This Is The Action-Filled Porsche 944 Racing Series You Forgot About

I don’t blame you for not knowing what the Rothmans-Porsche Turbo Cup was all about. Between 1986 and 1990, various countries hosted races for nearly two hundred factory-prepared 944 Turbo racing cars, with North America seeing its series held mostly in Canada. Was the racing close? Of course—see for yourself.

Thanks to the magic of the internet, older TV broadcasts from Canada dot YouTube, and a selection of those contain original race broadcasts (and rebroadcasts) of the original Rothmans-Porsche Turbo Cup. Yes, the cars themselves also occasionally come up for sale, too. It’s said the 220 horsepower machines are well-suited for track duty, so if you get your hands on one, be sure to keep it doing what it was engineered to do: race.

1986 saw the series hit Germany, with this clip as a 12-minute season review, in German. It’s not short of catchy music, close action, and shots of the drivers outside of their roll caged offices.

It’s 1988, it’s race one, and the series is at Mosport Park in Canada—famed for its harrowing downhill left-hander “Clayton Corner,” aka turn 2. The Canadian series visited this track frequently, often setting outright track speed records for this class of car.

A circuit not often used was the temporary track in Niagara Falls, NY: and something the TV crew is happy to explain at length. You’re forgiven for fast forwarding through the introduction, which is too polite-sounding to be exciting—the race is much better. It’s like bumper cars…with Porsches.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GRZSU-c3tI

A full 30 minutes of period in-car footage, with future open wheel and Le Mans star Scott Goodyear behind the wheel. Circuit Mont-Tremblant looks fun, no?

Did you have a chance to catch these cars race in period?

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