Last weekend, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca echoed with the sound of several hundred Porsches being flogged relentlessly. The reason was Porsche’s Rennsport Reunion IV, the fourth installment of a triennial gathering that brings together almost every star in the Stuttgart firmament. But Rennsport is more than a vintage race—it’s a social event, a four-day party, and a chance to rub elbows with legendary personalities. A-list names like Singer and Seinfeld flooded the paddock, and the track was jammed with more rock-star hotshoes than you could shake a racing slick at.
We walked around, we talked to people, and we learned a few things. As with any family reunion, we also overheard some pretty funny stuff. Here now, a sound-bite snapshot of the weekend. (Two notes: First, Dutch Le Mans winner Gijs van Lennep has stones of steel, and you can see it in his eyes. And second, Porsche factory driver Patrick Long is a lot nicer than he sounds. Promise.)
“Mr. Seinfeld! I made this for you. My dad and I watch your show all the time!”
–Random young spectator, after handing a drawing of a race car to Reunion grand marshal Jerry Seinfeld.
“To me, the bigger the steering wheel and the smaller the tire, the better.”
–Patrick Long, age 30.
“HUSCHKE”
–Vanity plate on endurance legend and four-time Le Mans winner Hurley Haywood’s 550 Spyder. It refers to Baron Fritz “Huschke” von Hanstein, Porsche’s aristocratic racing boss of the 1950s and 1960s.
“This one isn’t really anything. It’s not really important, doesn’t have any history. It’s kind of nothing.”
–Unnamed driver, referring to the Gulf-liveried 917K that Steve McQueen drove in the film Le Mans.
“It’s tough to get into cars these days, because guys either don’t want them on the track or they want to drive themselves. So it’s kind of a complete circle in your career, where you’re begging for a ride again.”
–Unnamed driver, on the difficulty of getting into historic race cars.
“To drive a 908 in the Targa Florio was beautiful.”
–Gijs van Lennep.
“You mean . . . the driving or the spectating or the autograph signing or the dining and wining?”
–Former F1 driver and Targa Florio winner Brian Redman, on his favorite part of the weekend.
“A four-wheeled adventure will soon bring you happiness.”
–Fortune-cookie fortune taped to the windshield of an Iowa-plated 1960s 911 in the spectator paddock.
“It’s a hairy motorcar, but if you have to drive it . . . you need the confidence, and that means car control. I learned a lot when I was very young, on ice and water and all sorts of things. We could slide them 40 degrees, 41 degrees, whatever you like. I could do it.”
–Gijs van Lennep, on the Porsche 917K.
“The 917/10, you know, I was young and stupid when I drove that car.”
–Hurley Haywood.
“Wait. Which is the new one?”
–Female spectator, when presented with a line of cars that included a handful of 997-chassis 911s and two 991s.
“It was excellent. It was one of the best things I’ve ever done. It was like being in a movie.”
–Patrick Long, shortly after climbing out of rally driver Jeff Zwart’s 1966 906. Prior to this statement, Long was smiling; when asked what Zwart’s 906 was like, he looked the author in the eye and his smile disappeared. (Zwart is a pretty amazing guy—check out our interview with him here.)
“Holy shit.”
–Male spectator, after watching 959 maven Bruce Canepa’s one-owner 935 rip down Laguna’s main straight at 140-plus mph.
“It was pretty funny. Patrick was all, ‘You think he’d let me drive it? Really?’ and Jeff said, ‘You think he’d drive it? Really?’”
–Porsche PR man Dave Engelman, on helping Long get a ride in Zwart’s car.
“No.”
–Hurley Haywood, when asked if he missed hairy racing cars.
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