Porsche Tractor Race Among Day 3 Highlights at Rennsport

Porsche enthusiasts have arrived in droves to attend Porsche Rennsport Reunion VI to take part in a celebration of the German manufacturer’s seven decades of brilliance on the race track and the road.

One standout on the third day of the four-day event had little to do with pushing the boundaries to go faster.

The first-ever Porsche tractor race, held at 1:15 p.m., provided levity with 17 tractors racing from the starting line to the Mother’s Polish bridge between Turns 4 and 5 from a Le Mans-style start.

Fans and enthusiasts were treated to both ends of the performance spectrum on a day where the Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo made demonstration laps with drivers Andre Lotterer and Timo Bernhard that routinely exceeded 190 mph going through the speed traps.

Porsche tractors were built between 1956 and 1963, with more than 125,000 produced. Many are still being used today across farmlands worldwide.

The 17 drivers ranged from factory professionals like Patrick Long and Patrick Pilet to celebrities such as John Oats of the band Hall & Oates.

Racers being racers, they jockeyed for position in the one-, two-, three- and four-cylinder open-cockpit machines.

Long collected the win, and Cooper MacNeil was the hard charger of the group by finishing seventh after drawing the 15th position on the grid.

Another Porsche tractor race will take place on Sunday at 1:40-2:10 p.m.

Following opening ceremonies that included a flyover from six F-18 Thunderbirds in formation, races were decided in the Eifel Trophy and Werks Trophy race groups.

Gunnar Jeannette claimed the win in Werks Trophy driving a 1969 Porsche 908. Thomas Gruber won Eifel Trophy behind the wheel of his 1971 Porsche 914-6.

The final day of the world’s largest Porsche gathering, which occurs every three-to-four years, begins with gates opening at 7 a.m.

RESULTS: Group 2 and Group 3