US
4 MIN READ TIME

RICHARD LANE

Testing, testing

If you want a Porsche 911 to set a lap record, Jörg Bergmeister is your man

What hits you is the spooky matter-offactness. The unadorned delivery of a stunning observation before moving on indifferently. Very demure, very mindful, very German racing driver.

“The thing is,” says Jörg Bergmeister sotto voce, sitting at a side table during the recent launch event for the updated Porsche 911 GT3 at Hockenheim, “that on a lap like this, you’re pushing harder than even in qualifying.”

I’m still wondering precisely how that could be possible when the coup de grâce lands: “Because it doesn’t matter if the car doesn’t come back.”

There tends to be a golden nugget in every interview, and in the case of JB chatting about his hectic life as a Porsche development gun, this is surely it. Bergmeister, the Nürburgring, death or glory possibly for man, certainly for machine.

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Autocar
6-Nov-2024
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