The inaugural Porsche Rennsport Australia Motor Racing Festival shared little more than its name and enthusiasm for the marque with the North American Rennsport Reunions, first staged in 2001 and now enjoying a fifth renewal. It didn’t try to. With 23, not 314 million people, annual Porsche sales close to 1,500, not 35,000, and proportionately fewer classic Porsches in private hands, it was never going to be in the same car park.
So, for the Porsche Rennsport weekend staged at Sydney Motorsport Park this May, the spotlight was more on the present and future of the marque, than the past.
Not that a roll call of around 400 participating Porsches—more than 240 of them competing in 37 track events and another 120 polished examples in the Concours and Show ’n Shine—was anything to be ashamed of.
With a crowd of around 4,000 over the weather-perfect weekend and on-track events streamed live around the world, potentially to millions on the Internet, everyone involved gave it a big tick for a first shot.
The current Porsche Carrera Cup Australia cars were the on-track stars of the show, along with the GT3 Cup Challenge feeder series, but there were also three races for Porsche sports cars of all ages, three for Historic Porsches up to 1977 and three separate Regularity (average speed) competitions for less committed owners.
Special demonstrations of 15 highlight cars on the central “Porsche Strasse” drew the crowd away from the catering stalls. From the growing Porsche Historic Motorsport department at Weissach came the 1980 Le Mans-winning 936/81 Spyder, accompanied by the 2005/2006 American Le Mans Series LMP2-winning RS Spyder. These were overseen by former Porsche Museum boss Klaus Bischof, and driven by seasoned Porsche pilots Alex Davison and Craig Baird, respectively.
Of equal interest to local Porsche enthusiasts of a certain age was the first appearance together of three of the four 911s that raced successfully as “Touring Cars” in the period 1968-1972, with former drivers Alan Hamilton and Leo Geoghegan on hand to recall the days when they finished 2nd in the 1969 and 1970 Championships to the then-dominant V8 Mustangs and Holden Monaros.
Nostalgia was also alive and well among the older Porsches present, with several early 356 models joining production Porsches of every model in the on-track events, while the first customer-delivered 911—ordered as a Porsche 901 in 1964 and delivered as a 911 in September 1965—was a special highlight.
A Porsche Kids Driving School with special Porsche-liveried pedal cars, an off-road course for Cayenne 4WD demonstrations, a full Porsche Rennsport showroom stocked with the latest models in Racing Yellow and the Porsche Sports Driving School that gave thrill rides in the latest Cayman S coupe on the circuit’s skidpad, were other off-track attractions.
Will there be another Rennsport Australia? Think 2015, perhaps at Melbourne’s Sandown Park circuit.
By Michael Browning
