GT Sports Cars & Prototypes Racing News

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If you like racing in the rain!

Elford and Rodriguez in Porsche 917k's finished 1 - 2 at Brands hatch in 1970. Pouring rain. The videos may be old and grainy but the driving and grit and pure rawness of racing back then is simply unbelievable. Men and monster machines those many years ago.

First video - check out pit crewman or race official running across a hot track in the pouring rain at 1:10 of first video, a slide at 1:48, corner flag workers doing their thing on track (!), a spin at 2:18 and elsewhere.

Second video - more sliding, crews seemingly exposed, crash at 3:14, safety crews in the open working crashes.


1970 Brands Hatch BOAC 1000km
"This epic photo of Vic Elford and Pedro Rodriguez in the rain at Druids Corner shows the incredible car control that both men possessed. Even the prodigious rain driving talents of Elford were no match for the flying Mexican that day, who came from behind to win by 5 laps! Below is some great period footage of the race with interviews with Pedro and Jo Siffert."

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The current top governing bodies of professional Sports Car Road & Street Racing


ACO - Automobile Club de l'Ouest
(Founded 1906)

ACO logo Automobile Club de L'Ouest (resized).png (22.34 KiB) Viewed 5313 times

FIA - Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
(Founded 1904)

FIA logo Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile.png (17.51 KiB) Viewed 5313 times

IMSA - International Motor Sports Association
(Founded 1969)

IMSA logo International Motor Sports Association.png (5.46 KiB) Viewed 5313 times

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From Hagerty Media's Larry Webster in this weeks "Never Stop Driving" newsletter:

"In a few weeks, Penske will again attempt to fill a rare hole in his trophy case: A win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. We interviewed him about his plans to field a Porsche 963 last fall. This year’s race has the makings of an epic with not just Porsche but Ferrari, Cadillac, Peugeot, Toyota, and Glickenhaus all vying for the overall win."

https://www.hagerty.com/media/never-sto ... d568259d8a


The short clip below is following last week's Indy 500 race so I guess it technically doesn't belong in the 'Sports Car Racing' thread but it is the great Roger Penske who will be fielding a 963 at Le Mans in a couple of weeks. At 86 years old, Penske has the enthusiasm, energy and aura of someone many years younger. Racing and the passion of being around the sport helps keep one young!

[Tom]

That 963 is an astounding race car, so fingers crossed. I haven't kept up enough to know if the 963 is just keeping pace with everyone else or if that car is as advanced as it seems to me...

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The 963 hypercars are definitely keeping pace. Barring mechanical or other mishaps, I fully expect several of the four 963's to be there at the end. I'd love to see one of the three Penske 963's win. He and Porsche have definitely put together three strong sets of teams - cars and drivers. It's a major effort.

Team JOTA is fielding the other 963 that could be in the mix at the end. JOTA is also fielding an LMP2 entry.

And regarding the GTE/GT3 (or whatever it's called at Le Mans), there are eight 911 RSR-19 entries.

Gonna be wild and grueling!

Entries: https://us.motorsport.com/lemans/news/t ... /10437351/

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Yesterday, Hagerty Media’s first documentary, which chronicles Porsche’s record 19 Le Mans wins, premiered in New York City. Hagerty Drivers Club members got an early peek at the film, but it’s now available for free. Comments that I've seen from a wide range of sources is that the film is outstanding - a must see. And it's free for all of us Porschephiles!

Great timing to release it prior to this year's 91st running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans - the 100th anniversary of the first 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1923. I'm going to find time to watch it sometime before the end of the day. Got a feeling that it's going to be awesome!

Racing with Giants: Porsche at Le Mans

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From Porsche Motorsports North America, six short IMSA Racing intro videos from PMNA's YouTube site.

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[Stormy_Monday]

One thing good about sportscar/GT racing is the lack of whining by the team principles and "press".

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Definitely agree. It's more workmanlike as in "we've got a job to do so let's get it done". Same for the press.

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Ford's new Mustang GT3 is joining FIA & IMSA in a big way for 2024. The competition is only going to continue to build and the racing will only get more intense with all the positive changes taking place in the GT race world. It's great to see it happening!

"Ford is making good on its promise to develop a Mustang GT3 race car, and it will be revealed this weekend at the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Based on the 2024 Mustang Dark Horse, the FIA GT3 entrant will feature a 5.4-liter Coyote V8, bespoke short-long arm suspension, and a rear-mounted transaxle gearbox.
German-based Proton Competition will run the first pair of GT3 units in the FIA World Endurance Championship, while Ford Performance will race a pair in IMSA’s GTD Pro class."

Interesting that the German Proton Competition race house who raced three 911 RSR's at Le Mans this past weekend (sadly, all were DNF's) is leading the way with Ford and Mustang. Not sure whether to read anything into that or not.

Anyway, the Mustang GT3's are to race entirety of the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2024. Ford Performance will also race a pair of Mustang GT3s in IMSA’s GTD Pro class. It's going to be a great season - I can feel it!

https://www.autoweek.com/racing/more-ra ... d568259d8a

Also mentioned was the fact that with the ongoing F1 powertrain development program with Red Bull Racing, Ford is diving back into motorsports with a vengeance. Indeed!

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