Porsche has released a highlights video from the 2013 Goodwood Festival of Speed showcasing its Le Mans heritage. It got us thinking, in Australia, the mainstream media just doesn’t seem to understand what a big deal it is that Mark Webber will be part of the iconic company’s return to LMP1 racing at Le Mans next year.
Of course, Formula 1 is the pinnacle of motorsport, we understand that. But Webber’s current employer Red Bull Racing, for all of the amazing thing it has achieved, is a minnow on the motorsport landscape when compared with Porsche.
Porsche is racing.
As the legendary Jacky Ickx, a six-time Le Mans winner himself (four with Porsche), says at the end of the video, “They make the soul of motor racing.”
Mark Webber will never be an F1 world champion, and that’s a shame for all Australian motorsport fans. And yet, by moving to Porsche, he has the chance to join the likes of genuine motor racing legends such as Derek Bell, Jacky Ickx, Hans Stuck and many more. All achieved so much with Porsche.
The best years of Webber’s career could still be ahead of him.