RennSport reunion VII set to OCCUR in 2023
Porsche Cars North America (PCNA) has confirmed the next Porsche Rennsport Reunion will take place in 2023. For the seventh time, life on the edge will be celebrated — from the boldest and most exciting Porsche cars yet created and the people responsible for designing them, to the drivers who took these extraordinary vehicles to their limits.
All will gather for an exhilarating event which promises to celebrate not only Porsche’s past and present, but to capture a glimpse into the future, on both the track and on the road. The theme, dates and location of Rennsport Reunion VII will be announced in due course. Conceived by racing great, Brian Redman, and Porsche Cars North America’s longstanding press spokesperson, Bob Carlson, in 2001, Rennsport Reunion was created to celebrate the racing heritage of Porsche. The two envisioned an event at which drivers and enthusiasts could gather to celebrate racing and pay tribute to the personalities and cars which helped build the Porsche legacy. Since its inaugural outing at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut more than twenty years ago, Rennsport Reunion has continuously grown in appeal and drew a huge number fans of over the course of the last event, which took place at Laguna Seca in 2018.
“We’re excited to be able to announce the return of Rennsport Reunion, which is always a highlight of the Porsche motorsport calendar,” said Kjell Gruner, President and CEO of Porsche Cars North America. “Over the years, this special event has grown into a truly one-of-a-kind experience of sight, sound and emotions for Porsche fans of all persuasions. For a few days, it feels like everyone thrilled by the brand is united in one place as a family. We’ll announce the date and location of Rennsport Reunion VII soon, but this much I can share already: our ambition is to make this particular Rennsport Reunion the best yet.”
In 2018, around 2,500 vehicles and more than fifty legendary drivers drew upwards of 80,500 spectators (most of them attending the event in a Porsche sports car) from all over the world, resulting in the highest attendance at Laguna Seca Raceway in five years and the toppling of 2015’s Rennsport Reunion V record of more than 60,000 visitors. Restored collector cars, unique hot rods and a wide variety of race and rally cars — from the 718 RS 60 to the RS Spyder, the Dakar-winning 959 and the 919 Hybrid — all came together in Porsche’s seventieth anniversary year for a four-day thrill of sight, sounds and smells. More than 350 cars were competing on the Californian circuit.
KEEP IT IN THE FAMILY
At Rennsport Reunion IV, indicating a taste of things to come in 2023, Wolfgang Porsche, Ferry Porsche’s youngest son and Chairman of the Supervisory Board at Porsche AG, took the opportunity to turn in laps of Laguna Seca in 356 no.1, the first registered Porsche vehicle, dating all the way back to 1948. He was joined by many other well-known Porsche personalities on a list of special guests, not least famed classic Porsche restorer, Bruce Canepa, fresh from the restoration of a 917/30, which he tested at Laguna Seca and, after four laps, posted a time which would have planted him on the first grid row of a modern IMSA race.
The roster of star drivers in attendance included Jacky Ickx, Hurley Haywood and Jochen Mass, while new Porsche products revealed were spearheaded by the unveiling of the second-generation 935, a near 700bhp 991 GT2 RS-based beast echoing the style of the iconic 935/78 known as ‘Moby Dick’ (on account of the car’s giant ‘whale tail’). We’ll share information relating to Rennsport Reunion VII dates, tickets, camping availability, hospitality packages and event content as soon as it becomes available.