Who doesn’t like Porsche? Or Laguna Seca? The whole motoring world has been buzzing all through 2018 as Porsche took over the limelight to celebrate its 70th anniversary. Many marquee events already celebrated the Stuttgart-based manufacturer founded by Dr. Ferdinand Porsche – chiefly the Goodwood Festival of Speed – but the best is yet to come as the fabled Rennsport Reunion returns to Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca three years since everything Porsche last rocked the track nestled within the Monterey Peninsula.

It’s been 70 years since Dr. Ferdinand Porsche’s dream of building his own sports car materialized as the first Porsche 356. The house of Zuffenhausen has since developed into one of the most revered builders of sports and supercars the world over, boasting an almost unparalleled racing record littered with victories in the biggest races of the world: from the Paris-Dakar rally to the 24 Hours of Le Mans and from the Formula One World Championship to the Monte-Carlo Rally.

All of Porsche’s four-wheeled stalwarts, as well as key drivers that made history manhandling the German beasts and those that designed them, will be on site at Laguna Seca and many will also take turns driving around the legendary 2.238-mile-long road course. If we’ve learned anything from the past five Rennsport Reunions, is that this is a not-to-miss opportunity, especially considering this gathering only takes place every three or four years. Previous editions also visited Daytona International Speedway and Lime Rock Park in Connecticut.

The Porsche Rennsport Reunion V underlined once again, if it wasn’t obvious already, that the brand enjoys a huge following in the U.S. and across the world with over 60,000 people coming to Salinas, California for the event in 2015. Also, over 1.300 Porsche Club of America members joined the crowds with their prized possessions.

To find out more about the Rennsport Reunion VI and why you should attend, keep reading this article.

Porsche Club of North America has a habit of putting together some of the best events out there for Porsche enthusiasts and this year’s Rennsport Reunion VI will be no different. What you can expect from the get-go are four action-packed days, a first for the event, and enough Porkers to get your fix until the next Rennsport rolls by.

The event will take place between September the 27th and September the 30th at the Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca in Salinas, California, a well-known setting for everyone who loves Rennsport as this is where the past two Rennsport Reunions took place. The first ever Rennsport Reunion was organized by Porsche North-America PR man Bob Carlson back in 2001 at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut as more of a grassroots-level event. It all grew over the years into, arguably, the biggest event organized by PCNA and also one of the biggest on the Porsche scene all over the world. What’s special about this Reunion is that it’s not annual, not even once every two years like the Le Mans Classic event, no, it’s held once every three to four years which makes attending it an even more special experience.

As was the case in the past, the Rennsport Reunion will pick up where the Rolex Monterey Motorsport Reunion left off with more on-track activity, but this time dedicated to Porsche. You’ll be able to see some of the company’s most recognizable race cars, some of the drivers that made them great, while also enjoying a great variety of Porsche memorabilia and more.

While not everything is yet known about the event, PCNA did offer information about what groups of cars will take to the track. We also know that the paddock will house a Heritage Display “that features an exclusive collection of the most important Porsche cars in the world. While these invitation-only cars will not participate in the weekend’s racing, they are significant examples of Porsche history to share with motorsport and motoring enthusiasts,” according to the Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca website.

The groups of cars will be organized following the Porsche timeline, each era of Porsche racing being given its own group so that fans can easily follow on the action. You will be able to see such legendary cars as the Porsche 917, the car which first won Le Mans outright for the German brand, the Porsche 550 Spyder, the first car from Zuffenhausen specifically designed for the purpose of racing, the Porsche 956 and its 962 sibling which were arguably the kings of the Group C era as well as a sleuth of modern Porsche racers, chief among which being the Porsche 919 Evo Tribute car which might actually have a go at breaking the current lap record set by Marc Gene in a Ferrari F1 car.

The groups will be as follows:

Group 1: PCA Sholar-Friedman Cup

Porsche Club of America race cars

Group 2: Werks Trophy

904/6 cyl. 906, 910, 907, 908, 908/2, 908/3 (6 turbo & 8 cyl.) 909, 917 (normally aspirated and turbocharged)

Group 3: Eifel Trophy

911 (911 up to 2.5 liter), 911 TR, 911 ST, 914, 914/6

Group 4: Weissach Cup

911 (over 2.5 liter), RSR, 3.0 RSR, 2.1 Turbo, 934, 935, 936, 924 GTS, 924 GTR

Group 5: Gmund Cup

550, 550A, RSK, RS60-61 (4 & 8 cyl.) 2000 GS GT, Abarth Carrera, 356, 904-4cam, Porsche specials

Group 6: Stuttgart Cup

956, 962, 911 GT1, WSC, RS Spyder

Group 7: Flacht Cup

Type 964, 993, 996, 997 GT 911 Race Cars


You can also be sure that you’ll be able to see Porsche’s latest Le Mans winner at the event, namely the GTE-Pro winning Porsche 911 (991) GTE which conquered the top GT class at this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans while wearing a livery evoking the unique Porsche 917/20 of 1971 – which will probably make an appearance too, right from the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart. The Museum last flew almost a dozen cars across the Atlantic especially for this event so expect something of that magnitude this time around, especially as it’s the company’s 70th anniversary.

With that being said, Porsche won’t just be looking to its storied past at the Rennsport Reunion VI, with a strong mindset on the future being key to the event. "We are going to feature the future of Porsche when it comes to electric cars because we have to help people understand it's not about the past and it's not about the future. It's about being true to yourself," Porsche Cars North America CEO Klaus Zellmer said in discussion with Automotive News. "And if everybody buys into the fact that the Mission E is DNA Porsche, despite the fact that the technology is different, then we've done our job well."

Porsche will also unveil at the Rennsport Reunion its Project Gold, which was teased in a promo video released by Porsche last month. By all accounts, this seems to be the sort of restomod one-of-a-kind machine that we’re more likely to see from Singer, but this one’s coming from the factory, and it’s being built by Porsche Classic themselves. The whole built-up process is revealed in weekly videos posted on the company’s YouTube channel. The car will be auction off in October. On the topic of auctions, the Rennsport Reunion will host a Porsche-themed auction of its own, as it did in 2015, but the schedule is unknown at the moment.

All in all, this is one of the few truly must-go events for any car fans, not only for the Porsche fanatics. It engulfs you in the passion, the history, the heritage and the significance of Porsche like almost no other event and it’s a great way to sign off the year of Porsche celebrations that 2018 has been.

Tickets info - here

Ticket purchases - here

Address of the event location - WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca

1021 Highway 68, Salinas, California, 93908

Rennsport VI teaser video:

`This Is Rennsport` video:

`This is why we created Rennsport video:

Further reading

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