Rennsport Reunion 7 was an endless Porsche highlight reel: Here’s our Mega Photo Gallery
MONTEREY, Calif. — Rennsport Reunion. There’s no other single-make event quite like it, and until you actually go there and see the Porsche mania for yourself, it’s rather difficult to comprehend. This past weekend, Laguna Seca played host to the Rennsport Reunion 7 – a whole five years since the previous one took place in 2018 – and it also coincided with Porsche’s 75th birthday. Sounds like the perfect time and place to celebrate, right? Right!
I’ve unabashedly loved Porsches for a long time, and I finally put the first one in my garage just last fall, a 2004 Boxster S. I regretted not driving it out as soon as I laid eyes on the parking corrals overflowing with hundreds of Porsches at the track. Hell, I was even regretting not driving it after popping around downtown Monterey the day before the event. License plates from all across the country grace the rear of the various models seen in and outside the track. And in case you were wondering, yes, literally every single Porsche model had its own parking section. From the early 356s and Speedsters to the most recent Taycans and even Cayennes, Porsche fanatics drove their machines to Laguna Seca for the event, which is one of the reasons why this event rocks so much. While plenty of Porsche owners surely lock their cars away and never drive them, there’s a massive subset of them that pile miles on them like they’re Honda Civics or Accords. I walked through all of them parked up, and can safely say it should be a required activity for anybody who attends.
Owner corrals
Monterey Car Week might fill up the peninsula with all sorts of unique automobiles, but Rennsport Reunion does the same with only Porsches – final attendance for the weekend totaled over 91,000 people, making it the biggest crowd at a Rennsport Reunion yet. It’s weird until it isn’t. At a certain point in the weekend, a Hyundai Veloster N passed me by on the track’s outer roads, and I did a double-take, then wondered aloud, “What the hell is this doing here?”
That’s the effect that spending days inside Porsche’s Rennsport Reunion bubble will have on you. Seeing any kind of vehicle that isn’t a Porsche feels like you’re looking at a fish out of water. The transport vehicles to and from the corkscrew are Taycans, Panameras, Macans and Cayennes with retro racing liveries. Owners of the racecars used in the various on-track activities parked their road car Porsches next to the racecars in the paddocks. From epic Singer recreations to brand-new GT3s, you’re going to see it all. Even the various kei trucks you’ll spot running around for easy tire parts and tire transport are done up in heritage Porsche liveries. It’s an all-Porsche all-the-time immersion that will have you wondering how such a show can be put on.
Racing on Laguna Seca
Even the racing is entertaining. The one race I witnessed at the corkscrew saw a couple of first-generation Boxsters come to blows arguing for the same piece of tarmac as the road tilts downward. Another Boxster came through and blew the piece of bumper sitting on the track into smithereens. So no, the races you’ll witness here aren’t simply parade laps. And if you look at the driver lineup Porsche brings to the table, you’ll understand why. Any and every big name that spent time as a factory Porsche driver comes to Rennsport Reunion to strap into old and new Porsche race cars alike. Jacky Ickx, Mark Webber, Jeff Zwart, Timo Bernhard, Hurley Haywood and so many more all make the trip.
Porsche fans lined up for hours at the official store in hopes of scoring exclusive Rennsport Reunion 7 merch. Fans colored in hundreds of Porsches on a drawing wall to their heart’s content. Kids got to see Sally Porsche (flown in from Stuttgart for the event) and Lightning McQueen. And the motorsports enthusiasts got to listen to Porsche race cars of every vintage and performance level (from Porsche tractors to ex-Le Mans racers) pounding around one of the world’s most famous racetracks all weekend long.
It’s almost impossible to pick and choose a specific part of the event as the highlight, because every time you turn around, there’s another one waiting around the corner. The paddocks will have you losing your mind as you gawk at seven Porsche 959s sitting right next to each, and oh yeah, right next to those are a trio of Porsche Carrera GTs. Did we mention the Carrera GT Prototype (that still exists of the two that were made) was also in attendance? The first Porsche road car ever was there, too. Those corrals of attendee cars driven to the event offer enough entertainment to spend an entire day or more prowling through, if only time would allow it. And if you wanted to load up on Porsche gear, countless tents had artwork, aftermarket parts and pretty much anything else you could dream up right there for you to buy. It’s basically a one-stop shop for any and all things Porsche, and you’ll be left trying to think of things you didn’t see instead of the things you did get to see. Porsche even revealed a couple cars during the event, the 911 GT3 R rennsport and the 718 GT4 RS Panamericana Special.
There’s only so much that pictures can do to tell the story that is Rennsport Reunion, but give the galleries throughout this post a full scroll through to get a taste. One thing’s for sure, though: If you have any iota of desire to attend, go to the next one, because it’s pretty damn hard to have a bad time at Rennsport Reunion.
