Chris Harris Races 997 GT2 RS Against Ducati’s 1199 Panigale

By Marcus Slater - July 26, 2012

The GT2 RS is, in a way, the ultimate Porsche. Turbo models have had all-wheel-drive standard since the 993, but the GT2 models have always been able to keep their rear-wheel drive layout while making ridiculous amounts of power. 612 horse in the 997 GT RS, to be exact. No question, the 930’s descendant is a supercar in sports car clothing. So naturally Chris Harris decided to drive it. For a comparison though, he decided to head to the drag strip against a strange opponent: Ducati’s 1199 Panigale.

Like the GT2 RS, the Panigale is the fastest thing that Ducati builds. It makes 195hp at a fraction of the weight and moves with the kinetic energy of an atom bomb. Intense is an easy way of putting it. But the Porsche is the same way. Stuttgart’s super coupe has more grip and is less of a handful, but at the limit it’ll bite your head off for prodding it wrong.

Anyone who watches drag racing regularly probably has a good idea of how this’ll play out. Still, it’s a well shot video with excellent footage of these two beasts doing what they do best. You might be asking, “Well, why would he choose to race a superbike in a car?” When the question you should really be asking is, “Why not?”