2021 Porsche 911 992 on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Porsche wins the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans

The question going into this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans was whether or not the Porsche 919 Hybrid would be able to combine its qualifying pace with race reliability. After battling neck-and-neck with Audi's R18 for most of the race, the answer is a resounding yes. Not only did Porsche drivers climb the first two spots on the podium, they did so without any major mishaps on track. This win is the first overall trophy for Porsche since 1998. Audi previously won the last five races, and 13 of the last 15. Corvette also returned to the winner's circle, with the No. 64 C7.R taking winning the GTE Pro division. The victory is the first class win for Corvette since 2011. KCMG won the LMP2 class in ninth overall. With 45 minutes to go the No. 98 Aston Martin crashed out of first place in GTE Amateur, giving the class win to SMP Racing's Ferrari and second place to the Patrick Dempsey Racing Porsche 911 RSR. For the full list of official results, click here. The GTE Pro class proved to be just as exciting as the P1 class, with a four-way battle for first after four hours into the race. For most of the race, the battle at the top went back and forth between the two German manufacturers. An tire puncture in the No. 7 Audi gave up the lead to Porsche, and moments later a crash forced the No. 8 into the garage. But a three-minute replacement of the front and rear bodywork kept the Audi in contention. As the race wore into the night, Porsche maintained a slightly faster pace than Audi. Nick Tandy took the lead on Lap 253 early Sunday morning, and car No. 19 never gave up the top position. The win is the first for all three drivers of the No. 19 – Nico Hulkenberg, Earl Bamber, and Nick Tandy. A lap behind in second was the No. 17 Porsche. The Audis fought reliability problems late in the race but still finished third with the No. 7 R18. The GTE Pro class proved to be just as exciting as the P1 class, with a four-way battle for first after four hours into the race. As the Aston Martin cars dropped away, the lone Corvette Racing entry took over, followed by a charging AF Corse team Ferrari 458 Italia. The Corvette and Ferrari continued to trade places in the final hours until gearbox trouble forced the No. 51 Ferrari out of contention. It was eventually passed by the other AF Corse car, No. 71. Nissan experienced all the pain of a first-year effort with its front-wheel-drive GT-R LM Nismo.

Porsche planning back-to-basics 911 GT

With the latest 911 GT3 and GT3 RS track toys, Porsche clearly put the emphasis on outright performance. After all, if they were all about a puristic driving experience, they'd probably have manual transmissions instead of DCTs, right? Well that's just one point where the Porsche GT division's next project is tipped to depart. According to Autocar, Zuffenhausen's skunkworks are preparing a new addition to the 911 range that will put all the emphasis on the raw driving experience, even at the expense of lap times. The yet-to-be-named model is expected to do away with the second clutch in favor of one you can operate yourself, but that's not all. We're told to expect skinnier tires to make it easier to hold at the limits of adhesion, the narrowed track from the base Carrera, and the absence of large wings and other aerodynamic features. The inspiration apparently comes less from the GT3 than from the new Cayman GT4. Look for the new back-to-basics Elfen to arrive sometime next year, after the rest of the 911 range gets updated with turbo engines. Chances look good, though, that this particular model will stick with the atmospheric boxer six. Related Video:

Magnus Walker and Alex Ross stop by Leno's garage with their 997 GT2

The market is littered with Porsche 911 tuners, with names like 9ff, Gemballa and TechArt leading the field. Seldom do any two ever collaborate on a joint project, but that's just the kind of match that was made at Jay Leno's Garage. That's where Alex Ross of SharkWerks and restomodder Magnus Walker first met, sparking a collaboration that yielded the car you see here. And fittingly, they've brought it back to the garage to show off what resulted. Though Walker usually deals with older Elfens, this time he applied his eye for style on a more contemporary 2008 997 GT2, decking it out with grey stripes, orange bumpers, gold wheels and decals and a tartan-upholstered interior. He left the mechanical bits to Ross and company, who dropped the suspension and increased output to 650 horsepower at the wheels (775 at the crank), surpassing the stock GT2 and even the later GT2 RS. The result is pretty hard-core and old-school, but you'll want to watch the video above to see for yourself.