigning dedicated racing cars, with the 550, 718, RS, and RSK models being the backbone of the company's racing programme through to the mid-1960s. The 90x series of cars in the 60s saw Porsche start to expand from class winners that stood a chance of overall wins in tougher races where endurance and handling mattered, to likely overall victors. Engines did not surpass the two litres mark until the rule-makers limited the capacity of the prototype class to 3 litres after 1967, as the four-litre Ferrari P series and the seven-litre Ford GT40 became too fast. Porsche first expanded its 8-cyl flat engine to 2.2 litres in the 907, then developed the 908 with full three litres in 1968. Based on this 8-cyl flat engine and a loophole in the rules, the 4.5-litre flat 12 917 was introduced in 1969, eventually expanded to five litres, and later even to 5.4 and turbocharged. Within a few years, Porsche with the 917 had grown from underdog to the supplier of the fastest (380 km/h at Le Mans) and most powerful (1580 hp in CanAm) race car in the world.[citation needed]

Five decades of Porsche 911 success

Even though introduced in 1963, and winning the

Porsche 911 classic
(built until 1989) established its reputation in production-based road racing mainly in the 1970s.

  • Porsche 911 Carrera RSR, winner of the Targa Florio, Daytona and Sebring in the mid-1970s
  • Porsche 934
  • Porsche 935, winner in Le Mans 1979

Due to regulation restraints, the 911 was not used very much in the 1980s but returned in the 1990s as the

Porsche 996
series became a success in racing after the GT3 variant was introduced in 1999.

24 Hours of Le Mans successes

The 917 gave Porsche its first 24 Hours of Le Mans win in 1970.

The

IMSA GTP in the 1980s with the Porsche 956/962C
, one of the most prolific and successful sports prototype racers ever produced.

The 924 GTP, also called 944 LM. While not designed for outright wins, the car still brought home victories in their individual classes at Le Mans.

Although the car was never intended to win outright at Le Mans the Porsche

IMSA GTO class and an 11th overall position.[4][5]

While there was no longer a factory team running the 924 GTR in 1982, the car would still be fielded to another class win in the IMSA GTO class by BF Goodrich Brornos team with drivers Doc Bundy and Marcel Mignot.[4]

Porsche scored a couple of unexpected Le Mans wins in 1996 and 1997. A return to prototype racing in the US was planned for 1995 with a Tom Walkinshaw Racing chassis formerly used as the Jaguar XJR-14 and the Mazda MXR-01 fitted with a Porsche engine. IMSA rule changes struck this car out of the running and the private Joest Racing team raced the cars in Europe for two years, winning back-to-back Le Mans with the same chassis, termed the Porsche WSC-95. This is a feat Porsche had also achieved in the 956 era, contrasting with the 1960s and 1970s where most cars ran only one or two races for the works before being sold on.

Between 1998 (when Porsche won overall with the Porsche 911 GT1-98) and 2014, Porsche did not attempt to score overall wins at Le Mans and similar sports car races, focusing on smaller classes and developing the water-cooled 996 GT3. Nevertheless, the GT3 and the LMP2 RS Spyder won major races overall during the period. Porsche returned to top-tier Le Mans racing in 2014 with the 919, but both cars experienced unknown engine issues with an hour and a half left to go and retired just as the #20 car was chasing down the #1 Audi in first place.

In 2015, a

hat trick by winning the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans with drivers Timo Bernhard, Earl Bamber, and Brendon Hartley
.

In mid-2017, Porsche announced that they would close their LMP1 program at the end of the year.[6]

Porsche is set to return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2023 with the new Porsche 963 sports prototype.[7]

Teams and sponsorship

The original Porsche 935/78 "Moby Dick" in Martini Racing livery at the Porsche Rennsport Reunion IV.

In the 1960s, Porsche grew into a major competitor in sports car racing, sometimes entering half a dozen cars which were soon sold to customers. Apart from the factory team, calling itself Porsche AG or

Rothmans Porsche
in the mid-1980s.

Many Porsche race cars are run successfully by customer teams, financed, and run without any factory support; often they have beaten the factory itself.

Recently,

24h Nürburgring, factory-backed Manthey Racing
GT3 won since 2006. The team of Olaf Manthey, based at the Nürburgring, had entered the semi-works GT3-R in 1999.

Rally

Walter Röhrl's 1981 Porsche 924 GTS driven at the 2008 Rallye Deutschland.

The various versions of the

Alpine-Renault to win the International Championship for Manufacturers (IMC), the predecessor to the World Rally Championship (WRC). Porsche's first podium finish in the WRC was Leo Kinnunen's third place at the 1973 1000 Lakes Rally
.

Although the Porsche factory team withdrew from the WRC with no wins to their name, the best private 911s were often close to other brands' works cars. Jack Tordoff was the first privateer to win an International Rally using a 911 2.7 Carrera RS Sport (Lightweight) on the Circuit of Ireland in 1973 (a round of the European Rally Championship). This success was followed by Cathal Curley who won the 1973 Donegal International Rally in a 911 2.7 RS Touring. Cathal Curley followed this with the greatest run of International Rally wins ever recorded in a Porsche Carrera RS when in 1974 he won the Circuit of Ireland, Donegal and Manx International Rallies in AUI 1500, the last Rhd 911 2.7 Carrera RS Sport produced by Porsche. In 1975 Cathal Curley upgraded to the new 3.0 Carrera RS in 1975 and won the Cork 20 which became an International Rally in 1977. Cathal Curley won four International Rallies in a 2.7 Carrera RS, multiple wins in mechanically standard cars straight off the showroom floor. These wins were all the more impressive as Ireland was the hotbed of International Rallying for the Porsche 911 RS in the 1970s. Jack Tordoff's victory was steady and deserved as he stalked the leading works backed Escort that failed on the penultimate stage beating this car and two other entered 911s but by 1974 Cathal Curley's wins came against no less than fourteen other 911 RSs beating the great Roger Clark in a works backed Escort in the 1974 Manx International Rally too. Over half of the UK allocation of 17 2.7 RS Sport (Lightweights) were rallied at any one time in Ireland in the 1970s.

Paris Dakar Rally, also using the 911 derived Porsche 959 Group B
supercar.

Porsche won the Spanish Rally Championship five times between 2009 and 2015 with Sergio Vallejo and Miguel Ángel Fuster with a Porsche 911 GT3. The manufacturer also won the 2015 and 2017 FIA R-GT Cup with François Delecour and Romain Dumas respectively, also with a 911 GT3.

IMC results

Year Car Driver 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 IMC Points
1970
Porsche 911 S
 Sweden Björn Waldegård MON
1 		SWE
1 		ITA KEN AUT
1 		GRE
Ret 		GBR
Ret 		1st 28
France Gérard Larrousse MON
2 		SWE ITA KEN AUT GRE GBR
6
Sweden Åke Andersson MON
4 		SWE
Ret 		ITA KEN AUT
Ret 		GRE
Ret 		GBR
Ret
Sweden Jerry Larsson MON SWE
5 		ITA KEN AUT GRE GBR
1971
Porsche 914/6
 Sweden Björn Waldegård MON
3 		3rd 16.5
Porsche 911 S
 SWE
4 		ITA KEN
Ret 		MAR AUT GRE GBR
2
Porsche 914/6
 Sweden Åke Andersson MON
Ret
Porsche 911 S
 SWE
6 		ITA KEN
Ret 		MAR AUT GRE GBR

Formula One

1962 Porsche 804
McLaren MP4/2 Formula One car, powered by a TAG-Porsche engine

Despite Ferdinand Porsche having designed Grand Prix cars in the 1920s and 1930s for Mercedes and Auto Union, the Porsche AG never felt at home in single-seater series.

In the late 1950s the

Solitude in a non-championship race. At the end of the season, Porsche withdrew from F1 due to the high costs,[citation needed
] just having acquired the Reutter factory. Volkswagen and German branches of suppliers had no interest in an F1 commitment as this series was too far away from road cars. Privateers continued to enter the outdated Porsche 718 in F1 until 1964.

Having been very successful with turbocharged cars in the 1970s, Porsche returned to Formula One in

McLaren team, as the partner electronics firm was paying for the whole engine program, with the deal they would be badged as TAG units. For aerodynamic reasons, the Porsche-typical flat engine was out of the question for being too wide. With turbo power being the way to go in F1 at the time a 90° V6 turbo engine was produced. The TAG engine was designed to very tight requirements issued by McLaren's chief designer John Barnard. He specified the physical layout of the engine to match the design of his proposed car. The engine was funded by TAG who retained the naming rights to it, although the engines bore "made by Porsche" identification. Initially, Porsche was reluctant to have their name on the engines, fearing bad publicity if they failed. However, within a few races of the 1984 season when it became evident that the engines were the ones to have, the "Made by Porsche" badges began to appear. TAG-Porsche-powered cars took two constructor championships in 1984 and 1985, and three driver crowns in 1984, 1985 and 1986. The engines powered McLaren to 25 victories between 1984 and 1987, with 19 for 1985 and 1986 World Champion Alain Prost, and 6 for 1984 Champion Niki Lauda
.

Despite its overwhelming success, the TAG-Porsche engines were never the most powerful in Formula One as they did not have the ability to hold higher turbo boost like the rival

Honda engines. The McLaren drivers who regularly raced with the engine (Lauda, Prost, Keke Rosberg and Stefan Johansson) continually asked Porsche to develop a special qualifying engine like their rivals. However, both Porsche and TAG owner Mansour Ojjeh
balked at the requests due to the extra costs involved, reasoning that the proven race engines already had equal power and better fuel economy than all bar the Hondas, thus qualifying engines were never built. Though the lack of horsepower did not stop McLaren from claiming 7 pole positions (6 for Prost, 1 for Rosberg) and 21 front-row starts.

Porsche returned to F1 again in 1991 as an engine supplier, however, this time with disastrous results: The Footwork Arrows cars powered with the overweight Porsche 3512 double-V6 which weighed 400 pounds (180 kg), (according to various reports, including from McLaren designer Alan Jenkins, the engine was in fact 2 combined TAG V6 engines used by McLaren from 1983 to 1987 minus the turbochargers)[9] failed to score a single point, and failed even to qualify for over half the races that year. After the Porsche engines were sacked by Footwork in favor of Cosworth DFRs, Porsche has not participated in Formula One since. According to reports from Arrows, the 3512's major problem, other than a lack of horsepower, was severe oil starvation problems which often led to engine failure.

During the 2010 Paris Motor Show, Porsche chairman Matthias Mueller made a statement hinting at a possible Porsche return to Formula 1. Specifically, Mueller stated that either Porsche or Audi would compete in Le Mans while the other would turn to Formula 1. Previously, Audi's motorsport boss Wolfgang Ulrich had already stated that Audi and Formula 1 "do not fit".[10]

On 2 May 2022, Volkswagen Group's CEO Herbert Diess announced that Porsche would make their return to the sport alongside VW brand Audi. This will be Audi's first entry into the sport.[11] On 27 July in Morocco, official information was published on the approval of an application submitted jointly by Porsche and Red Bull GmbH in which Porsche acquired 50% of the shares of the Red Bull program in Formula 1. This application had to be filed with the antitrust authorities of up to 20 countries, including outside the European Union. The press release was due to go out for the Austrian GP. However, the FIA did not approve the regulations for the 2026 engines before 29 June as planned, delaying official confirmation of Porsche's entry into Formula One.[12] On 15 August, Porsche registered the "F1nally" trademark with the German Patent Office, which covers the development of different activities such as cultural and sports activities, technological and scientific services, industrial development, analysis and design, as well as the development and design of computer hardware and software, marketing and office functions, telecommunications and administration.[13]

After months of speculation, Porsche AG confirmed in September that talks with Red Bull GmbH would not continue. The intention was to reach an engine and team partnership, based on equal footing but the negotiations never came to fruition.[14] In March 2023, Porsche announced that they will not be joining Formula 1 in 2026.[15]

Formula One results

Main article: Porsche Grand Prix results

Indycar

Teo Fabi's 1988 Porsche 2708
V8 engine for the Indy 500-race

Porsche first attempted to compete in the

Parnelli VPJ6C-Cosworth DFX
at Indianapolis that year. The Indianapolis engine became the basis of the highly-successful 956/962 motor.

Porsche returned to CART in its

Marlboro 500 at Michigan International Speedway
.

In

Burke Lakefront Airport and at the Molson Indy Vancouver at the Streets of Vancouver
and would finish tenth in points.

Porsche withdrew from IndyCar at the end of the 1990 season. Team director Derrick Walker bought the assets to become the owner of Walker Racing.

Carrera Cup and amateur racing

Porsche has always been a popular marque for amateur racing GT and Production Sports Car racing in Europe, America, and Asia, particularly the Porsche 911. Stock and lightly modified Porsches are raced in many competitions around the world; many of these are primarily amateur classes for enthusiasts.

Porsche has and continues to build models based on road cars but optimised for competition, most famously the

Japan, the Middle East, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Scandinavia as well as originating IROC in the United States. A professional series evolved from these, the European-based Porsche Supercup
.

21st century

Penske Racing's Porsche RS Spyder in the 2008 Utah Grand Prix
.

Porsche dropped its factory

Ferdinand Piech. The V10 was used in the Porsche Carrera GT
instead, while Audi dominated Le Mans after BMW, Mercedes and Toyota moved to F1.

Porsche made a comeback in the LMP2 category in 2005 with the new

Le Mans Series; Van Merksteijn Motorsport, Team Essex, and Horag Racing taking the first three places in the LMP2 championship. Van Merksteijn Motorsport took a class victory at the 2008 24 Hours of Le Mans and Team Essex won the LMP2 class at the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans
.

The Daytona Prototype Action Express Racing Riley-Porsche won the 2010 24 Hours of Daytona. This was unusual since the Riley-Porsche was powered by a Porsche Cayenne SUV-based 5.0-litre V8. Porsche refused to develop the V8 for the Grand-Am competition and was, instead, built by the Texas-based Lozano Brothers. Since it was not officially sanctioned by Porsche, the company did not technically claim the win.[17]

Factory drivers

Current

[18][19][20]

Former

Major victories and championships

TAG-Porsche engine in McLaren cars

References

Notes

  1. ^ Watkins, Gary (7 March 2007). "Warehouse Shopping: Inside Porsche's Motorsport Centre". AutoWeek. Archived from the original on 8 November 2011. Retrieved 14 April 2007.
  2. ^ "Excellence :: Back Issues". Excellence-mag.com. Retrieved 24 November 2010.
  3. ^ "The Porsche Club of America". Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 12 April 2007.
  4. ^ a b Smith, Roy (2014). The Porsche 924 Carrera. Veloce Publishing Limited.
  5. ^ Long, Brian (2008). Porsche Racing Cars 1976 to 2005. Veloce Publishing Limited.
  6. ^ Porsche quits WEC LMP1 class for Formula E programme - Gary Watkins, Autosport, 28 July 2017
  7. ^ "Porsche and Penske join forces for 2023 WEC return". Autocar. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  8. ^ Klein, Reinhard (2000). Rally Cars, pages 122-123. Germany: Konemann Inc.
  9. ^ "Lucky espace: the Porsche V12". Autosport. 22 May 2013. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  10. ^ "Porsche's shock F1 return". Autocar. 1 October 2010. Archived from the original on 3 April 2012. Retrieved 24 November 2010.
  11. ^ "Audi, Porsche to join Formula One, VW CEO says". Reuters. 2 May 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  12. ^ "Leak durch Kartellbehörde: Porsche übernimmt 50 Prozent von Red Bull!". Motorsport-Total.com (in German). Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  13. ^ "Porsche, más cerca de la F1: registra la marca "F1nally"". SoyMotor.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  14. ^ "Partnership between Porsche AG and Red Bull GmbH will not come about". Porsche Newsroom. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  15. ^ Brittle, Cian (22 March 2023). "Report: Porsche rules out F1 entry in 2026". www.blackbookmotorsport.com. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  16. ^ Future looks dim for Porsche - Joseph Siano, The New York Times, 1 July 1990
  17. ^ Smith, Steven (1 February 2010). "Action Express pulls off a stunning win at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona". AutoWeek. Archived from the original on 15 October 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2010.
  18. ^ "Porsche Reveal Major Shake-Up In Factory Driver Roster". dailysportscar.com. 12 December 2020.
  19. ^ "Dane Cameron & Felipe Nasr Confirmed As 2022 Porsche Works Drivers". dailysportscar.com. 18 December 2021.
  20. ^ "António Félix da Costa becomes new Porsche works driver in Formula E". Porsche Newsroom. 15 August 2022.
  21. ^ "Björn Waldegård – the first World Rally Champion". porsche.de. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  22. ^ "Bob Wollek – Decades for Motorsports". porsche.de. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  23. ^ "Derek Bell – a Porsche ambassador to this day". porsche.de. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  24. ^ "Edgar Barth – three-times winner of the European Hill Climb Championship". porsche.de. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  25. ^ "Gerhard Mitter – Targa Florio winner in the Porsche 908". porsche.de. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  26. ^ "Hans-Joachim Stuck – a man with brains". porsche.de. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  27. ^ "Helmut Marko – the doctor in the cockpit". porsche.de. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  28. ^ "Herbert Linge – 'Mr Do Everything' at Porsche". porsche.de. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  29. ^ "Herbert Müller – the fast semi-professional from Switzerland". porsche.de. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  30. ^ "Hurley Haywood – master of endurance". porsche.de. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  31. ^ "Jacky Ickx – four-time winner in Le Mans". porsche.de. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  32. ^ "Jo Siffert – the naturally talented Swiss". porsche.de. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  33. ^ "Jürgen Barth – at work everywhere for Porsche". porsche.de. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  34. ^ "Mark Donohue – the fastest man in the 917". porsche.de. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  35. ^ "Peter Gregg". porsche.de. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  36. ^ "Reinhold Joest – sustained success at Le Mans". porsche.de. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  37. ^ "Richard von Frankenberg – journalist in a racing car". porsche.de. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  38. ^ "Stefan Bellof – the super-fast golden boy". porsche.de. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  39. ^ "Vern Schuppan". porsche.de. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  40. ^ "Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips – Hill Climb Champion with Porsche". porsche.de. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  41. ^ Dagys, John (11 November 2021). "Long to Retire from Full-Time Driving; New Roles at Porsche". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media.

Bibliography

External links
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