LETTERS
I refer to the very interesting article Born Not To Run (October) and in particular to the story about the Porsche LMP2000 car.
I drove to the 2002 Geneva International Motor Show with Bob Wolleck and Bernard Cahier. Bob had recently returned from Weissach where he had been testing a new prototype race car that “would easily win Le Mans, no question, but the project has been shelved in order to put all engineering resources into the development of the Cayenne SUV”. He was obviously referring to the LMP2000 but did not give the name.
This was confirmed in your article, but you also mentioned the focus on the new Carrera GT project. Bob didn’t mention that (assuming he knew) but he was really upset about the shelving, as not having won overall at Le Mans was emotional unfinished business for him.
I had the opportunity later at the Porsche Press Conference at the show to ask [Porsche CEO] Wendelin Wiedeking about this diversion of engineering resources from the race car project to the SUV development and was this not an important move away from Porsche’s core cultural values and racing DNA? His answer stressed the sporting nature of the new Cayenne and the new 911 Turbo being launched at the show. Bob said later that I asked the right question but did not get a real answer. He went on to race and win in the GT classes for Porsche, including Le Mans, but sadly we lost him before he had another chance at the overall win at the race that meant more to him than any other.