Richard Hammond Helps Racing Team Dial in Their Porsche GT3 R
The Grand Tour host offers a lot of useful insider knowledge to the Falken Tire team, like that the first corner is a ‘right-hander.’
Richard Hammond, host of The Grand Tour, is something of a Porsche-phile, having long owned various 911 models over the years. So, when Falken Tire reached out asking if he was interested in driving their GT3 R race car at Portimao Circuit, he hopped on the next flight to Portugal. Can you really blame him?
Hammond goes on to explain that the GT3 R is based on the road-going GT3 RS, except most everything has been replaced, beyond the chassis. It’s 550-horsepower naturally-aspirated flat-six is harder-edged than the road car, and paired to an even quicker-shifting sequential transmission.
The Falken Tire team are testing their car ahead of the grueling 24 Hours of Nurburgring endurance race. Fortunately, they have brought in a professional who has, in his words, “experienced a race car before.” What could possibly go wrong? Well, for Hammond, things go wrong immeidately when the Falken team finds out about his then-recent crash in the electric Rimac super car.
After pushing Hammond aside, Falken’s test driver goes out and thrashes the GT3 R around Portimao. This gives our host time to calm his nerves and practice the racing line via imagination. As the GT3 R returns to the pits, it’s finally time for Hammond to strap in to the car… Only for him to be usurped by another racing driver, leaving him in the dust.
Better luck next time, Hammond.
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