At the start of the recent East African Safari Rally, Stig Blomqvist (along with co-driver Mattias Adielsson), had built up a healthy lead. They won the first two days, but woke up on the third day to an equally unhealthy engine. The supporting Tuthill Porsche rally squad was forced to get the engine and transmission swapped out of the car for a fresh drivetrain in order to finish the week-long rally. Check out the video above to see the engine and transmission popped into the 911 in practically no time at all. Just 12-minutes separates this Porsche from a rolling chasssis to a race-ready monster.
We’re not sure we could complete and engine install in 12-days, let alone 12-minutes. Sure, most of the components of an air-cooled engine are self-contained with minimal hook-ups to the remainder of the car, but there are still quite a few things that could have ruined the job if left unhooked. These guys truly must know their Porsche engine installs and have practiced and choreographed the multi-mechanic dance in order to accomplish it in such short time. This is an impressive display of teamwork and perseverance by the Tuthill team, and we’re seriously impressed. Check out the full video above.
That wasn’t the end of the teams’ awesome moves for the day, however. Blomqvist himself was running hellaciously quickly on stage when his transmission locked up and he could only find reverse. Because he was in the middle of a stage, he was forced to do the craziest thing we’ve ever heard, and rally the remaining 7-miles of the stage driving backwards. This just goes to show that rally is one of the most difficult and potentially the most heartbreaking form of motorsport that exists.
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That is the Porsche Specialist you would want to do any work on your Porsche, it looked like people were going everywhere and over each other , all knew what had to be done, great team work and even the human jacks when the car slipped off it stands.
Just great to watch