Rennsport V Rocks

The fifth global gathering of Porschephiles, Rennsport Reunion V, took place before a record crowd of some 57,531 under sunny skies at California’s Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca last weekend, with more than 300 vintage Porsches from all over the world assembled to celebrate the marque while participating in seven race groups.

The Porsche Museum in Stuttgart brought 40 cars along, most of them presented as Porsche Legends of Le Mans in Laguna’s permanent garages. Not far away, under a huge tent, were about five dozen privately owned Porsche racecars of all shapes and sizes arrayed in a Chopard Heritage Display, and included among them were the Penske Racing 917/10 and 917/30 that rolled over Can-Am competition in 1972 and ’73 in the respective hands of George Follmer and Mark Donohue.

Greeting attendees in a paddock park was a three-car display featuring Porsche’s first class winner at Le Mans (above), the 1949 356 SL that claimed the 750cc-1100cc class in 1951 driven by Auguste Veuillet and Edmond Mouche, a factory replica of the 1969 917K with which Richard Attwood and Hans Herrmann scored Porsche’s first overall victory at La Sarthe in 1970, and the 2015 919 Hybrid with which Nico Hülkenberg, Earl Bamber and Nick Tandy won this year’s race. Both Bamber and Tandy were on hand, as was fellow team driver Mark Webber.

Scores of famous Porsche racers from the past were also in evidence, among them Jacky Ickx, Derek Bell, Hans-Joachim Stuck, Hurley Haywood, George Follmer, Vic Elford, Gijs van Lennep, Jürgen Barth, Vern Schuppan, Jim Busby and Danny Sullivan — as well as Richard Attwood and Hans Herrmann. Fabled racing program administrators and engineers like Norbert Singer, Valentin Shafer, Alwin Springer and Hartmut Kristin were also on hand. Further, nearly 1,500 street-driven Porsches populated the Porsche Club of America corrals in the track’s infield.

On Saturday afternoon a Concours on Pit Lane was held after the final race had been run, with more than 100 Porsche racecars lined up for inspection. The winners of the Concours’ classes are listed below, along with the winners in each of the race groups.

Concours on Pit Lane winners:

Gmund Class Award – Rick Grant, 1958 Porsche RSK Center Steer

Eifel Class Award – Jeff Lewis, 1967 Porsche 911 Trans-Am

Weissach Class Award – Chuck Harris, 1966 Porsche 906

Carrera Class Award – Alan Benjamin, 1975 Porsche RSR 3.0

Stuttgart Class Award – Rob Dyson, 1984 Porsche 962 IMSA

Heritage Class Award – The Revs Institute, 1958 RSK Spyder

Best Design Award – Charles Nearburg, 1980 Porsche 936 Spyder

Bob Carlson Award – Joe Lacob, 1959 Porsche RSK Spyder

Bob Snodgrass Award – Stanley Gold, 1952 Porsche America Roadster

Hurley Haywood Favorite – Robert Weber, 1976 Porsche 934.5

Jacky Ickx Favorite – The Ingram Collection, 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder

Hartmut Kristen Favorite – David MacNeil, 2007 Porsche RS Spyder

Detlev von Platen Favorite – The Ingram Collection, 1955 Porsche RS Spyder

Alwin Springer Favorite – Rob Kauffman, 1973 Porsche 917/30 Can-Am Spyder

Best Le Mans Production Race Car – Bruce Meyer, 1979 Porsche 935 K3

Best Le Mans Prototype – Reinhold Joest, 1984 Porsche 956 Group C

Best in Show – The Revs Institute, 1969 Porsche 908 LH Coupe

Race Group winners were:

Group 1: PCA Sholar-Friedman Cup – Alan J. Friedman, 1973 911 RSR

Group 2: Gmund Cup – Cameron Healy, 1953 Porsche Cooper Pooper

Group 3: Eifel Trophy – Alan Terpins, 1968 Porsche 911 T/R

Group 4: Weissach Cup – Bruce Canepa, 1969 Porsche 917K

Group 5: Carrera Trophy – Charles Nearburg, 1980 Porsche 935 K3

Group 6: Stuttgart Cup – Jeroen Bleekemolen, 2006 Porsche RS Spyder

Group 7: IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge – Elliott Skeer, 2015 Wright Motorsports Porsche 991