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I
t’s the Thursday before the Nürburgring 24-hour
weekend and Paul Robe, founder of Porsche
specialist PARR Motorsport, looks like a man whose
diary for the forthcoming ten days hasn’t got any
headed ‘sleep’. PARR will be running two cars in the
Carrera World Cup race, a support race to the ‘Ring
24-hour, and with 200 cars entered in the main race
and 100 GT3 Cup cars descending on the paddock
for the World Cup event, the week ahead is far from a
straightforward one.
“We’ve a final test at Silverstone on Monday, then
it’s back here (the team’s based in East Sussex) to
pack the final race kit we need for the weekend,
before a dawn start on Tuesday to be at the
Nürburgring before noon on Tuesday,” Paul explains.
“The first test is on Thursday, we qualify Friday, and the
World Cup race is on the Saturday before the 24-hour
race. Unfortunately, we’re not allowed to start to pack
up until 12pm on Sunday or leave before 2pm, so we
won’t be back here until late Sunday evening. It’s quite
a schedule for one race!” explains Paul. As daunting as
this sounds, it’s all in a week’s work for Paul and his
team, as they have over 25 years at the front of the
Porsche motorsport grid and have seen it all before.
Paul’s relationship with Porsche started when, at
just 16 years old he wanted a Porsche. Working as a
mechanic in his father’s garage allowed him to have
his first piece of Stuttgart metal by the age of 20. “I
was working on all kinds of cars, mainly Aston Martins
and a lot of Jaguars, but it was Porsches I wanted to
specialise in,” Paul reveals. “So I setup a new
business within my father’s workshop, working on as
many Porsches as I could lay my hands on. Later,
when we split the business into three clear elements,
I went off and developed the Porsche side of things
further. In 1984 Dad and I went our separate ways
and that’s when I could really call myself a Porsche
specialist. I did servicing and repairs and bit of
in the
trade
Motorsport plays a big part in the PARR setup, with 2011 seeing
the outfit run cars in the Carrera Cup GB. But PARR started as a
Porsche road car specialist and still caters for every Porsche
owners’ needs. It can also turn its hand to historic motorsport,
as the delightful 2.8 RSR rally car beautiful demonstrates
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