Review of Porsche Track Experience/Manthey Racing GT Trackday Racecar Drive of the 911 GT2RS Clubsport at Red Bull Ring on October 7, 2024 – A 700 Horsepower Rocket Ship

Review of Porsche Track Experience/Manthey Racing GT Trackday Racecar Drive of the 911 GT2RS Clubsport at Red Bull Ring on October 7, 2024 – A 700 Horsepower Rocket Ship

Last Monday, October 7 at Red Bull Ring in Austria, home of the Austrian Grand Prix, I drove the most powerful non-street legal customer racecar Porsche has every built for over 350 kilometers on track – the 700 horsepower 911 GT2RS Clubsport while participating in the Porsche Track Experience (“PTE”) GT Trackway Racecar program, which is run by Manthey Racing. To fully exploit this rare and powerful car, I hired the same PTE instructor I had for the Master Racecar program at Spa I took part in in the previous month – the always excellent Stefan Schmucker.

SUMMARY: This was a mind blowing experience, maximized further by the fact that PTE/Manthey Racing had rented out the track exclusively for the event.

I cannot recommend driving the 911 GT2RS Clubsport strongly enough. The power and speed of the 911 GT2RS Clubsport are on another level from any other Porsche race car besides the 963 hypercar. At 700 horsepower, a weight of just 3,000 pounds, and no interior and with slick tires, the car is a rolling teleportation device. I was pulling hard on everything else on track, passing other Porsche race cars on the straights like they were standing still given that this beast has at least 135 horsepower more than everything else from Porsche on track – a full 200 more than the 718 GT4RS Clubsport, 190 more than the 992 GT3 Cup car and 911 RSR, and 135 more than the 911 GT3 R that competes in WEC and IMSA.

The 911 GT2RS Clubsport is so fast and so relatively good natured in its handling that, if you are unafraid of its massive speed and willing and able to brake HARD when needed in brake zones (as in 90 to 120 bar of brake pressure on initial brake application), it will make you look like a better driver than you probably are. It sure did for me.

To me, the 992 GT3RS that I drove for 2 track days in the subsequent program felt so underpowered and so slow and lacking in torque by comparison although it was faster through the high speed corners because it has almost double the downforce of the 911 GT2RS Clubsport. I did not find the GT3RS nearly as thrilling, as far or as rewarding as the 911 GT2RS Clubsport. Of course, if you are able to buy the GT3RS at retail (and few are) it is almost half the money but they are actually selling for almost the same money at the 911 GT2RS…