The Beast Is Back

In spite of its recent blasphemy of building and selling an SUV, Porsche has always been and will always be a sports car builder. They're race cars, some derived from the venerable 911 and others racers-from-the-ground-up prototypes, are the most successful on the face of the planet. LeMans, Daytona, Sebring . . . you name it, Porsche has won it so many times many people have lost count. That's why the company's absense from the top-rungs of sports car racing has been so confusing. But all that's about to change. In partnership with another racing heavyweight (Roger Penske), Porsche announced today that it will build an LMP2 prototype for the American LeMans Series (and the big race itself, of course), which may debut later this year. After a Penske-only development period in 2006, the car will be available to customers. Along with the debut of a Mazda rotary-powered LMP2 car at Road Atlanta this weekend, things in the ALMS prototype classes might (finally) be looking up.