Page 5 - GT Purely Porsche Aug 11

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possible. With a 40 minute race, my journalist
rather than racing driver fitness levels mean
physical tiredness is an issue too. The heat in
the cockpit is draining and the laps take their
toll, but as I concentrate on each brake point,
perfect each down shift and work on the unique
style needed to drive the GT3 Cup, I keep
reminding myself to enjoy this wonderful car.
With 17 laps gone I’ve created a decent gap
between me and the car behind, the one in
front is not edging away either. With six laps to
go I set my fastest time of the weekend,
matching my lap from qualifying. I reel off the
last few laps and cross the line. Back in parc
ferme, the feeling of satisfaction is amazing. I
am exhausted and welcome the cold drinks
handed out to the drivers. I thank the Porsche
Cars mechanics and with a 12th place finish I
feel privileged to have driven in such a
seriously competitive series. It’s all over but I
will spend a long time remembering the
weekend I finally got to race a Porsche. What’s
more, thanks to the 997 GT3 Cup, I couldn’t
have done it in a better one
l
THE CAR
Hitting the UK before the end of this year, the
997 GT3 has appeared in the pages of this
magazine already. And this is the car the Cup is
based on but, while there are plenty of
similarities, the Carrera Cup car is very different.
With a seam-welded cage and a stripped-out
interior, it’s 255kg lighter than the road car,
although with 400bhp it’s actually 15bhp down
on its street brother. The six-speed sequential
gearbox is fantastic – full-throttle up shifts mean
the clutch is only used on the down shifts. While
UK Carrera Cup cars use metal brakes, the Grand
Prix-supporting Supercup versions use ceramic
discs. The UK series avoids these on cost grounds
but braking performance is still incredible.
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GT PURELY PORSCHE
While the 996 Cup cars had ABS, the 997 does
without this driver aid but does have cockpit
adjustable bias. Typically for Porsche and
unusually for a race car, the driving environment
is ergonomically excellent. The left-hand side
located racing seat has a standard forward and
aft adjuster, while the wheel adjusts for reach
and rake, the Motec racing dash replaces the
dials but standard stalks remain. The banks of
central switches are also perfectly placed and the
upper dash is recognisable from the standard car.
Teams in the series can make minor
suspension setup changes but to keep an even
playing field everything else is controlled by
Porsche. Dampers, gear ratios, engines and
pretty much everything else on the car is fixed.
Sussex-based Parr Motorsport carries out the
technical and parts back-up service for Porsche
and Paul Robe’s super professional outfit also
runs the Vertu guest car.
Each car gets two sets of Michelin tyres per
race weekend and conserving the rubber is part
of the skill. Requiring a very unique skill to
extract the most from it, the Cup car is easily
over driven and over exuberance with the
throttle means the tyres will go off. Over 50 per
cent stiffer than its 996 predecessor, the 997
Cup is a true racecar and the fact that it relates
so closely to the GT3 shows just how good the
road car really is.
GT3 Cup has less
power than road car
but less weight, slick
tyres and a sequential
shift to make up for it