{"id":11637,"date":"2024-08-07T17:00:40","date_gmt":"2024-08-07T17:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/?p=11637"},"modified":"2024-08-07T17:04:15","modified_gmt":"2024-08-07T17:04:15","slug":"25-years-ago-when-porsche-went-watercooled-with-the-911-gt3-r-and-won-le-mans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/?p=11637","title":{"rendered":"25 years ago: when Porsche went watercooled with the 911 GT3 R, and won Le Mans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In issue 11<\/a>, you can read the story on the 25th<\/sup> anniversary of the watercooled 911 GT3 R\u2019s class win at Le Mans. Here is a little look behind the scenes of our photoshoot with chassis 001.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

No, technically, the 1999 class win at Le Mans<\/a> was not Porsche\u2019s first victory with a watercooled 911. The 1998 overall winner at Le Mans<\/a> \u2013 the Porsche 911 GT1 \u2013 had that honour. And it was this engine that served as the basis for the new watercooled six-cylinder engine in the production 911s, the 996 model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Le Mans 1999. Photo Porsche<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Controversy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The switch from an aircooled to a watercooled flat-six was a hugely controversial one at the time. Combined with the hated \u2018omelette\u2019 headlight unit \u2013 a costsaving measure to have lights and indicators in one unit \u2013 it made the 996 an object of hate and ridicule among 911-purists. Suffice it to say that it took the 996 model years before it became a more appreciated member of the Porsche stable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Le Mans 1999. Photo Porsche<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Kussmaul<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For the racing models \u2013 both the GT3 Cup and the GT3 R \u2013 Porsche engineer Roland Kussmaul explains in Tazio 11 how he was able to introduce some solutions in the road car that benefitted the performance of the race cars. The new 3.6-litre engine \u2013 producing 370 hp in Cup form and +400 hp in R trim \u2013 would easily rev up to 9000 rpm, much higher than the aircooled unit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Manthey and Champion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For the 1999 Le Mans 24 Hours, Porsche realized it took big risks with the new 996, introduced to compete in the LM GTS category. What if the old 993s would beat it? Instead of entering the 996 as a factory team, Porsche opted to have two cars run by trusted partners: German-based Olaf Manthey on the one hand, and US faithful Champion Racing on the other. But the factory\u2019s presence would be obvious: the Manthey car ran sponsors that had been on the 1998 factory cars. And Kussmaul had not only led an intensive testing program prior to Le Mans, he was also overseeing operations on the Champion car at Le Mans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Daytona 2002. Photo Porsche<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Not just a class winner<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the end, the Manthey Porsche 996 GT3 R driven by Uwe Alzen, Patrick Huisman and Luca Riccitelli performed outstandingly. Granted, the class win is not the most glorious one. The LM GTS class counted just three cars, of which one was the Champion entry, the other an older Porsche 993 RSR. The #81 996 finished a rather remarkable 13th<\/sup> overall, and third of the GT cars. That meant the 996 beat most of the 8-litre Chrysler\/Dodge Vipers and the turbocharged Porsche 993 GT2. Now that was a stunt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Red Bull<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For the 2000 season, chassis 001 \u2013 the Le Mans class winner \u2013 changed to the blue Red Bull livery you see here. Driver Dieter Quester held close relationships to the Red Bull concern. Quester and Riccitelli were the main drivers of the car, that came second in its class in the Rolex 24 at Daytona in 2000. It would win twice more in the NGT class in the FIA GT championship and finish second in that year\u2019s championship standings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Daytona 2002. Photo Porsche<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Careful now<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The current owner decided to keep it \u2018as is\u2019 since the day it last ran. This also means it very original, and it\u2019s on old tyres the day it shows up at the Chambley racetrack in France for the photoshoot. Careful is the operative word, and I find out behind the wheel that the moment you start pushing a bit, the tyres give in at once. No pushing today, just enjoy driving it. A Porsche flat-six is always a joy, and this is no different in the 996. I mean, even in its current state, it just starts and goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Kussmaul, the 996 defined the GT3 category. \u201cWe won Le Mans, Daytona and Spa with it. It took the others years to catch up with us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the full story, go to issue 11<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to Tom Fischer<\/a> and Circuit Chambley Grand Est<\/a> for their help with this feature.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In issue 11, you can read the story on the 25th anniversary of the watercooled 911 GT3 R\u2019s class win at Le Mans. Here is a little look behind the scenes of our photoshoot with chassis 001.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11638,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[115,190,116],"tags":[1625,119,970,541,137,138,1566,1624,1567,160],"thb-sponsors":[],"class_list":["post-11637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-content-from-tazio-magazine","category-main-article","category-videos-from-tazio-magazine","tag-champion-racing","tag-le-mans","tag-le-mans-24-hours","tag-olaf-manthey","tag-porsche","tag-porsche-911","tag-porsche-996-gt3-r","tag-red-bull","tag-roland-kussmaul","tag-tazio-magazine","post_format-post-format-video"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Porsche_996_GT3_Chassis_1-63-kopie.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11637"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11637\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11645,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11637\/revisions\/11645"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11637"},{"taxonomy":"thb-sponsors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fthb-sponsors&post=11637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}