Porsche confirms 'concept study' rally Cayman
Rally-spec GT4 to run as course car at Rallye Deutschland
UPDATE - 10-08-18
So Porsche has finally gotten around to officially revealing its R-GT category Cayman. As we suggested last week, the car is a lightly reworked GT4 Clubsport, which will run as a course car at the ADAC Rallye Deutschland next weekend with Romain Dumas installed at the business end. The manufacturer calls the new model a 'concept study', and leaves open the question of whether or not it will be offered to customers at a later stage.
Predictably, Porsche hasn't divulged a huge amount of technical data on how the car differs from its circuit racing sibling, but it has confirmed that its rear wheels are driven by the same 385hp 3.8-litre flat-six engine and PDK transmission. As you might expect, the R-GT Cayman features full underbody protection, as well as energy-absorbing foam in the doors to help with punishment it's likely to face on your average rally stage.
"We're looking forward to seeing how the rally world responds to our FIA R-GT concept study," says Dr. Frank-Steffen Walliser, Vice President Motorsport and GT Cars. "I would like to invite every interested driver and team principal to visit the service park and take a close look at our rally concept car. Based on the feedback and the interest from potential customers, we will then decide by the end of the year whether we'll develop in the mid-term a competition car for near-standard rallying based on a future Porsche model."
ORIGINAL - 31-07-18
What’s cooler than a rear-wheel drive rally car? A rear-wheel drive rally car being backed around a tight tree-lined right-hander by Porsche factory racing driver Romain Dumas. See below for evidence.
But it gets better, because this video doesn’t just feature a bored two-times Le Mans winner mucking about on a forest lane. No, this is Dumas lending his extensive rally knowledge to test an all-new challenger for the FIA’s R-GT class of world rallying. The category features rally versions of GT racing cars, ranging from Porsche 911s to Abarth 124s.
Dumas’s car, a Porsche Cayman R-GT, looks to be based on the outgoing GT4 Clubsport so ought to use a 3.8-litre naturally aspirated flat six (rejoice), sourced from the pre-turbocharged 991 911 Carrera to produce something in the region of 385hp - although that output could change in the rally car.
While no technical specifications have been released, Dumas’s rally engineering company (he doesn’t just like asphalt, you know) RD Limited has handled the competition makeover, so expect a rally-spec suspension setup that can survive jumps and bumps, a more aggressive limited-slip differential and stone-proof brakes to be included.
Dumas, who last won Le Mans in 2016 in the Porsche 919 Hybrid, recently tweeted that the Cayman R-GT will compete in the German round of the World Rally Championship, which takes place on the 16-19th of August. Although he hasn’t confirmed it, it’s thought that if the car performs well there, it’ll be Dumas’s challenger for stints in the 2019 R-GT Cup, a world championship dedicated to rear-driven machines.
You might be wondering why Dumas doesn’t just use an R-GT-spec 911, since rally 911s are commonplace and Dumas has even won previous R-GT rallies in a converted GT3 RS 4.0. It’s possible that the more compact dimensions of the Cayman and its mid-ship engine layout could make it the more effective tool to thread around narrow rally stages. But we’d also hedge that 40-year-old Frenchman Dumas quite fancied developing a rally car from the ground up. Because, well, who wouldn’t?
So, why didn't they just allow GT3 cars? There are hundreds of them all over place, which could be the basis of a great championship. I reckon it's political - as GT3's would possibly take attention away from the Manufacturer backed WRC/ R5 cars....
However, good luck to Romain and his team (and Porsche Motorsport who have obviously blessed the project). There was a time when Sportscar/ GTs were common on events...
The Porsche factory went rallying with the 911 from the very beginning.... and very successfully as well, Vic Elford winning numerous major rallies in the 911 in the late 60's, as well as taking part and winning the very first Rallycross event, and the factory continued to be involved in supporting customers etc. right through the 70's, and even into the early 80's in Rallying and Rallycross, and then into Rallyraids as well.
This article reminds me of the Fancois Delecour video in the GT3 RS with a rather frightened Chris Harris!
13 minutes of young Mr Harris’s face alternating between scared witless and massive grin!
https://youtube.com/watch?v=LRvcobW-LN4
More GT cars rallying please
Anyway, back to topic. I would love for R-GT to be a success but, as others have said, it appears that the FIA don't want it to infringe on the dominance of the WRC machines. A nominal kg/bhp number stifles them. Richard Tuthill built a lovely 911 R-GT a few years back. That was based around a Porsche Cup car, but with revised suspension and gearing among other things. A stunning car that sounded amazing but, by all accounts, they just aren't quite powerful enough. They're also very expensive to build/run. Extremely popular with spectators in mianland Europe though.
One day the FIA might get rallying right. Or not.
Rally cars need to be much more related to road cars, and rallying needs to get back to what rallying used to be about.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with the sporting side - we may be seeing a challenge to Ogier's dominance. However, Hamilton is leading the F1 so that's the only motorsport story in town.
13 minutes of young Mr Harris’s face alternating between scared witless and massive grin!
https://youtube.com/watch?v=LRvcobW-LN4
More GT cars rallying please
https://youtu.be/qgoU6tebIHA
https://youtu.be/FmmBxopZcDg
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