911 RALLING RETURN

Been yearning for the return of the 911 in international rallying? Well yearn no more. Tuthill Porsche has taken matters into its own hands and homologated a 997 GT3
Words: Martin Sharp Photography: McKlein

Thirty-nine year-old driver's self-developed-and-built 'prototype' GT-based rally car gets its first-blooding in competition on a World Championship rally. Brave, some might posit.
Yet the facts are worth a ponder. The car started 99th out of 127 (actually as Car 132 because of a 31-car gap in the entry list to cater for no-shows and the vagaries of the WRC rules). Despite running on Tarmac made dirty by the front-running four wheel-drive competitors cutting corners and pulling dirt and stones onto the roads, Richard Tuthill's new Porsche 997 R-GT jumped a massive 72 places to finish 27th overall after 326.02 stage kilometres and a total distance of 1305.79km on this year's Rally Germany.
It was the first time a Porsche 911 has finished a WRC event since 1986: 28 years since Saeed Al Hajri came fourth in the Acropolis in his 911SC RS.
'Prototype' is a misnomer; for sure the car is Tuthill Porsche's first example of its R-GT category rally car and as such is very much a development vehicle. It is, however, a fully FIA-approved rally car which has been 'homologated' using the FIA's latest 'Technical Passport' rules for GT cars for rallying.
The Technical Passport regulations appeared first this year and enable a car which is not homologated into rallying by its manufacturer to contest FIA-sanctioned events up to world level. The passport must be sanctioned by the owner's, or preparer's, ASN [national motor sport authority]; which in the case of the UK is the Motorsports Association [MSA]. The passport is applied to each individual car, by VIN, costs just shy of €8,000 and is valid for two years, with extension options.
Tuthill Porsche went to Rally Germany full of positive expectations. The laborious Technical Passport procedure (a 50-page documentation and photography effort akin to a full manufacturer competition homologation process) had been through the required processes.
Experienced MSA technical people had inspected the car's mechanicals, its unique roll cage; everything including the agreement that a 65mm diameter inlet restrictor would mean the car exceeded the minimum 3.4kg/bhp weight-to-power ratio demanded by the R-GT rules.
Initially, no restrictor 'plate', or venturi size confirmation was forthcoming from the FIA.
Then, while the car was on the trailer en route to Rally Germany host city Trier an FIA email announced on the Friday before the event started on the following Thursday, simply; 'Your restrictor is 36mm diameter'.
Tuthill Porsche's highly experienced rally engineer Graham Moore, formerly with Prodrive, faced a situation in which his project car would be lacking some 100bhp, and 1500rpm fewer, than planned -approximately 325bhp instead of the expected 425bhp. And the car was on the road to Trier. He found himself in a Trier machine shop, lathe at the ready, to fashion a 36mm restrictor. Dutifully the 36mm restrictor was installed in the car for the German rally. How it might have fared with a further 100-odd bhp is pure conjecture, but as this event was effectively a development test the results are - to say the least - encouraging.
Tuthill Porsche is a cohesive team; renowned for Historic 911 victories - and a bountiful sense of joi de vivre, much of which rubs off from its now-Principal, Richard, and his dad Francis, who started the company and still keeps his hand in with engines, gearboxes and event support. It seems nothing fazes this team: even the fact that a press presentation of the new car had to take place without the car in situ in the rally service park as Rally Germany's scrutineering schedule became delayed... and that the Technical Passport decal (effectively, approval to run) for the 997 R-GT was applied to its roll cage well into dinner time on the eve of the first day of the event.
At least the team's resourceful PR Anthony Peacock had ensured sufficient supplies of Hook Norton ale to keep the banter flowing...
The R-GT regulations cater for road-legal series production GT cars with two doors, two, or two-plus-two seats, and one or more luggage compartments which are available for sale through a manufacturer dealer network. Four-wheel drive GT cars can be used as the basis but a kit must be available to make them two-wheel drive to comply with the R-GT category.
At least 200 identical examples must have been produced in 12 consecutive months, but cars derived from a production model which are built specifically for a Manufacturer's Cup are allowed, so long as at least 30 of such cars have been produced.
The latter option was chosen by Tuthill Porsche for its first R-GT. Based on a Generation Two 2012 Carrera Cup racer this 997 is the best the team could get. As a Cup car it was, of course, equipped with many desirable competition components for R-GT use. Tuthill engineer Graham Moore has extensive experience of dealing with the FIA on homologation matters and saw the individual homologation of the car via Technical Passport through to its final approval on the eve of Rally Germany:
"Once we got the all-clear for homologating or using a Cup car we used that as our base because you get a lot of really good bits with it - engine, gearbox, brakes; all the sort-of nice stuff you want - carbon doors, all the lightweight stuff; all the air intake system for the engine, so it's a good base for the car. You could do one from a standard road car and come at it from a different direction, but we thought at the time the Cup car gave us the best option for performance and good components. Obviously we weren't expecting such a drastic restrictor size, so we need to review that and it may be that a standard engine with that restrictor might be reliable."
With their competition conrods and pistons, Carrera Cup engines are renowned for their reliability. Available in 3.6-litre and 3.8-litre capacities the general feeling among Cup preparation specialists is the 3.8-litre engine is a good step forwards and, as Moore points out, seems to provide the best characteristics, particularly when restricted by 36mm (911s running to national rally rules, such as those in France, Belgium and Spain generally tend to be fitted with 75mm diameter inlet restrictors).
The team ran Carrera Cup gear ratios and final drive on Rally Germany. Moore: "They actually weren't too bad. Obviously we didn't use sixth gear but the engine did have a reasonable amount of torque. We looked at ratios but we didn't bother to make new ones because we thought if the restrictor's going to change or whatever we'll end up having a load of ratios that don't match the engine power.
"It's good to get some data: we've never had any data on the correct sized tyres, because the Michelin tyres are 650mm diameter so the stuff we've been running for testing wasn't the

Above and below: The 997 GT3 in rally trim has no problem getting airborne, although we should point out that the below pic was taken on the Trackrod Rally in the UK, where Tuthill Porsche were running as course car in a pre German Rally shakedown

right diameter tyres anyway, so now we've got a good base set of data we can go back and look at it and just get the absolute optimum ratios."
Although based closely on the road versions, 997 GT3 Cup cars are, of course, built and designed for circuit racing. They don't have to be road legal. And, of course, an R-GT 'derivative' designed for use in rallies must comply with the road legislation in the areas where it competes. Unlike its racing cousin two people must fit in it, and it has to carry spare tyre[s].
Accommodating just the driver, Cup cars have asymmetric roll cages so the need to fit a co-driver in a Cup-derived R-GT car makes the Cup cage ineligible. Tuthill's Graham Moore has therefore designed a roll cage to the existing world rallying regulations which, together with the inclusion of other safety requirements, complies fully with the admirable side impact provisions laid down by the FIA, as he explains:
"There was a problem with Porsches in the old days when you had the door bars right next to where the driver's sitting; there was going to be intrusion into the driver's pelvic area if you have any [side impact] accident. But with this you've got 200mm between the seat and door bars and you've got all the [mandatory door-filling] foam so it's inherently a lot safer. Effectively it's the same as a World Rally Car in that respect."
R-GT rules mandate the fitment of one spare wheel as described and illustrated in the Technical Passport, two spares are also allowed (on gravel rallies, for example) and Tuthill Porsche modifications to its Historic 911s for the East African Classic Safari Rally enable two spares to nestle by the front-mounted fuel tank. However, with a different fuel tank, this is not possible in a contemporary 911.
Even so, when derived from a -non-spare-equipped - Carrera Cup car some chopping of the surrounding architecture is necessary to engineer a spare wheel and tyre into the front of the R-GT derivative: "You are allowed modifications to fit a spare wheel, and that's it; just for fitting a spare wheel, not for; 'Oh it would be nice if we could move X, Y and Z'. It's in the Technical Passport and the photos are in there to show that it's just for spare wheel fitment and not to get a bit of clearance here, or strengthening or whatever, so that's quite clear."
The Tuthill R-GT has nine-inch-wide front wheels with 11in-wide at the rear. A nine-inch rim with inflated tyre will just fit into Tuthill's homologated spare wheel space. Fitting an 11in-wide rear wheel in the front wheel space would require not only a punctured tyre, but one which had been reduced to significantly lesser volume. Then, that is just about possible. Moore: "We're looking at it - you're allowed to have a removable rear window, so we can just chuck it [a rear] in the back if we have a puncture. Just so you can carry it."
The team has already tested running a nine-inches-wide wheel at the rear: "Yeah it'll run, we tested it," confirms Moore. "For gravel you would probably want to run two spares, just because of tyre wear because we've seen that it [the car] does have an appetite for rear tyres - funnily enough!"
The Cup 997 has MacPherson struts up front and multi-link rear suspension; effectively an upper and lower wishbone, Moore: "It does all sorts of crazy things at full droop; it changes the toe and, so we've had to look at all of that and have messed around with all of that for here [Rally Germany]. So, we have different rear toe-steer characteristics for

race to rally; and front as well, because the racers' requirements are different over the suspension travel they use to what we need."
The team did "quite a bit" of work before Rally Germany to get the suspension to work with the wheel displacement: "It wasn't just a case of bolting on a set of dampers and crossing our fingers, so we have looked at it sensibly: if you're going through a bumpy Tarmac stage it needs not to be rear-wheel steering and all the rest of it, so yeah we've had a look at it."
Moore has long been an advocate of XTC dampers; those fitted to the R-GT he describes as; "Quite trick". Wheel travel for the Tarmac specification rally car is about 180mm all round ("about the limit you can get with the suspension links and stuff"), much more than a racer; and damper travel has been extended accordingly. Triple-rate progressive coil springs surround each damper, with rates selected to cater for end-travel protection when landing from jumps; and provide ride quality on bumpy surfaces. Typically, spring rates are half of what is run on a race car and similar front and rear. With a spare wheel and tyre in the front, and underbody protection at the front the front rates cannot be too soft.
The team submitted a dossier to the FIA on May 1st detailing a gravel suspension option which has already been passed by the homologation committee; although more bureaucracy is to

follow. Tuthill Porsche is renowned for the quality - and successes - of its Historic rallying 911s and already has a gravel damper, developed with XTC, which can be used straight away. But the suspension of the contemporary car complicates matters, as Moore explains: "The issue really is the travel and inherently with a GT car you don't have the travel there anyway. So with the regulations at the moment, which are Group N, you're not really allowed to move anything to get the extra travel."
With their swinging arms and torsion bars the team's gravel rally specification Historic 911s run with about 250mm of suspension displacement.
"You can raise the [R-GT] car up but that doesn't really give you enough packaging room, so we have asked, or seeked permission and suggested what could be done with a best-cost solution; because it's all about keeping the costs down: you don't want to be modifying the bodyshell and lifting spring mounts and all that stuff.
"You could probably get 20omm/22omm of travel, which obviously isn't to the scale of modern rally cars but would be safe enough. I'd be happy with 210mm/220mm of travel. We've got a solution; absolutely no sheet metal work involved; just modifications to the components around the damper we are seeking permission from the FIA to create."
Kevlar guards are fitted for underfloor protection, connected via metal mounting points to the existing plastic floor, with which the team identifies potential durability issues; hence an investigation into this is in progress: "Guards are free; you are obviously allowed to protect the underside of the car, so we'll be looking at what else we can do to improve the fixings, because the difficulty of the fixings on the standard stuffis that there are a lot of screws; which in a service park in 30 minutes you don't want to be taking 20 torque screws out of the bottom of it, so we're looking at things like that," explains the Tuthill Porsche engineer. All work in progress, but what progress.

Porsche v Peloton

Bennett chases down the Tour of Britain in a bid to reconnect with the new generation of 911 and challenge the pros over the course of the Tour's 'Queen' stage. Porsche v Peloton. Bring it on
Words: Steve Bennett Photography: Antony Fraser

Apparently there's going to be a Rumble on The Tumble. "A what on the where?" Well, you may well ask. The Tumble, you see, is a big lump of land that rises 1600 feet above sea level, casting a shadow over Abergavenny, Monmouthshire. You don't need mountaineering gear to ascend it - wheels will do, but at 6km and a steady gradient of 10%, you'll be glad of an engine, Porsche or otherwise. You certainly wouldn't want to cycle up it and certainly not as the final 6km of a 190km day in the saddle. No, that would be foolish.
The Tumble is the final climb on the Tour of Britain's 'Queen Stage.' Here we go again, talking all funny. 'Queen' denotes the toughest, most gruelling, leg busting stage of the seven day round Britain (well most of Britain) cycle race starring Sir Wiggo, Cav, his German nemesis, Marcel Kittel and many more top riders and pro teams from the UK and continental Europe. The Tumble is a Category One climb, which in bike race parlance means Complete B*****d.
Starting in Newtown, Powys and finishing on The Tumble, stage three of the ToB is predicted to be the one that will smash the field apart and could decide the Yellow Jersey. It's unusually early to have such a potentially decisive stage in a one-week race, but this year's event is especially gruelling, with more of the same to come later, including Ditchling Beacon on the South Downs on the penultimate day.

Of course you don't need 9ii&PWto tell you that cycling is big news in the UK right now. The Wiggo effect, Froome, Team Sky, Olympic Gold's on track and road, two Tour de France wins and of course that small matter of the TdF Grande Depart on our green and pleasant land and our best roads in the summer, in front of simply mind-boggling crowds.
But it's more than that. Our European friends have been bike racing mad for years. In France, Belgium, Holland, Spain and Italy, it is a near religion. We're just catching up, albeit fast. We're getting it. Bike racing UK style was 10-mile time trials on dreary stretches of dual carrigeway, followed by a cup of tea in the club hut or dusty village hall. Now it's fast paced road racing, Criterium racing in city centres, bike mad wannabes tackling Sportives and the tea has been ditched in favour of espresso coffee, colour, carbon fibre and titanium machines that drip with technology. Electronic 22-speed sequential-shifting? That beats your seven-speed PDK. Power meters and datalogging? Tick. GPS mapping so you can download your rides and compete against virtual foes on the same course. That will be Strava.
And we can't get enough of this stuff. More often than not the bike on the roof is worth more than the car. Bike spending is huge, golf clubs are emptying, sailing clubs are suffering, we're all velo road warriors now. And not surprisingly there is a crossover between cyclist and petrolhead. The notion of going fast on four wheels runs just as deep on two. That, after all, is what it's all about. From the pros down, the aim is to go as quickly as possible and as efficiently as possible. Bike porn is all about new kit, lighter wheels, aero frames, carbon fibre cranks, ceramic bearing hubs.
Which is kind of why we're here (you were wondering

how I was going to pull this round) on the third stage, the 'Queen Stage' no less of the Tour of Britain, with a 991 Carrera C4S. This is Porsche v Peloton.
What seriously? Yes, seriously. Pro bike riders move fast. In a group they can slipstream along at 40mph on an open road with nothing to slow them. Blink and you'll miss them, left with just a rush of air, colour and the faint mechanical hum of turning cranks and narrow tyres on Tarmac. If you're lucky you might get hit by a discarded bottle, but these boys shift and achieve average speeds that most four-wheeled traffic, encumbered by other road residents, can only dream about. That is of course when they're on it. There are days when they simply can't be bothered, but in a one-week race, like the ToB, there isn't the luxury of a let up or a day taking it easy
It is, of course, the road sharing aspect that will stop this contest from being a walkover for the Porsche, and in truth I'm not expecting the Porsche to lose this. That would be a bit far-fetched, but I'm not expecting there to be a great deal in it. Seconds? Minutes and multiples of? Half an hour? Over half, but under an hour? You know I just don't know, but here's the fact of the matter: The stage is 179.9km or 111.9-miles if you prefer. The Peloton departs Newtown at 11am and with a following wind and some nifty pedalling are expected to rumble up the Tumble shortly after 3pm via a route that in terms of profile can only be described as spiky.
It's a route too that will suit the C4S and there is a reason why it's a C4S too. In fact there is a reason why it's a 911 full stop. It's been over two years now, since the launch of the 991 gen of the 911, and truth be told, I've not really gelled with the all new machine. There have

Bennett is 'King of the Mountain' at the first summit finish. Newtown, Powys, is the stage start, while towns along the way signal their support

been moments of connection, but overall I'm not getting it. For me it's the 'King's new clothes' scenario, and I'm acutely aware of how out of step I am with that thought. Editor of Porsche magazine doesn't rate new 911, shock. It's a headline that I'm not entirely comfortable with.
Of course I've analysed it at some length. In the past it's been pretty easy. Basic manual Carrera 2 wins every time. It's the motoring journo's default option, but not this time round. The base 3.4-litre Carrera is just not quick enough. Ridiculous as that may sound with 35obhp, but it's the way the power is delivered, which is to say right at the top end. It's hard work, and not at all like the old 3.6-litre 997 Carrera, which is just about perfect. The manual isn't an option either on any 991. There's nothing wrong with the shift itself, in terms of physically swapping cogs, it's just the action of moving through the gate and, in particular, coming down from the dogleg seventh, when it's very easy to get lost. The loading takes the lever beyond the sixth to fifth plain and into fourth to third. Nine times out of ten you'll get it right, but when it matters, when you're driving for the thrill of it, you will at some point get into a right muddle and you'll hate it and wish, for the first time ever, that it was a PDK. It's just not intuitive.
And to make matters worse, you just know that the Gen 2 991 Carrera, which will be coming soon, will be getting a 3.6-litre engine, because that's how these things work. So, surely, the Carrera 2S or the C4S is the answer. More power, ditch the manual, go PDK, job done. Well not so far. Maybe the whole collective driving experience just hasn't aligned itself yet. Yes, the 3.8-litre engine has, as you would expect, got the get up and go.

We'll take ours in stealth grey, please. Sometimes it's easy to take the familiar shape of the gii for granted, but the high waist and low roofline of the ggi gives the gii a sleeker look 51 years into its life

The PDK beats the manual, but it's not just about the powertrain and how it changes gear. There's the small matter of handling and steering and some confusing messages therein.
A week with the retro inspired gu@50 Anniversary model, with wide body and rear drive, should have been ggi nirvana, but frankly it was awful, thanks to PASM suspension with zero tolerance to body roll, but at the expense of any sort of ride quality. Remember the gg7 GTS, again rear drive and wide-bodied and derived from the limited edition Sport Classic? That was just gii heaven in the way it dealt with our broken roads. And the steering? Don't get me started.
And then there was a recent dalliance with a ggi Targa, which significantly had passive rather than active suspension. All of a sudden ride quality restored, perhaps helped further by lgin wheels. But that had a manual 'box too and once again shift confusion crept in just when you didn't need it.
And so here we are giving the ggi another go. The C4S is the everyman choice, the one that ticks the most boxes for customers, and in the right spec too, although I'm not sure about PASM given recent experiences. Chasing down the cyclists is an added frisson, and I won't

It takes a lot of vehicles to keep the Tour on the road. Team Sky can claim to have the best team cars running, as they do, a fleet of Jaguar estates. All the teams run estate cars, which tells you everything you need to know about SUVs and the like!

deny that it taps into a personal passion of mine. I am no stranger to lycra, carbon fibre and the obsession that comes with cycling.
Of course we didn't come all this way and not see a bit of the stage ourselves. After a bit of Google Earth research we set up seven miles out of Newtown to watch the riders come through and contest the first King of the Mountains (first rider across the line scores points towards the KoM jersey) segment. The riders are expected at around 11.30am, which is pretty impressive given that it's a constant climb all the way, but then they're not pros for nothing I guess.
There wasn't quite the fever that surrounded the Tour de France Grand Depart, but you can't help but get caught up in the buzz and the anticipation as the course cars and Police outriders come zooming though and then the event helicopter rises from the horizon, nose pitched to the ground, seemingly scanning the landscape. And then the Peloton crests the hill and sweeps through, cutting a perfect apex and moving in one fluid arc. Gone in sixty seconds or less as they whirr out of sight. A couple of days later, when I get home, I watch the recorded highlights of the show, and there we are clearly visible from the helicopter, standing next to the C4S!

Left: Camera helicopter caught Bennett and Fraser on film and put them on
the telly! At the start of the 512 metre climb to the summit of The Tumble Right: At the top!

So time to give chase. Well not quite. We need to give the race time to get ahead for obvious reasons. A chance to study the route and get back down into Newtown to make a proper start and get some fuel. The route? Well it's a mix of hilltop moorland B roads and fast valley-level A roads taking in villages and a couple of major towns on the way, notably Crickhowell and Abergavenny. Some of the roads are known to us already as we've used them for testing over the years, South Wales being a popular proving ground for motoring 'mags looking for quiet driving roads.
A final word on our Peloton Pusher. Fuelled up and sitting on the forecourt it looks, quite simply, the business. That is certainly one thing that the 991 has in its favour. It's colour sensitive too, but in dark metallic grey, with matt grey 19in wheels, it really does work, the 911 profile accentuated by its deep waistline and low roofline that, compared to the 996 and the 997, makes the 991 look as if it's been chopped.
Newtown centre is solid with the aftermath of the tour depart and it takes some time to grind and climb out of town on the uphill switchbacks. The PDK transmission is

switched to Sports mode in anticipation of any gap to get past the meandering, late summer dawdlers. At slow speeds the C4S seems disinterested and slightly wrong-footed, but soon we're off the main road and up, up onto the moors and the first King of the Mountains segment. How are we doing? Well, shockingly, with the congestion in Newtown and the grind out, we're barely ahead ofour leg and lung powered bike heroes!
This is a cracking, testing wiggle of Tarmac now though. To the left are the Black Mountains and to the right expansive views over the valley and we're high enough to be sharing air space with the buzzards surfing the thermals. Then the road starts to drop down and the going gets tight and twisty making the C4S really start to work. It's too much for the PDK to keep up with and a switch to the paddles is called for. No hardship. The damped click of each up or down change might lack the tactile quality of manual interaction, but there's no disputing the speed of the shifts, and to make this sort of seamless, stable progress in a manual 991, you'd have to be very deft on the pedals.
Periods of rapid progress are hindered and halted out of respect to 3omph limits through villages and the odd dawdling tractor/tourist. Frustratingly, given the twists and turns, it takes a bit of luck rather than judgement to get through on occasion, not helped by the C4S's extra size. The 991 is borderline as a B road contender these days, but that said it's still more at home than its Italian rivals. You just find yourself breathing in more often, particularly with oncoming traffic.
Maybe it's because we're on the ToB route, but so far the road surfaces have been excellent, and some stretches have been absolutely top quality black top, the sort that in most parts of our sceptic isle have become just a distant memory, replaced instead by molten tar sprinkled with loose chippings. Road surface aside I'm overdriving this new fangled 911. My direction changes are snappy, braking scruffy and I'm just hanging on. It's partly because the straights are short and the bends are coming thick and fast and it's impossible to build up a rhythm, and it's partly because I'm going too fast to be neat and the C4 is just understeering in response to my inputs. Ah, that four-wheel drive understeer thing? Hmm, not so sure about that. It's just the default setting these days and I doubt that the C2S would be any different. It's the safe option.
Strangely, perhaps, after all these years of refining the rear engine layout, tweaking the suspension and lengthening the wheelbase, the 911 still responds best to slow in, fast out. It's all relative though. The 991's slow in is rather faster, than even a 997's slow in. You just don't appreciate it.
I don't know about Wiggo and co, but even behind the wheel, this is exhausting. Quite where I am time wise I've

The ggi C4S covers ground at a rate that takes serious concentration to keep up with. It is hugely capable, carrying speed in a way that would have been unthinkable a few years ago

no idea, but there's a welcome stretch of A road now for a good few miles. With space and well-sighted corners, we can get a wiggle on. The 991 is more at home here. It can settle into a bend and use its massive traction to slingshot out, not to mention power. It's fast, effortlessly fast with a never-ending powerband.
Back on the B roads now for another lengthy stretch. This is the sort of terrain that gets the Peloton all twitchy. Narrow enclosed roads are a nightmare and increase the chance of a Peloton pile up. One thing that the 991 is not, though, is twitchy. That really has been all but eliminated from the 911's repertoire of tricks. That constant movement from the rear, and the unsettling of the front wheels as the front-to-rear weight transfer moves down the relatively short wheelbase has been checked by the longer, more stable platform of the 991. It's kind of still there, but it's slightly slower, and lazier. And that in turn has affected the steering. It's not so much the electronic steering rack that's robbed the 991 of steering feel. It's more the longer wheelbase that stops the front wheels from weighting and un-weighting. Modern cars have so much damping in their steering, to combat the potential kick back from massive wheels and tyres, that steering feel disappeared long ago. What the 911 had wasn't steering feel in the traditional sense, but steering feel induced by its weight distribution. It was an anomaly, one that's now been dialled out.
Fast A roads again through Crickhowell and into Abergavenny and Monmouthsire. We're not far geographically from the finish, but in miles there's still another 25 to go. The going has been tough or 'draggy' in cycling parlance. Apart from the A road stretches it's

Left: The Peloton rolls though, completing the 110-mile stage in 4hrs 35mins, which is actually pretty slow in bike race terms, and is an indication as to just how tough Stage 3 was
Middle: Bennett grabs the headlines. There's gonna be a Rumble on The Tumble!

been a relentless, leg busting up and down, with little chance for a rhythm or to get the pack moving en masse It feels the same where I am too. Every blind turn and crest is treated with caution and I don't mind admitting that I'm knackered from the concentration.
The pros blast through the middle of Abergavenny town centre, while we crawl round the one-way system, hampered by road works. It takes a good half an hour anc we trundle to the foot of The Tumble, where we're met with a roadblock. The stage is, of course, over but the barriers and stage furniture are being packed away. Stop the clock, we'll have to wait, and wait. Still gives us a chance to catch up on the result, the 'Rumble up The Tumble.' Italian Edoardo Zardini takes the stage win, Wigg is back in fifth and eventual overall winner, Dutchman Dylan Van Baarle is 12th. Apparently The Tumble has had the desired effect and hit the riders hard, with only the overall favourites emerging to fight it out at the summit.
And so what was Zardini's overall time? Four hours, 35 mins and 2 secs. Is that fast? In terms of the terrain, and the distance, yes, that's fast. Had that been a flat stage, you could knock over an hour off that time, easily.
And so finally we make it up The Tumble and to the aftermath of the stage. I've done a few long distance

Top left: At the wheel of any ggi is a fine place to be. Cabin quality is second to none. Below: The C4S is hugely stable on the road. Body control is of the 'iron fist' variety with roll kept in constant check

events, hell I've cycled up Box Hill, but The Tumble is a relentless low gear grind that even has the C4S dropping cogs to second on its fiercest inclines. And so we stop our own clock at 3hrs i5mins 47secs. Porsche thrashes Peloton on the Queen Stage? Well that's what it looks like, but think about it? Despite having 40obhp on tap and the ability to carry prodigious speed, that's not much ofa margin compared to human athletes on two wheels powered by fresh air and energy gels.
And the 991C4S? Is the relationship restored? Partly. This is easily the most convincing 991 that I've driven. After the 50th birthday edition, the PASM enhanced suspension is much more compliant, although I still prefer the passive set up and that experience is shared with passive v PASM Boxsters and Caymans too.
The C4S is a hugely capable car and still easily the best of its type. I guess what I miss is the interactivity of the 997 and the 996. In the constant evolution of the 911, the imperfections that were/are part of its character are being engineered out. It seems wrong to hanker after something that wasn't as good, but that's just the way I feel. But then my next road bike will probably have electronic shifters and in time I'll forget about the less effective friction shifters. Progress eh?

PRIME PORKERS

Since Juliette 'Jules' Easey commandeered her husband's 997 Turbo S Cabriolet, she hasn't looked back, save perhaps for the odd drive in the other Porsche in the family, a Carrera 3.2 Supersport
Words and photography: Brett Fraser

The 3.2 Supersport Cab has a mere i7,goo-miles on the clock. In white, with BBS split rim wheels, it really is a piece of the '80s

There's a delicious irony to the fact that a family that has made its fortune in the pig trade should have a couple of prime Porkers sitting in the farmyard. And rare breeds at that - a 1989 911 Carrera Supersport Cabriolet, of which just 45 right-hookers were produced, and a 997 Turbo S Cabriolet from a 2010 litter, of which a mere 117 were sold in the UK.
We're here today to see the latter, owned by Juliette "Jules" Easey, and it comes as a bit of surprise to see it in the company of the Supersport. With disarming modesty, Jules is in two minds as to whether she should have gotten the older 911 out of the garage - 'I wasn't really sure if it would be of any interest to you, and I can put it away again if you don't want it in the pictures.' Actually, Jules, we're quite excited to see it on the driveway, and are more than happy for you to leave it where it is...
The Supersport belongs to Jules husband, Malcolm, whose agricultural company, Easey Pigs, is well known throughout East Anglia and beyond. The drop-top Carrera appears in spectacular condition and when we comment on that fact, Jules explains that the car has only done 17,900 miles. And then when we opine that Malcolm did well to find a car in such brilliant condition and with so few miles, Jules puts us straight: 'Actually Malcolm has had the Supersport since new! He's always had a special fondness for Porsches despite not ever owning very many of them, and the Supersport really only gets used on high days and holidays, hence the low mileage. He's utterly fastidious in its care though, and whatever needs doing gets done.'
As you might expect, the Supersport's bodywork is flawless and the interior looks like new. Jules can't remember if the black-spoked BBS alloys were ordered new with the car or whether they were an optional afterthought, but they give the Supersport an "of the era" appearance and set it apart from all its Fuchs-shod contemporaries.
As it's obviously a treasured possession, does Jules ever get to drive the Supersport? 'I drove it only last week, she says. 'I am absolutely the world s worst passenger - just ask Malcolm - so I tend to drive everywhere as it keeps the peace. Besides which, Malcolm is always on the phone doing business. Compared with my Turbo S the Supersport is a completely different kettle of fish. Obviously it contains far less technology, yet it's superbly trustworthy: you always know where you're going with it.
Jules is clearly a keen driver and while her Turbo S Cab is a real gleamer, the paint around the inner lips of the wheel-arches is chipped and a few little bits of under-body trim have fallen victim to hard road miles. And then there's the fact that with a fairly meagre 11,000 miles on the odometer, Jules' car is on its second set of tyres.
'I really love speed, she confesses, and I use the Turbo whenever I can. It's not quite an everyday car, though, because I have a dog and as much as I adore him, he's not going in the Porsche! I have a Smart for dog carrying duties, and while its semi-automatic gearbox is pretty dreadful, the car fulfils its purpose.'
Jules' interest in cars started at a very early age. 'I started driving aged eight. A friend of mine, Beverley Fiske, her father Derek Fiske was a Hot Rod champion, and she had access to various cars that we could storm around the fields behind her house. I used to invest all my pocket money in petrol. A bit later on my father, who was a haulier, let me drive his pool cars around the yard, and it was strange how some of those cars ended up minus wing mirrors or with broken headlights...
'I passed my driving test a week after my 17th birthday -1 took one of those intensive weeklong courses and it worked. My first car was a Mini 850 that was later replaced by a Mini 1100. After that came a Mki Ford Capri, a yellow 1600 that was affectionately known as Fyffe, as in the banana company. I had a Cita^n 2CV when I lived in London for a while, and then a Triumph Spitfire 1500 that was the biggest pile of trouble I ever bought. Afterwards came a VW Scirocco, a white one that kicked off my fondness for white cars, and a bit later on an XR3i, also in white.
'The first car that Malcolm bought for me was a Mercedes SL500, which was quite old but didn't have many miles on it. I enjoyed it and everyone smiled and waved when I drove by, but it was somewhat roly-poly on challenging roads, not as tight as I would like. It eventually made way for an Audi TT 225 quattro: when he sees the value of those old Mercs now, Malcolm still wonders if that was such a great decision! But another Merc, a CLK, replaced the TT, and after that came a more modern SL350.
And then there was the SL55 AMG... It was outrageously good, stupendously fast, I thought I'd never tire of it. I got into more trouble in it than I've ever done in the Porsche: it didn't stick to the road with

as much tenacity as the Turbo S does, and had a frisky bottom. Still, I had the AMG for three years, was very happy with it and had no intention of changing it.
'But then Malcolm tempted me with the Turbo S [seemingly ordered with just about every option including carbon interior package, Sport Chrono, PDK transmission and PCCB discs]. It was his car originally. He'd hankered after one for a while but they were extremely rare; when one finally did materialise he felt compelled to buy it. A while later something else caught his eye, but he didn't want the Porsche to leave the family and so suggested that I took it and he sold
the AMG.
At first the idea didn't really appeal, but then I drove the Porsche... I never thought for one moment that he'd really give it to me - he still loves to drive it and I occasionally let him if he pays me enough.
'Living on a farm in the heart of rural countryside, the four-wheel drive makes a world of difference: it also gives the Turbo more composure and a greater sense of driver confidence than I got with the SL. The sheer speed of the thing and the way it accelerates is utterly sensational. The noise it makes is fabulous, too, especially roof down through long tunnels.
'I have to confess that I never use the flappy paddles of the PDK gearbox - I don't see the need as the 'box seems to know what it's doing without my intervention. I seldom use the Sport or Sport Plus buttons, either, as the Turbo never feels short of speed, but I occasionally make an exception when there's a boy racer up my bum.'
Talking of racers, has Jules ever taken the Turbo S onto the track? 'In a manner of speaking. Last year (2013) as part of the 911's 50th anniversary celebrations in the UK, we joined the 911-strong convoy setting a world record on the Silverstone circuit - Malcolm has since stolen the commemorative sticker given to participants and put it on the Supersport. But I've never been to a trackday: I would like to go around a circuit in it, though, and be shown by a professional precisely what my car is capable of.'
And what about long journeys, epic adventures? 'Do you know, we haven't been very far in the Turbo at all,' confesses Jules. 'It's only been about as far as London
- isn't that sad? The trouble is, when we go away we don't travel light - not in the slightest - and the Porsche doesn't have a big enough boot. We're very lucky, too, in that Malcolm also owns a Bentley GTC that will not only accommodate our luggage, but is supremely comfortable, too.
'But if I'm heading the 100 miles south to stay with friends in London I will always take the Turbo S and I never worry about parking it in the street: there's no point in having a car if you don't use it. And while I do garage it at home, the Porsche is a year-round car in our household.'
Not that you'd really expect any serious issues with an 11,000-mile Porsche, but to date the Turbo S has been largely problem-free, except for the Road Angel speed camera detector interfering with radio reception. And with such low mileage there's not been much contact with the dealer network. 'We have had it serviced with Porsche Colchester,' reveals Jules, 'and they seemed pretty good. They even came up here to collect the car, which is about an 80-mile round trip, and I was grateful for that fact.
Jules is grateful to Malcolm, too. 'I have my very generous husband to thank for this car and I see myself hanging on to it for a very long time - to be honest, I've yet to see anything else that would be a worthy replacement. I simply adore driving the Porsche and it certainly satisfies my craving for speed.

This is one fully loaded machine. Not only is it S specced, but it features the full carbon pack, those lovely centre-lock wheels and carbon ceramic brakes. There can't be many quicker ways of getting around the countryside