GP Ice Race Attracts Porsche Fans From All Over to Frozen Tundra

Slipping and Sliding

For the most part, we tend to think of racing as something that takes place on paved roads. But in certain parts of the world, including Zell Am See in Austria, Porsche fans prefer to do the seemingly impossible and slide around on pure ice. This includes the GP Ice Race, which recently wrapped up its second season in the Porsche family's home town.

Photos: Porsche

Ice Baby

Ferdinand "Ferdi" Porsche is one of the main forces behind this rebirth of ice racing, and the 26-year-old recently sat down with the automaker to discuss how it all came about. "The GP Ice Race is the baby of a friend of mine, Vinzenz Greger, and me. During our time at university, we could never work out why it seemed like so few of our generation were as into motorsports as we were," he explains.

Finding Inspiration

As you might imagine, it was a Porsche that spurned them into action. "And then, one time when we were in Zell am See to do some skiing, we were looking at the spiked tires of my father’s [Porsche] 550 from when it competed in ice racing," Porsche said. "I knew a little about the races that had been held here years ago – but not much and I couldn’t think why it had been so long since they had been last held."

Photos: Porsche

>>Join the conversation about the GP Ice Race with Porsche right here in Rennlist.com.

Latest Thing

It only took a few conversations, and before you knew it, GP was a major thing. "We started by talking to Hans-Joachim Stuck and Richie Lietz, asking what it would take to hold the race, whether people would come and so on," Porsche said. "Then we met the mayor, the people from the local tourism authority, and the Austrian Motorsport Federation and it all started to come together. Eighteen months later, the first GP Ice Race happened. We didn’t expect all that many people to turn up, so were really surprised when a few thousand did. I guess the motorsport community is quite a tight one and always looking for cool new things"

Photos: Porsche

>>Join the conversation about the GP Ice Race with Porsche right here in Rennlist.com.

Sheer Diversity

For an event that's only been around for two years, the sheer number and diversity of machines that showed up at this year's GP Ice Race were rather astounding. They included everything from mass-produced normal models to historically significant racers, the new Taycan, and everything in between.

Photos: Porsche

>>Join the conversation about the GP Ice Race with Porsche right here in Rennlist.com.

Massive Crowd

In addition to these many priceless and pricey machines, a whopping 16,000 people showed up to pay witness to the icy extravaganza. And they were rewarded with some fantastic displays of not only spirited driving but also countless photo opportunities to share with their friends.

Photos: Porsche

>>Join the conversation about the GP Ice Race with Porsche right here in Rennlist.com.

Goodwood on Ice

Quite a few folks are already calling the GP Ice Race "Goodwood on Ice," and it's easy to see why. After all, Goodwood started out in this same exact fashion and eventually grew to massive proportions. Judging by how well things are going so far, we wouldn't be surprised to see GP follow in those harrowed footsteps.

Photos: Porsche

>>Join the conversation about the GP Ice Race with Porsche right here in Rennlist.com.

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