![]() ![]() PORSCHE SPYDER MANUAL“Some people think manual transmissions are out of date, others that paddle-shift boxes take the fun away. Mark changes gears so smoothly, you might think the car had a PDK transmission instead of a six-speed manual gearbox, so I ask him which he prefers. He knows this road as well as the one outside his house. Once he takes a strange line through a bend that leads over a blind crest, and as I’m wondering why I notice a substantial pothole just over the brow, which he has missed by millimeters. Soon I discover why we came this way: the scenery is beautiful, the roads challenging and completely deserted. He reaches the speed he wants, and then uses the Porsche’s grip and poise to maintain it. ![]() So how does this nine-time winner of Formula One races drive? Expertly, quickly, but with no drama at all. Nothing is more complicated than it needs to be everything is designed to let you focus on the driving, and that’s what matters.” This is perfect: the wheel is the right size and shape and has no buttons on it. It doesn’t matter how much performance a car has if the driving position is terrible, or the seat doesn’t hold you properly. We have barely left the village before Mark is eulogizing about the Boxster. Tells you all you need to know about the way Porsche engineers its cars.” At the end there was just this 997 Turbo S going round with no problem at all. And with us guys driving, one by one they just dropped out, either because their brakes were gone or because something had gone wrong with them. More recently I remember doing a track day at Paul Ricard with lots of fast cars and F1 and sports-car drivers. I drove my first 911 twenty years ago in Sydney, when I was doing Formula Ford, and I guess I’ve been hooked ever since. “I’ve always loved the shape of Porsche sports cars. He loved Porsches long before he was paid to drive them, and has a fabulous collection, from a 1950s 356 Cabriolet to a 911 GT2 RS (997), all acquired before he became a Porsche factory driver. PORSCHE SPYDER DRIVERSIt might seem strange to say it, but many race-car drivers aren’t that interested in cars: to them they are merely the means by which their talent is expressed and victories achieved. ![]()
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