With an unbeaten record of 16 victories in the Le Mans 24 Hours race, the reputation of Porsche has been founded on success in the high speed, high pressure motor sport environment. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Porsche 917, the first Porsche to win Le Mans outright, and it is therefore appropriate that the theme of the 2009 Goodwood Festival of Speed (July 3-5) is ‘True Grit – Epic Feats of Endurance’. (more…)
Tag: Porsche GT1
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Porsche at the 2009 Goodwood Festival of Speed
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1998 Porsche 911 GT1
For the company’s 50th anniversary in 1998, Porsche received the most gratifying of all jubilee presents in the form of victory in the Le Mans 24 Hours race, achieved by Laurent Aiello/Allan McNish/Stephane Ortelli.Using a carbon-fibre chassis for the first time to provide weight and strength advantages, the 911 GT1/98 was an evolution of the GT1 concept that was started in 1996. The GT1 race car had a silhouette that was reminiscent of the road-going 911. However, in many other respects the 911 GT1/98 was very different to the road car which inspired it. For the 1996 and 1997 examples, the GT1 deployed the front end of the Type 993 911, but an entirely new front axle was developed for the 1998 edition. Double wishbones with pushrods and transverse coil springs are used for wheel control, damping and shock absorption. This suspension has considerable scope for adjustment, permitting optimum matching of the suspension responses to the characteristics of the race track. (more…)