@wheelsaustralia 69
Ferdinand Porsche designed successful
Formula 1 cars in the ’20s and ’30s for
Mercedes and Auto Union, but his own
company’s Grand Prix success came as
an engine supplier, with works entries
between ’57 and ’62 netting just a
single victory in the final year thanks
to the late Dan Gurney. Porsche in F1
is most fondly remembered through
a partnership with McLaren, as the
supplier of TAG-branded engines for four
full seasons from late-’83 to ’87 – during
which the Woking team took home two
World Constructors’ and a trio of Drivers’
Championships. The next chapter in a
revered motorsport history is about to
open when Porsche fields a factory team
in the 2018/’19 all-electric open-wheel
Formula E world championship.The unique test of mettle – and metal –
that is international endurance racing
has provided a happy hunting ground
for Porsche. Between the big four – the 24
Hours of Le Mans, Spa, Daytona and the
Nurburgring – Porsche has 55 victories,
and is the most successful brand in history
at the Circuit de La Sarthe with 19 wins.
The course of endurance racing history has
seen Porsche build some of motor racing’s
most iconic machines. The likes of the
917, 936, 935, 956, 962 and 919 crushed
the competition in races spanning two
circumnavigations of the clock. In endurance
racing folklore, Zuffenhausen is a giant.
OPENWHEEL