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I own or have ordered a Macan and I:

  • have done organized wheel to wheel road racing (e.g., Spec Miata)

    Votes: 21 20%
  • attended, in person, an official organized road race (e.g., Formula 1, WEC)

    Votes: 34 32%
  • watched on TV from start to finish a road racing event

    Votes: 18 17%
  • am not interested in road racing as a sport.

    Votes: 32 30%

Are Macan Owners Road Racing Fans?

8.2K views 37 replies 27 participants last post by  jgbnm  
#1 ·
The essence of Porsche is road racing. For “road racing”, think in terms of exactly what it says – racing on normal roads (e.g., Targa Florio, Carrera Panamericana, Mille Miglia) or simulating that like in WEC. You didn’t think the names Carrera, Targa, and Panamera were accidents, did you? ;) This might be a grand prix course, Le Mans, SCCA course, etc. It does not mean ovals (e.g., NASCAR, Indy), where the car only turns in one direction, or drag strips, where the car doesn’t turn at all.

The history of road racing goes back to Ferdinand Porsche designing Auto Union Grand Prix cars in the 1930s. They also built Formula 2 cars in the early 1960s. Perhaps the most famous road racing car was James Dean’s “haunted” 550 Spyder he was driving to race when he crashed and died.

In the early 1960s Ferrari dominated much of motorsport but was in financial trouble. Ford was going to buy them out but the deal feel through. It was reported that Mr. Ford was not happy and sent Carroll Shelby over to Le Mans to take away the Ferrari glory with the GT40s. For three years Ford did just that dominating – and then left. While Porsche did run Le Mans for many years prior to that, it was not until Ford left that the 917, and then the 911 totally dominated sports car racing. They were so successful that the rules kept changing to stop them from winning (or so it has been reported). This ended in the late 1990s when the company was having hard financial times and withdrew from Works racing. But it returned in 2014 and in 2015 Porsche once again won Le Mans. Road racing is so ingrained into the brand that PCA Club Racing is now done on 30 courses around the country. Porsche dealers have annual events opening up to members to watch live coverage of 24 Hours of Le Mans. It’s a “big deal”. It’s in the blood, its their heritage, its in their advertising, and its their future. The commitment to Motorsports has regained traction with the introduction of the Cayman Clubsport, a reworked 991RSR for 2016, and rumors of a replacement to the 911RSR, a Ferrari Fighter (FeFi) for the future, never mind their commitment to LMP1.

The Macan was launched on May 17, 2014, almost two years ago now. It would be interested to find out if current or potential Macan owners are road racing fans or not. There are no right or wrong answers here. It’s just a level of interest thing. So here is a poll:

I have:

1. done wheel to wheel racing in an officially organized road race (not autocross, drag strips, DE, tracking, Indy, NASCAR, etc.)
2. Attended, in person, at least one officially organized road race (e.g., Formula One, etc. SCCA, PCA Club Racing, WEC, IMSA, Can-Am, etc.)
3. Watched from start to finish a road racing event on TV.
4. Not a fan of road racing.
 
#4 ·
I only watched a few clips of racing on YouTube. In general, it is a boring sport, if there is one.
 
#5 ·
There was no option to select more than one. Boxes 1,2 and 3 for us! Love road racing! Will be at the track today!

NOT BORING @jzwu, maybe you just haven't found the right type.....WRC (world rally cup) is fun for example. Maybe F1? That's exciting! Our local groups have some fun events....SCCA, CSRG, and Porsche Club.
 
#6 ·
I have never been to such an event. Perhaps my idea will change if I attend one. There is a racing event at the Mazda Raceway in Salinsa at the end of April. Sounds like a good one.
 
#8 ·
Laguna Seca is my favorite! Go check out a race! You are in San Jose so Sears Point, now called Infineon Raceway, is also close to you. They both have race and club schedules online. If you go to a club day, you can usually get in free, and walk around the paddock and look at all the cars up close and talk to owners.

Thunder Hill this weekend has SCCA going on. That is in Willows, about 3 hours North of San Jose on I 5.

Calendar - Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

Here is the April calendar for Laguna, yes, last weekend has a good race!
 
#14 ·
I've always been a fan of racing, initially having watched many Indy 500 races. I remember watching Mario Andretti win. That was a while back. I used to enjoy the Daytona 500 but it gets a bit boring. Have watched some Formula 1, like it, but there isn't a lot of it shown here in the US, at least that I've seen. Can't say I've looked hard for it. Was going to attend a Formula 1 race years back in Canada, even had tickets, but work got in the way.

I've seen a monster truck show in Madison Square Garden, also decades ago, and it was so loud i was shocked.

I do think there is no doubt you have to be a very good athlete and in great shape to race at the top.
 
#17 ·
2 and 3. Have been going to and/or watching races since I was pretty young. Southern California used to have tracks all over the place, and we went to most of them (Long Beach/F1 and later Indy, Riverside/IMSA/Camel GTP, Ascot/midgets, Hawthorne NV/dirt track stock cars, Willow Springs/SCCA, POC, PCA), and (just my sister and I would ride our bikes to) the not-quite-legal mini-oval racing where the old Pan Pacific Auditorium was before it got burned down and turned into a park. As an adult, went every year to the F1 in Indianapolis and have been to a few events at Road America and Blackhawk Farms.

Never got the racing bug because I was too wrapped up in horsepower of a different kind, but I never stopped liking racing and never stopped following it as long as it wasn't on an oval. I'll even watch NASCAR if they're at Watkins Glen, though I can't stand the crashes. Sister is an AX nat'l champ (I know, doesn't count) and has been doing LeMons for a couple of years (which probably counts); she recently brought home an E30 and will begin campaigning it this season. So -- definitely a race fan. If I'm not careful, now that I have a Porsche, the racing bug may finally bite!
 
#18 ·
#20 ·
I have been a road race fan since my college days and was a regular at the F1 Grand Prix at Watkins Glen since the 70s. Those were the "wild" days where the "Bog" was the place to be; and when you camped in the infield, after the race, you could move the saw horse barriers and take your car on to the track.

They had personalities like Lord Hesketh Racing with James Hunt "the shunt", and great drivers like Jackie Stewart. Unfortunately, it had its share of tragedy as well, with the death of Francois Cevert in qualifying, in Stewart's last race, where he withdrew after his teammate's death, and never raced again. I really miss those October days at the Glen, but they paved the way for my love of road racing, which continues to this day.
 
#22 ·
They had personalities like Lord Hesketh Racing with James Hunt "the shunt", and great drivers like Jackie Stewart. Unfortunately, it had its share of tragedy as well, with the death of Francois Cevert in qualifying, in Stewart's last race, where he withdrew after his teammate's death, and never raced again. I really miss those October days at the Glen, but they paved the way for my love of road racing, which continues to this day.
OMG DUDE ... I was there the day Francois Cevert died. We walked the track after practice because everyone had to go see the Aramco barrier where he died very sad, and how is died was legend.

Those were the days when Matra V12s just screamed and Sir Jackie Stewart and Emerson Fittipaldi ruled. I think Andretti was there too. I think the turbos killed the sounds and its no longer the same.

And yes I know ALL about the bog.:| And yes we were camped right there!
 
#27 ·
May be too young to remember F1 before turbos, but became a big fan of Indycar racing in my early 20's when the late great Greg Moore from Vancouver burst on to the scene. Started attending all the live Vancouver events (1 hour away from us) and even flew to Edmonton for an Indycar event. Unfortunately when Moore died tragically, neither of us could stomach it for years. I have started watching more F1 recently though, sparked by the awesome documentary on Senna. Definitely would love to fly out to the Montreal GP and watch soon.

My Macan (first Porsche for me) arrives end of July, and after my two test drives and all of the Porsche Instagram stuff I subscribe to, am now far more interested in road racing than I was for the past several years.

Anyone done the Porsche Camp4 or Driving Experience stuff? I think that will be a future endeavor once the cost of a highly optioned Macan S wears off!
 
#31 ·
I watched it a while ago on an airplane . Good to watch even if one isn't a racing fan. There's another documentary about PAUL Neumann and racing and that's good also.


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