The 24 hours of Le Mans is arguably the world’s greatest race. It started in 1923. Porsche first entered the... Read More
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I attended my first race in 1967, an USAC Indy car event at Trenton Speedway, and the race was won by AJ Foyt. I subsequently attended my first sports car races at Daytona and Sebring in 1971 as a spectator while I was still in college. Both of these races were won by the great Porsche 917. Later I joined the SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) and became a tech inspector at the local races. This then led to volunteer work as a Tech Inspector with IMSA when they first started, my first races with IMSA were in the 1973 season. After college I worked as an engineer with Bechtel building power plants. Further college studies ensued, resulting in an MBA which has led to a long career at IBM as a Systems Engineer…with time off for racing of course. I worked on and off as a Technical Inspector for IMSA through 1977, and then in 1978 I started with Dick Barbour racing (Garretson Enterprises) in Mountain View, California, as it was just a half mile from my house. Typically, I spent my days working at IBM, and the nights at the race shop. This continued through until 1984, working with Bob Garretson and Wayne Baker. This was followed by working with various teams racing a 962, sometimes for a whole season, or sometimes just for a few races as required. In 1991, I took a one year leave of absence from IBM and worked full time at Alpha in Japan in the Japanese Group C championship. Notable sidelights in 1984-86 seasons included working on the Carlsen Porsche team running 944s and 944 turbo cars in the IMSA Firehawk and SCCA showroom stock championships. Further racing efforts followed through the 1990s and on into 2015 with Kevin Doran and Doran Racing, supporting Gianpierro Moretti and Fredy Lienhard Ferrari 333 projects, Dallara’s, Grand Am Prototypes, as well as various vintage racing activities.
In 1996, Reinhold Joest entered a WSC Porsche (an open cockpit prototype sports car) at Le Mans. The car was... Read More
The Martini team run by Hans-Dieter Dechent had three cars, two to race, and one T-car. The #3 was driven by... Read More
Rolex 24 at Daytona, 30-31 January 2021: Some of the Porsches do a publicity shot at the ROAR I first... Read More
The ex-Kremer Leyton House Porsche #962-114 of Angus Russell won the Group C section Yes, you might think the title... Read More
Daytona 24 Hours, 3-4 February 1973: The start 1973 Daytona 24 hours led by John Watson in the Mirage on... Read More
Daytona is known for two things – the beach and racing! This year was the 58th Running of the Daytona... Read More
The cars come around for the start – Fitzpatrick (left) and Moretti (right) lead the pack By the time the... Read More
The two factory Porsches approach Turn 1 which leaves the oval. The immensity of the grandstands can be seen behind.... Read More
Michelin is now the track sponsor. Their brand-new tower which has just opened, is 100 miles up the road from... Read More
Monterey Sportscar Championship, Laguna Seca, 15 September 2019: As usual at Laguna Seca, traffic was heavy IMSA once again came... Read More
Warmup in front of Bruce Canepa’s compound. (From L-R): 962-102, an IMSA AAR Toyota HF89, 962-F01 Wynn’s car, and Bruce’s... Read More
Plenty of 911-based cars were entered in the Concours The Hillsborough (California) Concours d’ Elegance, on 21 July 2019, has... Read More
Lined up for the photo shoot following scrutineering for the 1982 Le Mans 24 Hours are the three works Group... Read More
Le Mans 24 Hours, 13-14 June 1981: Team photo following a successful technical inspection A lack of testing proved to... Read More
Daytona 24 Hours, 4-5 February 1989: The #86 Porsche 962 of Klaus Ludwig, James Weaver and Sarel van der Merwe,... Read More
Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R, a rather striking paint scheme! Despite crewing for one of the teams at this... Read More
Le Mans 24 Hours, 13-14 June 1970: A jubilant Hans Herrmann and Richard Attwood are given a ride on the... Read More
Rennsport Reunion poster collection, from Rennsport I through VI It’s hard to know where to begin when writing a report... Read More
Laguna Seca, IMSA, 9 September 2018: A view over the track shows the morning fog receding as Laguna Seca awakes... Read More
The Gerry Judah sculpture at the 2018 Goodwood Festival of Speed featured six Porsche cars mounted on a 52-metre-high star-shaped... Read More
12 Hours of Sebring, 18 March 1978: The #9 Dick Barbour Racing Porsche 935 driven by Brian Redman, Charles Mendez... Read More
The front door of Autobau, which is built inside a turn of the 20th century alcohol storage facility There is... Read More
Le Mans 24 Hour, 10/11 June 1978: The Porsche 935/78 ‘Moby Dick’ pulls away at the start of the race... Read More
Rolex 24 at Daytona, 27/28 January 2018: Martin Raffauf’s 2018 Daytona Notebook takes a comprehensive look at the whole Daytona... Read More
Daytona paddock – 24 January 2018 Continuing with our Daytona diary, Martin has sent us the following selection of images... Read More
Recognise the livery? Somehow it doesn’t look quite the same on a Ferrari We have our key man, Martin Raffauf,... Read More
Side view of the ANDIAL 935-L ‘Moby Dick’ in the Riverside pit lane 1982 The ANDIAL 935-L ‘Moby Dick’ race... Read More
Daytona 24 Hours, 31 January/1 February 1981: Bob Garretson, Bobby Rahal and Brian Redman driving the #9 Porsche 935 (chassis #009... Read More
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, 24 September 2017: The third placed #911 Porsche 911 RSR of Patrick Pilet/Dirk Werner is pushed... Read More
Porsche 935 chassis no. 009 00030, the Old Warhorse speeds up the hill at the 2015 Goodwood Festival of Speed... Read More
Official Daytona ’85 poster By 1981 at the earliest, and for sure by the 1983 season of sports car racing,... Read More
The 962 C in the 1990 Le Mans driven by David Sears, Tiff Needell and Anthony Reid. It finished third... Read More
Bob Garretson in #009 00030 during practice for the 1980 Daytona 24 hours. This is the original 1979 factory configuration... Read More
Martin Raffauf and Chris Hill look under the car with the ACO inspectors. Mechanic Jeff Lateer looks on with the... Read More
Peter Gregg and Hurley Haywood won the 24 Hours of Daytona on 3/4 February 1973 driving this 911 Carrera RSR... Read More
Chassis #000 00023 gets a check out on the autobahn by the Kremer brothers prior to Le Mans. Manfred Kremer... Read More
Hans Stuck at the wheel on the way to winning Sebring in 1986. His co-drivers were Jo Gartner and Bob... Read More
Bob Akin’s 935, one of the major protagonists in the 1983 Sebring 12 Hour race. It was driven by Bob... Read More
The #6 Barbour, Stommelen, Mears car, a 935-78 (935-77A), enters the Sebring front straight. While this was the fastest car... Read More
The #912 works Porsche 911 RSR GTLM driven by Kévin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor and Richard Lietz being prepared ahead of... Read More
This is the Peter Gregg car (chassis #930 770 0952) as shown at the Porsche Rennsport 2015. In early 1977,... Read More
Porsche’s 1981 Daytona 24-Hour winning poster A lot of people have asked me over the years, what is it like... Read More
The #8 Kremer K3 Porsche 935 entered by Dick Barbour and driven by John Fitzpatrick, in the pit lane ahead... Read More
All four of the Dick Barbour Racing Porsche 935s line up in the pits ahead of the 1979 Le Mans... Read More