Tuthill Porsche to debut Porsche 997 RGT on Rallye Deutschland

Transcription

1 Tuthill Porsche to debut Porsche 997 RGT on Rallye Deutschland This week, renowned historic rally team Tuthill Porsche begins a new era, entering a 997- model 911 rally car in the FIA s recently-introduced RGT class on Rallye Deutschland in Germany: round nine of the World Rally Championship. Porsche and Tuthill are synonymous: founded in 1972, the company has enjoyed countless success at international level with some of the biggest names in rallying, including Markku Alen, Stig Blomqvist, Michele Mouton and Bjorn Waldegard. Tuthill Porsche s expertise has now been channelled into the brand new RGT car, powered by a 3800cc engine that puts out over 400 horsepower, with the FIA restrictor fitted to the car. In Carrera Cup guise, this was the most successful racing car in the world, with more than 1400 examples of the 997 model sold. The car makes its WRC debut on Rallye Deutschland, with company director Richard Tuthill formerly a leading light on the British Rally Championship at the wheel. He will be co-driven by the experienced Stephane Prevot from Belgium. For us, this is the culmination of a huge amount of work as it s a project that we ve been building up towards for a while, said Tuthill. All our experience has gone into this programme, thanks also to the dedication of some very talented people, who have been able to come up with an astonishing machine. Our objective on Rallye Deutschland is purely to showcase the car and generate a bit of interest. To have cars that look and sound a bit different out on the stages is fantastic. The most important thing we want to get across is just the pure enjoyment of driving such a car. At the heart of this diversification for us is the desire to provide something that looks, sounds and feels amazing: a car that people will want to drive the minute they see it. So let s go and have some fun Tuthill will be running as car number 132 on Rallye Deutschland: an all-asphalt event based in Trier, close to the border with Luxembourg. The RGT cars will be running behind the main field, meaning that Tuthill and Prevot will inevitably encounter dirty roads, as a result of the four-wheel drive competitors pulling mud and stones onto the asphalt when cutting corners. Weather conditions in the Mosel region at this time of year are notoriously variable, with a high risk of rain. The German stages contain a mixture of tight and twisty vineyard roads and broken concrete tracks that make up the Baumholder military ranges: the venue for the bulk of the action on day two. The third and final day is made up of wider and faster roads, underlining the event s heritage of being three former national rallies now packaged into one world championship event, which made its first international appearance in In total, Rallye Deutschland has 18 stages with a competitive distance of kilometres. ENDS More information: Anthony Peacock, , anthony@mediaticaworld.com

2 Q&A: Richard Tuthill bringing something new to the rally scene Why this new direction for what is already an extremely successful company? It s something that we ve wanted to do for a while, just because we ve always been very excited by the new RGT regulations, because we believe people will love the idea of seeing something different on the stages. And we know from over the years that there s no car more exciting to drive than a Porsche, so entering this category was a logical progression. How much of a challenge was it to build this car from scratch? It s been very interesting actually, because there are some areas where you have to think laterally, while there are other areas that you re not really allowed to touch, due to the regulations. The most important thing is to start off with a good base car, so in that respect it s like Group N, but there are also some solutions we have that are bespoke. Is the car we see here now the definitive version? We re at a good point with the car, but I wouldn t say that what we see here is the definitive version, and next we re working on bringing out the car in gravel specification for Rally GB, which will be another different ball game. We re still working on the suspension set up with Exe TC and we also need to work on the engine a bit more: at the moment there s a lot of power but we could use some more torque, which is the sort of situation you would expect from an engine derived from circuit racing. What s it like to drive? Great fun, and actually very easy, while still remaining challenging. The power and the noise are fantastic and of course Porsche handling is legendary. Traction can be a bit of an issue, particularly out of some of the uphill hairpins like you see on Rallye Deutschland, but equally the engine is at the rear, so this helps to gain grip. How much know-how have you been able to gain from all your work with classic Porsches? Quite a lot, because while our historic cars look old, the technology inside them is always very modern, particularly when it comes to suspension and damping. The fundamental vehicle dynamics are the same too although of course everything happens a lot faster in the RGT car. How competitive do you expect the car to be? In the end, it s designed to compete against other RGT cars, so you can t really expect to compare it to the other cars on Rallye Deutschland this year. It s got a similar power to weight ratio to the Group N cars but rear-wheel drive, so inevitably it s going to lose some time to them. Basically our mission here is to show the car to the best of our abilities and give people something to remember. How much are you looking forward to driving on Rallye Deutschland? I m absolutely thrilled. I ve not driven on the world championship for a long while, so it s very good to be back especially with this wonderful car and somebody of Stephane s experience alongside me.

3 EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW: Turning the 997 into a rally car How did the Tuthill Porsche RGT car start off life? Originally it was a Carrera Cup racing car, used for one-make Porsche racing. It has now been made into a rally car, using Tuthill s unparalleled Porsche expertise. Is it a straightforward job to convert a racing car to a rally car? In a word, no. The car needed to be entirely rebuilt to cope with the rigours of rallying. The roll cage, for example, was removed and replaced with a roll cage specifically designed for rallying, to the latest 2014 homologation. The engine is the same, but now fitted with an FIA restrictor as mandated by the RGT regulations, while fans have been added to the radiators to keep the engine cool at low speed. The suspension is replaced to suit rallying than racing, with greater travel and different spring rates, and a handbrake is fitted. The car has been made road legal, with lights, a horn and so on, and a spare wheel well was fitted too: no easy task when a racing car has no spare wheel, and the original road car only uses a space saver. A heated windscreen goes in too. An extra seat and all the codriver s equipment was installed, and there were also many other jobs that appeared to be straightforward but weren t such as fitting a sumpguard and underbody protection. This involves re-routing a number of pipes and wires that were fitted directly to the underside of the racing car, as a racing car will not normally come into contact with the ground. The rally environment is a lot harsher. Who has led the car build programme and how many people will maintain it? Former Prodrive engineer Graham Moore has been in charge of the project, using his knowledge of the latest World Rally Car concepts. On-event, Graham leads a team of just three mechanics who will be servicing car 132. How long does it take to build the car? Building an RGT car of this nature takes Tuthill Porsche about two months of solid work. A lot of the initial work has been development, and obtaining the necessary permissions from the FIA, resulting in the car s technical passport, allowing it to compete in the RGT class which will become a full championship next year. The technical passport is just as complicated as a homologation paper, with around 50 pages detailing every aspect of the car and its build. How much testing has been carried out? The car was shaken down for a systems check at Prodrive s test track in Warwick, and then used as zero car on the Harry Flatters Rally in Epynt, Wales. Richard Tuthill then tested the car for a day on Monday in the vineyards of Trier: the first time he had been able to run the Michelin tyres that he will use on Rallye Deutschland. Before heading to the start ramp in Germany, the car had completed less than 200 kilometres of testing. But with the basic package being a well-proven one, reliability should be good from the outset. How much will the car cost for customers to buy? While the intention is very much for the car to be sold to customers to compete on the new RGT championship, most of the initial cost has come on development so exact pricing is yet to be finalised. Please contact Richard Tuthill for more information.

4 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION: Tuthill Porsche 997 RGT Aluminium six-cylinder rear-mounted boxer engine, 3800 cc, with FIA restrictor Max power: approximately 400 horsepower Max rpm: 8500 rpm Single-mass flywheel Sequential multi-point fuel injection Electronic engine management (Bosch) Rally exhaust system with silencer and regulated catalytic converter Cable operated accelerator pedal Porsche six-speed sequential dog-type gearbox Suspension: Exe TC Front axle: McPherson suspension strut, adjustable in height, wheel camber and track Power steering with electrohydraulic pressure feed Rear axle: Multilink rear suspension, adjustable in height, wheel camber and track Two independent brake circuits for front and rear axle, adjustable by the driver via brake balance system Lightweight bodywork with smart aluminium-steel composite construction Welded-in bespoke roll cage Rally bucket seats; homologated to latest FIA requirements with six-point seat belts 85-litre fuel cell (to RGT specification) 18-inch wheels (standard Porsche) Michelin track day tyres

5 COMPANY PROFILE: Tuthill Porsche Based less than 15 miles from Silverstone race circuit lies Tuthill Porsche: a worldrenowned preparation company that specialises in classic Porsches. Originally founded by Francis Tuthill nearly 45 years ago, the general day-to-day running of the business has now been handed over to Francis s son Richard who will drive the company s latest project in Germany. Over the past three decades, Tuthill Porsche has grown in both size and stature and the company now employs more than 30 full-time members of staff. With the latest state-ofthe-art technology and fully functioning workshop, the family-run firm still offers a comprehensive service for all Porsche, Volkswagen and Audi owners; which was at the root of the company s origins. But Tuthill s monumental success has been on the world stage. The company has been competing in rallying globally since 1977 when Francis took part in the London to Sydney Rally in a Volkswagen Beetle. And today Tuthill s competition efforts are focused on running Porsche 911s on extensive motorsport events all over the world; both ancient and now also modern. The firm provides everything from custom built 911 rally cars, to full on-event support teams. And with over three decades of experience competing on the world s toughest events, customers can always take comfort in Tuthill s expertise and ability to supply a robust and reliable car. We pride ourselves on building cars that can withstand the world s most rugged driving environments, explains Richard Tuthill. We ve been working with Porsches for over 30 years now and nobody knows a historic Porsche better than ourselves. Now, we re aiming to transfer all that knowledge to modern Porsches. We strive to do our utmost for our customers and actually there s a really good crossover between what we ve traditionally done and this latest direction. Even though some of the cars we work on are up to 50 years old, when we are finished with them they are just as reliable now as the day they were built. We have helped customers rack up hundreds of wins on countless events and there s no sign of us slowing down yet. We re always looking for the next challenge, and that s why we ve brought out the RGT car. Tuthill Porsche has broken records too. Bjorn Waldegard, the inaugural World Rally Champion in 1979, won the East African Safari Classic with Tuthill Porsche back in It marked the first time that Porsche had ever won the Safari, despite several years of trying as a works team when the event was in the world championship. In fact, Waldegard came very close to winning it twice in a factory Porsche - in 1972 and but hit bad luck on both occasions. Now, Tuthill Porsche comes home quite literally, as the team will be competing in the heartland of Porsche with its latest challenger on Rallye Deutschland. The shape of the 911 hasn t changed much over the years, but the challenges as well as the raw speed of the car get bigger and better all the time.

6 DRIVER PROFILE: Richard Tuthill Date of birth: 13 December 1974 Current age: 39 Place of birth: Birmingham, United Kingdom Nationality: British WRC debut: Rally GB, 1992 WRC starts: Six Career in brief: A former British Junior Champion, Richard was one of the leading lights of the British Rally Championship before going on to become a title contender in the United States Rally Championship. After that, business called, when he took over the family firm from his father Francis in 2007, limiting his competitive outings. However, a large part of Tuthill Porsche s success comes down to Richard s insistence on carrying out much of the testing and shakedown programmes personally. And when he does get the chance to go out and drive in competition, he s straight back on the pace: his last competitive outing resulted in a victory, on the historic Costa Brava Rally, naturally in a Porsche. With experience of a huge variety of Porsches under his belt, Richard is ideally placed to demonstrate the capabilities of the Tuthill Porsche 997 RGT. Career highlights: 2008: Wins Costa Brava Historic Rally (FIA European Historic Sporting Rally Championship). Scores numerous other national and international historic rally wins. 2001: Contests USA Rally Championship. Wins Cherokee Trails Rally and Rally America Wild West. 2000: Subaru Group N test driver, Prodrive. Finishes 32 nd on Rally Sweden but retires on Rally Portugal (mechanical) and the Safari Rally (collision with an eland). 1999: Subaru Group N test driver, Prodrive. Finishes second in Group N in 23 rd overall on Rally GB. Runner-up in British Rally Championship Production Cup. 1996: Becomes British Junior Rally Champion driving a Vauxhall Nova.

7 CO-DRIVER PROFILE: Stephane Prevot Date of birth: 7 January 1969 Current age: 45 Place of birth: Huy, Belgium Nationality: Belgian WRC debut: Rally GB, 1989 WRC starts: 158 Career in brief: With a competition career dating back for more than 25 years, Prevot is one of the sport s most experienced and accomplished co-drivers with success at national, regional and international level. He made his name by navigating fellow Belgian Bruno Thiry, firstly in the European championship before they switched to the world stage on a regular basis in François Duval was the next Belgian talent to benefit from Prevot s expertise although their partnership ended midway through 2005, their third season together. Following a programme of rallies alongside Stephane Sarrazin, Prevot linked up with then factory Subaru driver Chris Atkinson in They ve worked together ever since, notching up several podiums and point-scoring finishes in the WRC, plus the Asia-Pacific title in They are now part of Hyundai s factory team in the world championship and will represent the Korean make next on Rally Australia from September Prevot has a reputation for keeping busy and when he s not competing in the WRC, the Belgian is a regular on historic events, often in classic Porsche 911s. Career highlights: 2014: Partners Chris Atkinson to seventh place on Rally Mexico, wins the national section of the Ypres Historic Rally with Glenn Janssens in a Porsche 911. Recruited by Richard Tuthill to co-drive his Porsche 997 RGT on Rallye Deutschland 2013: Selected events in Belgium and China, finishes third on East African Safari Classic 2012: Wins Asia-Pacific title co-driving Chris Atkinson 2011: Linking up with Chris Atkinson, Prevot is the Asia-Pacific runner-up 2008: Fifth in the final WRC standings with second place finishes in Mexico and Argentina alongside Chris Atkinson 2004: Co-drives François Duval to WRC podiums in Mexico and Germany 1999: Becomes European champion co-driver 1992: Scores maiden WRC podium on Rallye Cote d Ivoire with Bruno Thiry 1990: Partners Marc Timmers to the Belgian Group N title 1987: Makes co-driving debut

8 PORSCHE IN RALLYING: A brief history To some car manufacturers, motorsport remains a hard sell with members of several boards unconvinced of the returns it can provide. For Ferry Porsche, the company s founder, motorsport was simply the only way to showcase his firm s products and improve them in the future by gaining expertise and thriving on the thrill of competing against and beating rival makes. Although Porsche is synonymous with success in sportscar racing, particularly in the Le Mans 24 Hours where it has secured 13 overall victories, the company was also a dominant force in rallying with its 911 model in the 1960s and 70s, winning on a variety of surfaces, including snow, ice, gravel and asphalt. Porsche thrived in rallying thanks to the 911 s combination of superior traction, performance and handling. While Bjorn Waldegard relied mainly on Ford Escort power to win the inaugural World Rally Championship for drivers in 1979, he admits the 911 will always have a special place in his heart. People say to me you must like driving the Ford Escort and of course I do but then I also drove a Lancia Stratos, says Waldegard. But then I also drove a Porsche, which was a truly special car. Waldegard never won a rally at world championship level driving a Porsche but he did notch up three wins on his home event, the Swedish Rally, between 1968 and He was also victorious on Rallye Monte-Carlo; a feat also achieved by British all-rounder Vic Elford and Frenchman Jean-Pierre Nicolas. Porsche could have dominated rallying into the 1980s but the company began to question the expense of fielding factory teams on events it had already won, particularly in light of a general lack of promotion and competition. Success, as a result, became sporadic thereafter although the company s models continue to thrive on historic events. And with RGT models now eligible for national and international rallies, including the WRC, Porsche could be about to enjoy a rallying renaissance.

9 RALLYE DEUTSCHLAND: Essentials Headquarters: Park Plaza Hotel, Nikolaus-Koch-Platz 1, D Trier Service park: Messepark, Trier Stages: 18 Stage distance: kilometres (103.12km leg one, km leg two, 74.60km leg three) Liaison: kilometres Total: kilometres Surface: All asphalt Shakedown (non-priority drivers): , Thursday 21 August, Konz (4,55km) Ceremonial start: From 2030, Thursday August 21, Porta Nigra, Trier Start leg one: 0800, Friday August 22, Messepark, Trier Restart leg two: 0630, Saturday August 23, Messepark, Trier Restart leg three: 0615, Sunday August 24, Messepark, Trier Finishes: 1336, Sunday August 24, Messepark, Trier Podium ceremony and prize-giving: From 1430, Sunday August 24, Porta Nigra, Trier FIA media delegate: Hayley Gallagher, Event media officer: Peter Linke, Event website: Did you know? Rallye Deutschland is effectively three events in one: the narrow, twisty and bumpy vineyards of the Mosel wine-growing region, the rough and ready roads in the Baumholder military ranges, plus the flowing Saarland lanes. The event joined the WRC in 2002 and Sebastien Loeb was unbeaten until Citroën s unbroken run of success in Germany remains to this day. Host city Trier once staged a superspecial, which was the scene of Kimi Raikkonen s one and only stage win in the WRC. Trier now makes do with the ceremonial start and finish at the historic Porta Nigra. The new-for-2014 Waxweiler stage takes crews near to the Belgian border, the closest Tuthill Porsche co-driver Stephane Prevot gets to a home round of the WRC. Drivers will be wary of the giant boulders in Baumholder, called hinkelsteins, which are used to keep tanks on the road. Back in 2007, Marcus Gronholm suffered a late off when he was distracted by a cow standing by the side of a stage. ENDS More information: Anthony Peacock, , anthony@mediaticaworld.com