La Carrera Panamericana 2025 delivered a spectacular showcase of vehicles, heritage and keenness, highlighted by the participation of the modern-day Porsche racing legend Timo Bernhard. The German endurance champion, who received at Le Mans and the Nürburgring throughout an illustrious profession behind the wheel, joined the Porsche group on the rally as a particular visitor driver, piloting a 911 GT3 alongside Mexican co-driver Patrice Spitalier.
Bernhard’s participation within the 75th anniversary version of La Carrera Panamericana evokes the historic legacy of pioneers corresponding to Hans Herrmann, who led the primary official Porsche group to enter the treacherous border-to-border race with the 550 Spyder in 1954. There was additionally Herbert Linge, whose distinctive mechanical work would go on to earn him the Order of Advantage from the Mexican authorities, and Huschke von Hanstein and Karl Kling, who helped to ascertain Porsche’s worldwide repute on this planet of elite motorsport after they took half in 1953.
“I do know from Porsche’s historical past that ‘La Carrera’ was a serious race that includes distinctive Porsche drivers, together with German legends Hans Hermann and Herbert Linge, who had been heroes of their time,” says Bernhard. The historic bond between Porsche and La Carrera Panamericana lives on not simply by way of the competitors but additionally in iconic mannequin names just like the 911 Carrera and the Panamera. With Bernhard’s participation this yr, Porsche aimed to strengthen this connection between its sporting current and a defining chapter of its automotive heritage.
“I personally love rallying and have achieved a number of total victories in Germany,” continues Bernhard. “This time, nonetheless, I used to be not targeted on competitors or outcomes, however reasonably on showcasing Porsche’s legacy and engaging heritage to these spectating.”
‘La Pana’, as it’s identified, was one of many world’s most demanding and thrilling highway competitions when it passed off between 1950 and 1954. Holding particular significance for Porsche, it will lay the inspiration for the model’s enduring repute for precision and sturdiness. Whereas the race was cancelled in 1955 on account of price and security considerations, it was revived in 1988 as a historic rally, and Bernhard’s participation 75 years after its debut highlights each the occasion’s continued international significance and its means to proceed to draw outstanding motorsport figures.
Timo Bernhard: an undisputed Porsche legend
Over the course of greater than 20 years as an official Porsche manufacturing unit driver, Timo Bernhard constructed a reputation as one of the vital full, constant and charismatic racers of his era.
“My first contact with Porsche Motorsport occurred in January 1999 after I was invited to the UPS Porsche Junior Choice. Ultimately I used to be one in every of two drivers to be chosen. I used to be by far the youngest – I wasn’t even 18 in my first take a look at on observe. Porsche confirmed nice persistence and constructed me up steadily, permitting me to make my very own errors. It led to an incredible success story with greater than 20 years as a manufacturing unit driver. I assume the gratitude I felt helped to forge my sturdy bond with the Porsche model. In complete, it’s been 26 years to this point and we’re nonetheless going sturdy.”
Bernhard’s title is inseparably linked to Porsche’s most important endurance racing triumphs. His profession has included two FIA World Endurance Championship titles (2015 and 2017), victory at Le Mans in 2017 with the Porsche 919 Hybrid, and 5 wins on the Nürburgring. Mixed with victories at Daytona, Sebring and a number of American Le Mans Sequence championships, Bernhard has achieved the distinguished ‘triple crown’ of endurance racing, establishing him as one thing of a benchmark on this planet of motorsport.
With a exact driving method and nice strategic imaginative and prescient, Bernhard has been integral to Porsche’s technological evolution throughout its racing programmes, from GT vehicles to cutting-edge hybrid prototypes.
Victories in Mexico in 2016 and 2017
Bernhard’s relationship with Mexico was consolidated in 2016 and 2017 throughout the 6 Hours of Mexico, an official spherical of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). On the helm of the Porsche 919 Hybrid, Bernhard – together with teammates Brendon Hartley and Mark Webber in 2016, and with Earl Bamber changing Webber the next yr – claimed consecutive victories on the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. These triumphs strengthened Porsche’s place within the Producers’ standings and performed a key half within the model securing the title in each seasons.
However the success in Mexico Metropolis not solely enriched Bernhard’s sporting CV – it additionally helped to forge a particular bond with followers within the area, a connection that has undoubtedly been renewed because of the previous weekend’s 2025 Carrera Panamericana.
“I’ve nice recollections of Mexico … and a 100 per cent win price there!” Bernhard remembers with a smile. “I raced twice on the Hermanos Rodriguez observe and received each instances with my teammates and the 919 Hybrid. I found Mexico as a rustic with unbelievable ardour for motorsport. I’ve usually talked about how the Porsche followers threw a celebration for us proper there on the observe after the race. It was really a magical ambiance.”
Porsche and La Carrera Panamericana: a shared legacy
For the reason that Nineteen Fifties, Porsche and La Carrera Panamericana have shared a journey of custom, innovation and keenness. The Mexican competitors offered the stage the place the primary Porsche 550 fashions earned their place in worldwide motorsport historical past by outperforming extra highly effective rivals.
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