I’m laughing. I can’t help myself, sitting on a plane home from Stuttgart, earphones in, transcribing the conversation I’ve recorded between myself and Porsche GT department’s Andreas Preuninger. I hear a 3.8-litre turbocharged engine roar as we chat. Nothing too amusing in that. Except my reaction. Even above the engine’s gloriously guttural note there’s a long expletive exclaimed in accompaniment. The GT2 RS will do that to you, its performance in a league that’s beyond the ordinary, even from something wearing GT badge on its rump.
Only it isn’t. Being a prototype, even the crest on the bonnet is hidden, the rear a mix of GT3 RS panels, bonded-on disguising a pair of massive exhaust pipes, and good, old-fashioned tape. Not that there’s any hiding what this is, the GT2 RS not among Porsche’s best-kept secrets. It’s not like the 911 shape isn’t recognisable either, and just in case you were in any doubt, if those exhausts are hot you’ll see the catalysts glowing orange from behind. After seven years too, a new GT2 RS is arguably overdue, Preuninger admitting customers have been asking about a new one for some time.
Well it’s coming, officially, and we’ve been for a very early ride in it. So early that the first preproduction cars don’t actually start running down the line for another couple of weeks. It’s those cars that will homologate the figures for Porsche’s most extreme 911. This black, battle-scarred car represents 991 GT2 RS genesis, which somewhat explains why looks like something of an engineering lash-up.