FEATURE : RICHARD ATTWOOD AND PORSCHE ’ S RECORD
Attwood and Porsche charge into the record books
Richard Attwood at the wheel
Our Patron-in-Chief Richard Attwood is forever linked with Porsche . He was recently part of a team that set a raft of new records at Brands Hatch in two electric Porsche Taycans .
Attwood ’ s famous 1970 Le Mans win came at the wheel of one of the greatest cars in sports car racing history , the Porsche 917 . So it was very appropriate that Richard , who recently celebrated his 81st birthday , was a key part of the driving team as Porsche sought to crack a number of electric car records with its latest Taycan . Motorsport UK officiated at the record breaking attempts , in which a Porsche Taycan 4S and a Porsche Taycan Turbo S , both covered the 1000km distance with drivers including Attwood , Former Grand Prix star and Brands Hatch owner Jonathan Palmer , 2020 Porsche Carrera Cup GB champion Harry King and 2020 Porsche Sprint Challenge GB champion James Dorlin .
Motorsport UK ratified the following records : In the category of ‘ electric cars over 1000 kgs ’, the Taycan 4S took the records for time taken from a standing start to cover 50 kilometres , 50 miles , 100 kilometres , 500 kilometres , 500 miles and 1000 kilometres as well as the record for distance covered from a standing start in one hour ( 61.013 miles / 98.192 kms ).
In the same category , the Taycan Turbo S claimed the records for time taken from a standing start to cover 200 kilometres , 100 miles and 200 miles plus the records for distance covered from a standing start in three hours ( 156.806 miles / 252.356 kms ), six hours ( 279.657 miles / 450.065 kms ) and 12 hours ( 569.028 miles / 915.762 kms ).
Hugh Chambers , CEO Motorsport UK said : “ It is our great pleasure to award Porsche GB with 13 new British land speed records with the two electric Porsches . The evolution of sustainable technology is increasing exponentially and showcasing it through the use of motorsport and land speed will help to accelerate the development for everyday road cars . We look forward to the Porsche team continuing to demonstrate the capabilities of their cars in this most definitive way .”
Here ’ s how the history books were written …
Following the launch of the electric Taycan , a number of venues were considered for the record runs , with the choice falling between a high-speed bowl or race circuit . While a highspeed bowl ( Nardo in Italy ) was the location for a pre-production Taycan to complete 3425kms in a non-stop 24 hour run during final testing in 2019 , a circuit was chosen to be the venue for the 1000km runs .
The Attwood / Hermann car at Brands in 1970
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PHOTO : JEFF BLOXHAM