Love, you drive me to distraction…Porsche Rennsport Reunion IV, Part 6

Sunday morning October 16 arrived in typical Monterey fashion; bright, clear and sunny, without any trace of the fog that had greeted Rennsport Reunion participants Saturday morning. As we parked our car and made the walk down to the track, we could hear the unmistakable sound of Porsche race cars already lapping the track, as part of the morning warm up sessions.

The schedule of races ahead of us would focus on the following classes: Groups 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. For those with an interest in vintage Porsche race cars, Groups 3, 4 and 5 were definitely the ones to watch.

The Group 3, “Weissach Cup” class was made up of Porsche 906’s, 907’s, 908 (908/2, 908/3), 909’s, 910’s, and the awesome 917’s ( normally aspirated or turbocharged).

(Group 3, Porsche 907 (# 49), and 908 (#4)

The Group 4, “Carrera Trophy” class consisted of Porsche 911’s (over 2.5 liters), 911 RSR’s, 3.0 RSR’s, 2.1 liter turbos, Porsche 934’s, 935’s, 936’s, 924 GTS and GTR’s.

(Group 4, 1974 Porsche 911 RSR)

The next class, Group 5 / “Stuttgart Cup”, was a showcase for the Porsche 956’s, 962’s, GT1’s, WSC’s and RS Spyders.

(Group 5, Dyson Racing Porsche 962)

For those wanting a more contemporary spin to their racing, the Group 6, “Cayman Interseries” class delivered just that; a present day production based Porsche sports car (Cayman) wrapped in nostalgia graphics. Each Cayman displayed a different and unique graphic motif, adopted from those originally created and showcased on the Porsche race cars of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s.

(Group 6, Porsche Cayman / Cayman Interseries)

For Group 7, the “PCA Club Racing” class, this was an opportunity to watch fellow Porsche owners competing in their Porsche Club of America series, Club spec race cars.

(Group 7, PCA Club racing)

The last class to compete would be Group 8, the “Rennsport Reunion Cup” pairings, which consisted of the contemporary, Porsche Motorsports constructed, 911 GT3 Cup race cars.

(2010 Porsche GT3 Cup car)

As we made our way through the paddock, over towards turns 9 & 10 (to watch the mornings warm up session for Group 6), teams were busy making last-minute adjustments, running through their checklists, and buttoning up the cars prior to their pre-grid staging in pit lane.

We even ran into a long time friend, Dieter Inzenhofer of Andial fame (in the white shirt), working his magic on Jeff Zwart’s Porsche 906, prior to his Group 3 race.

The following photos are a small sampling taken from the morning warm-ups:

After the mornings warm up sessions concluded, we returned to Cayman island, to revisit the Mothers display, and once again check out the cars. And our efforts were rewarded, as two rare Porsche 993 Speedsters had been staged out front of the Mother’s display.

And tucked back in to the right of the Mothers transporter, were a trio of Black and orange accented, GT3RS models…

And situated across the lawn, directly opposite of the Mothers display, was the Yokohama tire transporter, showcasing the spotless, Alex Job Racing GT3 Cup car.

Located just behind this display area was the main Porsche Corral parking zone. This area held 911’s of every year, model and color one could imagine. Strolling through the multiple rows, one could find incredible examples of the earliest SWB models, to Porsche’s current offerings, the GT3RS and GT2RS models.

And then I came across this beautiful 1968 911L (pictured above and below). I immediately recognized it as belonging to Bob Tilton, a member of the RGruppe car club, and who writes an insightful blog focused on the early, short wheelbase Porsche 911’s (www.werkcrew.com). For anyone interested in early Porsche 911’s, I would highly recommend checking out his website for its content, and his insight into the early 911 community, as well as his beautifully creative photography.