Few brands have such a prestigious racing history as Porsche, one of Ferrari’s main rivals on the track, they have tried their hand at rallies with various 911 variants and the 959 in its Group B rally specification, recent successes in the GT3 class and a long Le Mans history.
The brand’s best-known models have ridden under the legendary Golf, Martini and Rothman liveries and have become an integral part of motorsport history for the past decade. Since the 911 was the main model of Porsche in the early years of the brand, it was used on the racetrack as a slightly modified 911 as well as the 934 and 935.
But with regulatory changes, it would no longer be competitive in the 1980s, so the company’s focus shifted to its growing prototype racing teams. The cars 917, 936 and 956 all drove with great success.
Most recently, before Porsche withdrew from the competition, the manufacturer was in action with the 919 Hybrid prototype, which demonstrated its engineering skills in the hybrid age, just as the Mercedes-AMG Formula 1 team demonstrated the potential of the Daimler Group.
Between this latest racing success and old Group C cars lies a forgotten era of Porsche Le Mans racing drivers, these cars paved the way for the current generation, but have been forgotten. In the 1990s, Porsche fielded the iconic 911 GT1 alongside the McLaren F1 and in the prototype category in the GT1 class; the LMP-98. This car was quickly superseded by the Porsche RS Spyder, their first prototype in the new millennium, which debuted in 2005.
The Porsche RS Spyder has a legacy in the 918 and is a forgotten icon in Porsche’s long history.
The Porsche RS Spyder is the last car of an era
Via: Wikimedia Commons
Anyone familiar with Porsche terminology knows that the RS Spyder is roofless and the racing version; the toughest and most extreme of all racetrack-oriented Porsches. For the RS Spyder, this couldn’t be more true. Prototype racing drivers do not need to be homologated by road vehicles. Instead, they have to comply with specific regulations.
In a move that Porsche seems remarkably opposed to, the RS Spyder had a 3.4-liter V8 instead of a six-cylinder. With 478 horsepower when it was unveiled and weighing less than 1,760 lbs. Like all prototypes, it was fast and needed an experienced driver to steer it over a long stint.
The influence of racing cars from the last decade was felt in the noughties, carbon monocoque chassis had become the norm for most, and the RS Spyder was no exception as both Porsche engineers and Penske Racing made the car developed, there was no shortage of money or knowledge. Before the car hit the track, its success seemed set in stone, but no one knew it would be Porsche’s last non-hybrid outing.
Race victories of the Porsche RS Spyder
Via: Wikimedia Commons
Penske Racing took over management of the car on the track; So the usual Porsche sponsors weren’t behind this model. Instead, it was DHL; The yellow and red paintwork is iconic and different from what Porsche had driven before. The Porsche RS faced strong competition against the Audi R10 TDI. In recent years, Audi had become a big hitter in the Le Mans space, but that didn’t stop the RS Spyder from stealing four LMP2 drivers ‘and constructors’ championships between 2005 and 2010.
Affected by several regulatory changes, the car drove with only 440 hp in 2009 and 503 hp in 2008. Compared to many cars, these numbers seem remarkably modest, but in its heaviest form the car weighed just under 1,820 lbs; the Mark 1 Golf GTI, a four-door model with just over 100 hp, weighed around 1,775 lbs.
Porsche’s next steps
Via the Porsche press room
In 2010 the RS Spyder drove under Cytosport and won the Sebring 12 Hours; the field had started overtaking the LMP2 car but times were changing. For the 2011 season, the FIA introduced a cost cap for the LMP2 class, below which the RS Spyder did not fall. That reveal took the car off the track and left Porsche without a prototype race for almost half a decade.
By 2010 the 918 Spyder was on the way to production, the first concept was presented to the public in 2010, with hybrid drive it should be one of the three in the so-called holy trinity of hybrid hypercars, the La Ferrari, McLaren P1 and Porsche 918 Spyder. The 918 Spyder was the testing ground for Porsche’s electrical engineering with a 4.6-liter V8 mid-engine and two electric motors, one of which is mounted on each axle.
That technology has evolved into the 919 Hybrid, which had just a 2.0-liter V4 engine coupled with an impressive energy recovery system that boosted combined power by around 1,000 horsepower. He dominated the track until he retired from Porsche in the 2018 season to focus on the company’s Formula E program. Porsche is in an interesting position because of these decisions; they have managed to catch up with Tesla in the luxury electric car segment with the wonderful Taycan.
Without their racing program, these technological developments would not have been possible; the banning of the RS Spyder from the LMP2 category led to Porsche’s new focus on hybrid drives. But that’s not the only reason the RS Spyder is worth remembering; As the last petrol-engined racing car produced by Porsche, it marks the end of a long racing series that Porsche built in the second half of the 20th century.
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About the author
Douglas Hamilton
(83 published articles)
Douglas Hamilton is a British driven man with a degree in literature. He grew up surrounded by F1, Need For Speed and classic cars. He has a worrying obsession with jaguars.
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