Porsche Reveals ‘Track-only’ GT2 RS Clubsport
As if the ‘regular’ Porsche 911 GT2 RS wasn’t enough of a race car already – having set Porsche’s’ production car lap record at the Nurburgring earlier this year – Porsche has gone and made an even more unyielding, track-only (not road legal) version of their top-of-the-line 911.
Formally known as the Porsche 911 GT2 RS Clubsport, it was revealed at the 2019 LA Auto Show alongside the next generation 992 Carrera S and Carrera 4S. In case you are confused, the GT2 RS Clubsport is still entirely based on the current generation 991 GT2 RS and shares no direct relation to the incoming iterations.
In fact, the Clubsport is everything that’s already great about the current GT2 RS, with a little dose of more where that came from. That ‘more’ actually comes from less, as in less weight. The Clubsport is 155 kg lighter than its street-legal counterpart due to a more spartan interior and some lighter components. The car comes standard with a roll cage and retains other necessary assists, such as stability control and anti-lock braking system.
Though official figures haven’t been released yet, it is expected that the Clubsport will yield higher downforce figures – thanks in part to a new, gargantuan rear-wing – while its lighter weight, huge steel rotors with race-spec calipers, and beefier tires will allow it to accelerate, brake and negotiate turns with even greater sharpness. The competition-spec carbon steering wheel used is borrowed from the GT3 R, and will ensure that steering responds to driver input with absolute precision, while allowing the car’s settings to be adjusted on-the-fly. A six-point race harness keeps the driver snug in their racing bucket seat, and should allow the car to pass safety at weekend track events.
Porsche continues to employ the same engine used in the road car – a 3.8L twin-turbocharged flat six which produces 700-horsepower and 550 lb-ft of torque. The engine remains mated to the same 7-speed PDK transmission as well.
With the 991 making way for the aforementioned 992, the GT2 RS Clubsport will likely be Porsche’s one-hell-of-a-parting-gift, and the ultimate conclusion to the current generation 911. There will only be 200 units made, and each will demand a base price of $478,000 USD.
Porsche is currently communicating with racing governing bodies for the homologation of the GT2 RS Clubsport into sanctioned motorsport events, which hopefully means we will see the car in international racing series. “We are currently holding very productive talks with the race organiser SRO,” according to Dr Frank-Steffen Walliser, Porsche’s Vice President of Motorsport and GT cars.
