Here is one that catches the eye. At its Monterey auction, Broad Arrow has the honour of selling this Porsche 993 GT1 racer, one of nine customer race cars.
The 993 GT1 was Porsche’s 1996 hold-up on the BPR series. Fearing it stood little chance against the McLaren F1 with its existing 993 GT2 racer, Porsche Motorsport engineer Norbert Singer was given free rein.
Singer made good use of a loophole in the rulebook, that required just two street cars in order for a GT1 to be granted homologation. And thus he created what was in essence a Porsche 993 in the front and a Porsche 962 at the rear, creating the first mid-engined 911.
Roock Racing
The Porsche factory team would win three races in the 1996 BPR championship, but had to settle for 2nd and 3rd place at Le Mans. For 1997, Porsche delivered the first customer 993 GT1s to private teams, but did itself no favours when the factory team ran an updated 996 GT1 Evo version. The car you see here is one of nine 993 GT1s destined for private customer teams. This one – production number #108 – was ordered in December 1996 by Roock Racing, which paid around $1 million for a Glacier White race car.
Helsinki joy
Roock took delivery of their GT1 in March 1997, and gave it a silver-and-blue livery. In the hands of Ralf Kelleners and Yannick Dalmas, the Roock Racing Porsche 993 GT1 came fifth in its first race at Hockenheim (Germany), first of the privateer GT1s. Much was said of a last-minute order by the FIA to put a bigger restrictor in, robbing the GT1 Porsches of an estimated 60 hp. This restriction was dialled back by the time of the Helsinki, Finland city race, where this car placed second overall with Kelleners and Stéphane Ortelli. At Le Mans, it only managed eight laps before a shock absorber failed, leading to a DNF.
Rohr Racing
Still in 1997, Roock sold the car to Jochen Rohr, who raced it in IMSA GT in the US. This was the first Porsche GT1 to race in the US. In the livery as you see it here in the photos, #108 won the final four races, with Allan McNish, Andy Pilgrim and Dorsey Schroeder. This netted Rohr Racing the title in the GTS-1 class.
$8.5-10 million
For 1998, the car went to a Canadian owner. It would further race up until 2001. Since, it has resided in two collections, where it saw regular used. Many of the 993 GT1s were upgraded to 996 GT1 Evo spec, but not this one. It has since even been restored to the Rohr livery. Broad Arrow expects the car to fetch between $8.5 and $10 million, which may seem like an awful lot, but is justifiable. There are not many of these around, and #108 is well-documented, well-maintained and has a good history.
Broad Arrow’s Monterey sale is on in the Monterey Jet Centre on August 14th and 15th. More info on this car and the other lots here.
In issue 9, you can read about our encounter with an ex-works Porsche 996 GT1 Evo. Available here.
(UPDATE 16/08): The car sold at auction for $6.4 million (excluding premiums)
