Category: Porsche 911 Rally

I spent the weekend in Paris, meeting Porsche 356 racer Steven Harris and WEVO top man Hayden Burvill at the finish of the 2010 Peking to Paris Motor Challenge. The weather was cold but sunny, and the streets were lined with spectators, all eager to see these magnificent machines arrive after their gruelling 14,000 kilometre drive across Mongolia, Russia, Iran and into Europe via Turkey and Greece.

On the 10th of September, ninety eight cars left China. Despite the incredible torture doled out on these vehicles, as they crossed the Gobi desert and used worn-out rock tracks to cover thousands of miles, only twelve retirements are recorded on the official time sheets. I’d call that the best result.

Standing next to cars like the 1903 Itala and the 1914 La France fire engine (“converted into a sports fire [...]

WEVO director Hayden Burvill at WEVO in San Carlos, California has just finished building the classic Porche 356 he and TwinSpark’s good friend Steven Harris will race in the Peking to Paris trans-Mongolia rally, which starts in China on September 10.

The Peking-Paris Rally lasts 37 days and takes the cars from China into the Khangai Mountains and Gobi Altai (as in Gobi desert) to Russia. Next comes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Turkey, Greece, Italy and France: an expected total of 14,600kms.

It will come as no surprise to find that the 356 has been modified for P to P, though perhaps not as radically as one might have expected. Hayden’s WEVO blog features pictures and further details of the modifications, including the custom-made additional fuel tanks, and crack tested wheels and other components. Hayden’s piece also [...]

This is a big weekend for Twin Spark Racing, as we unleash our challenge on the 2010 State of Art Historic Zandvoort Trophy.

Many organisations in our field of performance parts supply include the words ‘Racing’ or ‘Motorsport’ in their business name. Yet their cars and the products they sell have never turned a wheel in anger at a competitive race event. This is where TwinSpark is different.

“When the flag drops, the bullshit stops”. So said diehard racer, Sir Jack Brabham. For real racing enthusiasts like our directors, Lex Proper and Leonard Stolk, it is more than a throwaway line in a press conference. It is a philosophy for business and, in some ways, for life.

Those who love to race know: competition hones our desire to succeed. Competition is what pushes us to test ourselves against similar minds and abilities, [...]