Rennsport Reunion

The last thirty days have been a whirlwind of Porsche events for us spanning Rennsport Reunion on the California coast through to chasing across three countries in Europe on a four day road trip with our friends at 9Werks. Crammed into the month of the 60^th anniversary of the 911 there was an overabundance of 911s to overwhelm the senses.

Rennsport Reunion is a four day event designed to satisfy the most glutinous flat six fanatic, occurring every few years at Laguna Seca just outside Monterey. Set in the backdrop the temperate coastal hills south of San Francisco, Monterey plays host to what must be one of the largest single marque events in the world drawing participants from every corner of the globe not just the USA. So vast is the reach that you actually attend in person while watching the experience unfold for others on your social media feeds as photos and videos rain thick and fast for the duration and well into the evening, often giving valuable hints on bits you may have missed or commentaries on displays giving useful insights into the back stories of cars.

Thanks to the social media network we discovered Canepa just north of Santa Cruz in their Scotts Valley HQ opened in 2006. Enthusiasts had started to gather in the region and Canepa had thrown open their doors allowing the public to wander around their museum and workshop without restraint. Cars for sale included a 1974 911 RSR but even more staggering was the six 959’s being serviced in their workshop alongside an F40, various Gullwings and a couple of XJ220’s. The standout Porsche of the for sale cars was a one of fifteen 1981 924 Carrera GTS Club Sport with 40 miles on it. My driven not hidden instinct would be to liberate it from its life of incarceration by buying it and promptly driving it across the USA offering everyone interested a deafening and comfort free spin around the block in what is ostensibly a stripped-out race car with numberplates and plastic windows.

Rennsport Reunion followed and on entering the circuit what hits you immediately is the noise. I can only guess that there are zero noise limits and that the participants of various races classes take full advantage.

Thursday night saw Porsche unveil the 992 GT3RS Rennsport which we managed to get near on the Friday morning. An all-out 77 unit unhomologated, non road registered track toy. What struck me as I illicitly stuck my head through the carelessly left open door was the two large screens place one in front of and other to the right of the driver. What vital information you might need to be looking at while circulating a track at speed requiring not one but two screens escapes me. The last thing I am looking at while risking life and limb is a screen showing the reversing camera. Maybe it had been fitted for the event to assist the driver in not accidentally running over spectators when manoeuvring around the paddock with vision obscured by an aircraft carrier size rear wing.

The highlights was standing at the top of the world famous ‘Corkscrew’ watching the cars drop down the hill in front of you at eye level before dropping off to the circuit below. While the GT4RS’s went flying by in their usual blur, the fact they were being lapped by the Penske 963 bears testament to the gap between all out race cars and street base race cars. Even the freshly launched afore mentioned 992 GT3RS Rennsport was somewhat off the pace.