GT3RS adventures part 1- 997.1 2008

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It was July of 2006 when the bug bit. I had been at the Nürburgring where I was tracking a new V10 BMW M6 that I had picked up at the factory. My instructor thought it was scary quick but underbaked and too heavy for the track.

He was right of course.

He got me a 996GT3 to try , fully track prepared. I had never spent any time in Porsches being a long term M car fanatic. This was a revelation to me. The car was light, focused, ultra-precise. Not as quick in a straight line and lower top speed than the M6, but brilliant for what mattered.

So, sitting in Frankfurt airport on my way home I picked up a copy of Total 911- there was a review of the new 997RS by Chris Harris. I still have the magazine. I was completely floored.

Back to Canada, I went to the dealer next day and met the sales representative who would supply me with every Porsche from then until today. Her name was Antje.

The. news was not good. None had come in , and all were sold. "No problem" I thought, "just put me down for a 2008 car". Antje smiled sadly and told me that they were all spoken for.
This was a completely new experience for me that there would be a limited supply.

Months went by and I would drop by the dealership now and then and would see the occasional RS coming it. Very frustrating.

Until October 2007.

"Hi, its Antje...I have a cancellation but it will be gone in minutes; if you want it you will need to move quickly." I called the bank, couriered over a payment, dropped over to do the paperwork, brought a plate and got the car immediately.

Delivery day with Antje:

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The car was even the colour I wanted. As it happened, green was the least popular colour at the time so it was doubly lucky.

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However, the problem was that I had not managed the factory delivery as I have previously done with BMWs.

SO , I decided to ship it back

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This was a tricky enough process to arrange ship pined, transit insurance, pickup point and so on. I rented a car to have locally in Germany until the RS arrived. When it showed up the battery was flat and neither I nor the warehouse guys knew how to charge it without opening it the hood:)...
Eventually we sorted it out and I was on the way. We ran up through Germany, Leipzig and into Berlin. I had the first taste of the autobahn in an RS:

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After a lot of travelling around to hotels and cities I was getting closer to Nürburg. On a side road I was suddenly chased by the Polizei. I had not been speeding, but the Canadian plates had thrown them...at the time I was using NRDSCHLF at the time.

This caused great suspicion and would result in several steps. However, once they understood, they became amazingly friendly and I let them sit in the car. I when asked them do a pic with me in handcuffs, and I have a shot of myself with two grinning polizei again the car. ( This one is never going to appear on the web:)...

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and so, to the Ring. In those days it was not so crowded or instagrammable. The town is very small, but if you go enough you get to know people.

The car was simply brilliant. The clutch is very heavy but the gearshift is quick and precise, great steering and no nannies. However, it can be tricky in the wet as I would later discover. I also ran through a set of tires in a few days:

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Spa was another matter. It is unbelievably fast, and Radillon/Eau Rouge takes a lot of practice to get right. Still day 1 was great:

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Day 2 was wet, and in the bus stop I went into a snap spin. No warning. No damage either.
Humbling moment.

Hans Stuck is an old friend and he had driven this model on the Ring; He said " drive at 7/10 if you're good, 8/10 if you're a professional, and 10/10 if you're me!".

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The hotel at Spa was excellent:

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Eventually the car came back to Canada. By that stage I had a properly equipped Cayenne for towing:

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A neighbour had a 356, and I recall how huge the 997 looked. (Of course it now looks small beside the 992)..........

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Since the the car has been rallied and tracked locally and now has 45,000km on it. In 2018 I had another car at the concours of America in Detroit so I took the 997 as a spare car when I was there. The was an exhibitor take with a number of Porsche drivers from the past, so I got Hurley Haywood and Vic Elford to sign the car. Vic has since sadly passed away: