GT Porsche Magazine August 15 Back Issue

It was a case of ‘17s’ at the 83rd running of the famous 24-hour race at Le
Mans this year. Porsche’s win was its 17th outright Le Mans victory of all
time. Neatly, it was also 17 years since a Porsche last won the great race in
1998 with Allan McNish, Laurent Aiello and Stéphane Ortelli in the 911 GT1
(which was also a one-two). Pundits had the number 17 car of Bernhard,
Webber and Hartley down as the odds-on hot favourite to win too – but I
guess someone didn’t read the script on that one. It was, in fact, the number19 919 Hybrid of LMP1 rookies Earl Bamber, Nico Hulkenberg and Nick Tandy
that clinched outright victory. Current Formula One driver Nico Hulkenberg, on
loan from Force India, started and finished the race in the car’s hot seat but
the single-seater star’s team-mates, Earl Bamber and Nick Tandy, both
promoted to the LMP1 class by Porsche specifically for this event, put in top
line performances alongside the German. The winning trio put in some
blisteringly quick laps over the course of the 24-hours, staying calm and
focused, making no errors to win on merit. They were followed home by the
number 17 919 in second position, the pole-sitting number 18 car of
Dumas/Jani/Lieb finished in fifth.

We’ve a full report from the great race in this issue, and plenty more alongside, including a look back at the 993 Carrera RS, 930 Turbo, 936 and the 997 GT3 RS 4-Litre. We also explore a stunning restored 911S 2.2, and compare the 924, 944 and 968 – front engined Porsches that should not be ignored.