A micro-Rennsport Reunion took place at Monza over the past weekend when Porsche took a number of their new racing, as well as street cars, and pushed them to their limits on the F1 Grand Prix circuit near Milan.
The Full Story
Monza or, as they're now calling, Autodromo Eni Monza, is the place to go if you want to spot Porsche test mules and road cars hidden under camouflage.
This time, Porsche rented the track for themselves from Friday through Sunday and brought heavy hardware. The brand-new 991 GT2 RS-based 935 was there, for instance, as well as the new 991.2 GT3 R race car, the new GT3 Cup model, and others. A treat for the eyes and for the ears in equal measure!
Porsche has been spotted putting their new cars through their paces at Monza for years. That's where we first saw the 2015 Porsche 919 Hybrid LMP1 race car which went on to claim that year's Le Mans 24 Hours victory. This past weekend, though, it wasn't about prototype racing since Porsche retired from the World Endurance Championship at the end of 2017. Instead, a whole host of new racing cars and fast road cars were hauled to Italy, including one very tasty 935 in flat black.
In case you didn't catch our review of the new 935, here's a quick rundown of all the things that make this car stunning.
So, you get the same flat-6 3.8-liter twin-turbo water-cooled engine which is capable of 700-horsepower at 7,000 rpm and 550 pound-feet of torque at 2,200 rpm. This monster is mated to a 7-speed PDK gearbox with flappy paddles.
The interior is bare, with only the driver's bucket seat coming in standard, but you do get A/C. The steering wheel and digital display behind it are taken straight off the car's latest GT3 racer, but everything comes together when you look at the exterior.
Granted, the lines were more noticeable in the Martini white livery in which the car was presented roughly at the same time in Monterey, California, at the Rennsport Reunion VI event held at Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca, but the black of the test mule really makes the car look like Batman's racer.
The styling is inspired by the 1978 Porsche 935/78 which won that year's 6 Hours of Silverstone race and was one of the fastest cars - beating many purpose-built prototypes - at Le Mans. It became legendary due to its elongated tail and wing bolted onto two tall struts. The new car shares the longer tail, the huge wing, and even the slanted nose. While some fans of the olden days may not like this modern reinterpretation of the 935, it's still a work of art and Porsche is gracious enough to build not 1, not 2, not 5, but 77 of these!
Porsche's 2019-spec 991.2 GT3 R went head-to-head with the 2019-spec Porsche 991.2 Cup and the Porsche 718 GT4.
The GT3 Cup is the basic race-going version of the Porsche 911 GT3. It has a racing wing, racing suspension, brakes, and a stripped out interior with a full-on roll cage. Its 4.0-liter flat-6 engine develops some 485-horsepower at 7,500 rpm and 354 pound-feet of torque at 6,250 rpm. The car features the same safety hatch in the roof as the 935 and all the other Porsche GT race cars. It's eligible to compete in the Porsche Cup and Supercup series (naturally), as well as a host of other sprint and endurance championships such as the V de V Series, Belcar, 24H Series, and the GT Open Cup.
The new GT3 R has been testing heavily since earlier this year when we saw it testing in flat black guise (again) at Monza. Porsche then entered it, via its works team Manthey Racing, in a number of selected endurance events to put it through its paces. The car ran in the VLN on the Nordschleife and in the 24H Series in a dazzlingly-cool "Grello" camouflage livery, yellow and green being the customary colors of Manthey. It was also seen racing in blue and green camo when it was race tested by Falken Racing earlier this month. The car will debut as a fully-homologated GT3 race car in 2019.
The car had its glory days a couple of years ago in the European GT4 Championship, but is in dire need of a refreshment with new machinery from Mercedes-Benz, Audi and BMW flooding the GT4 scene this past year.
Enjoy the unadulterated sounds and sights of Porsche racing cars at Monza in the video above.
Further Reading
Read our full review on the 2018 Porsche 935 Type 991 Gen. 2.
Read our full review on the 2017 Porsche 911 GT3.
Read our full review on the 2018 Porsche 911 GT3 RS.
Read our full review on the 2018 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS.
Read more car video news.