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Porsche tuners 9ff, SpeedArt going bankrupt

Times are tough in Europe right now, and that unfortunately has reaped disastrous consequences for some of its smallest niche automakers. Gumpert, Wiesmann, Artega and Lola have all filed for bankruptcy this year, and it appears that tuners are not immune to the tough times, either.
Word coming in from across the pond suggests that 9ff and SpeedArt - two of the biggest names in Porsche tuning - have filed for bankruptcy as well. 9ff is best known for the GT9, a radical hypercar barely based on the 911, while SpeedArt was once of the foremost tuners of Porsches.
Fortunately there are still plenty of tuners ready to take a wrench to your Elfen, but the reported demise of these two makes the market a little bit smaller and - for Porsche enthusiasts - maybe the world a little bit lonelier, too.

Porsche tipped to reveal purist's 911 R in Geneva

Update: The 911 R dam has broken well ahead of its official reveal at Geneva. Stay tuned for full coverage, but take a look at this image from Twitter user @PistonHeads and let us know what you think in the comments below. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. The original post continues below. With much of the 911 family going turbo, there's room in the lineup for a purist's Porsche: a naturally-aspirated, rear-drive, manual-only model that'll essentially be a stripped-down GT3. The latest reports indicate that this model, initially expected to be called the 911 GT but now more likely to get the 911 R moniker, will be unveiled in Geneva. It's also tipped to wear skinnier tires that will sacrifice grip for a more linear driving experience, and jettison the big wings in favor of a sleeker, more classic profile. What that all boils down to is a GT3 in its essence, and it will likely pack the non-turbo engine from either the GT3 or GT3 RS (pictured above) – or some version thereof. Recall that both the GT3 and the GT3 RS are PDK-only, although Porsche has decided that the next-generation GT3 should give customers the option of shifting for themselves. According to Motoring.com.au, which recently spoke to 911 product line manager August Achleitner, the purist's 911 will be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show less than two months from now. "Come to Geneva and you'll find out," said Achleitner "but for now this is all I can talk about." Don't get your hopes up too much, because production is expected to be severely limited, with the entire production run likely to be pre-sold. Related Video:

Porsche 919 Hybrid sets new qualifying record at Le Mans [w/video]

Porsche is getting off to a great start at Le Mans this year, setting a new qualifying lap record. Both Neel Jani and Timo Bernhardt clocked qualifying times in the latest Porsche 919 Hybrid that eclipse the previous record. At 3:16.887 and 3:17.767, both Porsche factory works drivers beat the record 3:18.51 qualifying time achieved by Stephane Sarrazin in the Peugeot 908 back in 2008. We should note, however, that these times are for the current track configuration. The outright qualifying record for any configuration still belongs to – you guessed it, also Porsche. Pedro Rodriguez pole position in 1971 in the Porsche 917 at 3:13.90. His teammate Jackie Oliver lapped even faster during the practice session at 3:13.6, and went on to set the fastest race lap that same year, which still stands at 3:18.4. The long and short of it, though, is that Porsche has been and remains the force to be reckoned with when it comes to outright pace around the French circuit. All that remains to be seen is whether the team can translate that pace into victory over the defending Le Mans winners at Audi and the reigning World Endurance Champions at Toyota. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. 24 Hours of Le Mans : Porsche beats all records! As expected, this first day will be have been marked by the domination of the Porsche 919 Hybrid cars during the first qualifying practice and who totally smashed the record of the track. But let's be careful, Audi isn't far behind. In LM P2, an Oreca 05 from Team KCMG finished in front whereas the Aston Martins excelled in LM GTE Pro and LM GTE Am. During the free practice sessions that took place between 4 and 8pm, the competitors began carefully on a drying track after the afternoon rain. The red flag was presented only 5 minutes after the opening of the track because of an immobilized driver who had made a mistake (without any other consequence other than this neutralization) at braking point in the chicane ForzaMotorsport (first of the two chicanes on the Hunaudieres). The British driver Richard Bradley was the cause of this behind the steering wheel of the Oreca 05 n°47 of the Hong Kong team KCMG. The prototype LM P2 was brought back to the pits on the breakdown truck. A little later, the same Richard Bradley did the best time of the free session on this Oreca 05 n°47.