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997 GT3 Cup Car @ Pike's Peak - Video

Eric Hsu posted on July 13, 2010 21:24

Andy put this up on Facebook a couple weeks ago and I thought it was pretty cool. He was there supporting this 997 GT3 Cup car with Jeff Zwart behind the wheel. This run was a qualifying run, but in the end this 2WD car won the Time Attack class overall and beat Rhys Millen's 2009 Time Attack record (which he set in the Hyundai Genesis) by 38 seconds. Not bad for Zwart's first run at Pike's Peak in a 997 Cup car setup for road racing, eh? Then again, a 997 GT3 Cup car has the advantage of being highly developed and superbly designed by the Porsche factory to be a damn fast turn key race car.

I knew Andy when he worked in track support at Cosworth for Champ Car. A couple years ago he went over to Porsche Motorsport and does some dyno work and track support. He comes from elite forms of racing such as F1 and Champ Car, but I never thought I would hear of Andy at a time attack!

Anyhow, check out the video (shot by Will Roegge we all know for his Formula D drift montage videos). Keep in mind this car is 2WD so it gets to be a handful in the dirt section. Also pay attention to the rate of acceleration when he's on the throttle. Its definitely got some balls for a NA car. And of course the flat 6 blasting through the gears sequentially is pretty damn sweet sounding too.

Posted in: Beyond the Dyno, Porsche, Race Cars

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Comments

# 538

Wednesday, July 14, 2010 2:47 AM

It DOES have balls for an NA car!

# M-P

Wednesday, July 14, 2010 6:24 AM

Man that dirt section looks sketchy in a 2wd car...looks like he had everything under control though. What kind of tire setup were they running?

# Eric Hsu

Wednesday, July 14, 2010 8:26 AM

I think they were on what they would normally use for rain tires so they were pretty soft.

# jere

Wednesday, July 14, 2010 8:52 AM

Damn that looks fun! Great driving there were a couple of scary moments on the dirt.

# Nikolas@Redline

Wednesday, July 14, 2010 1:10 PM

Sweet Vid! Those guys have BALLS!

We need a team to take a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, throw a turbo engine in there, maybe do some crazy aero work, and come play with FXMD and Sierra Sierra at a Redline Time Attack event! I see no reason why a Porsche couldn't run with the big boys of Time Attack!

# brainrush

Wednesday, July 14, 2010 1:33 PM

it seems like he gets it crossed up and pointing outwards on the entrance to a couple of the hairpins in the dirt, that's gotta be scary! That is a superbly sweet sounding engine/tranny combo.

# Eric Hsu

Thursday, July 15, 2010 10:04 AM

Nik, I think you're right. A Porsche could definitely hang with the big boys of time attack. But I think the car owner would have to have a gigantic budget to pull it off. I mean GIGANTIC.

At the moment the teams with cup cars that do the occasional run in time attack simply hide behind the World Challenge veil. They have excuses that go a little something like, "This car is designed to run in World Challenge so it has restrictors and a minimum weight and must run on RA1s." That's cool and all, but they need to step up or shut up. I mean no disrespect since World Challenge is actual race series, but excuses don't hold up in unlimited/super modified time attack.

# Jim

Thursday, July 15, 2010 4:10 PM

How would a 24 hour le mans GT1 Porsche fair in time attack if they adjusted it for that purpose? I don't know exactly all the ways they are different than the cup series ones but I assume they have the biggest Porsche 911 buget.

I really dig the super quick hand over hand steering wheel action in the U's. Wish I could get enough practice to drive something like that.

# JDMized

Thursday, July 15, 2010 5:30 PM

Well, maybe the reason why some World Challenge teams occasionally attend Time Attack events is not to win and drink champagne.
Maybe they're there to develop and test....which is cool....those teams generally have deep pockets (or at least deeper than most Time Attack teams).....
As far as the Porsche comment: The 996/997 Porsche GT3 Cup was engineered to be a NA machine, designed to be a NA racecar.....throwing into the mix a turbo would screw everything up. You might as well get a Porsche Turbo then.
And like Eric said, Porsches of this caliber cost some pretty penny to run in a full season series.

# Eric Hsu

Thursday, July 15, 2010 6:18 PM

An unrestricted, no minimum weight GT1 Porsche would kick some serious ass in time attack. At that level, I don't think it would take the driver and team to get the car adjusted, tuned, and rocking with less weight and more power.

Actually right off the truck I think a GT1 Porsche could do some damage. That would be interested to find out. I hope it happens one of these days...very unlikely though.

# Marc

Friday, July 16, 2010 9:56 AM

gt3 with turbo =gt2. Gt3rs with turbo = gt2rs... 2wd 3.6flat 6 +vtg turbos = 620ps/700Nm and zero to 200kph 9,8sek :) i love this cars

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