Why Does F1 Ace And Le Mans Champ Nico Hulkenberg Drive a Porsche GT2 RS MR?

I mean, why not?

After spending your entire life racing very quick, lightweight, and unbelievably agile vehicles, your standards rise to stratospheric levels. For that reason, it grows harder and harder to enjoy a capable road car—even a very quick one—as it usually feels incredibly lethargic in comparison to that incisive single seater or prototype. For this reason, you often see F1 and Le Man aces driving dull, everyday, practical vehicles to and from the tracks; something reasonably quick like a GT-R can’t always cut the mustard.

Thankfully, there are still a few road-going vehicles that can thrill and challenge the seasoned veteran.

In this case, it’s Nico Hulkenberg’s 991 GT2 RS which gets our attention. When the world’s most desirable free agent driver arrived at this year’s Eifel Grand Prix in his silver RS, Porschephiles took notice. If the quickest production-series Porsche can find its way into Hulkenberg’s stable, it must offer something few street cars do. Well, actually, to meet Hulk’s lofty standards, it needed a little help from a reputable Porsche racing shop: Manthey Racing.

This “emotional” purchase didn’t remain stock for long. Spurred on by Chris Harris’ Portimao review of the Manthey-tuned GT2 RS MR, Hulk shelled out the $103,000 needed for the following modifications:

• KW 3-Way Dampers
• Michelin Cup 2 R tires
• new brake pads
• lighter wheels
• TUV-compliant canards
• redesigned underbody floor
• aero curtains in the wheelarches
• a gurney flap on the engine lid
• different wing endplates
• a larger wing at a steeper angle
• taller wing supports
• a larger rear diffuser

It’s Manthey’s motorsports-bred modifications that give the driver the ability to lean on the GT2 RS in a way the standard machine, grippy as it is, simply cannot support. With shorter braking distances, greater aerodynamic grip, a more reassuring balance, and even more turn-in grip, a seasoned veteran used to the immediacy of well-tuned throughbreds can find real reward in pushing this relatively porky and semi-practical Porsche.