GP Ice Race

In 1952, some motorsports enthusiast took the 1st anniversary of the passing of Ferdinand Porsche to organize the 1st Ferdinand Porsche Gedachtnissrennen (Memorial Races) in Zell am See. In the early 50s, motorsports belonged to the most favorite sports of the Austrian people. Thousands of people hurled around the race-track purpose built on the frozen lake of Zell am See. One year later, one could see the same scenario. Guys like Otto Mathé and Huschke von Hanstein were the stars drifting their cars over the ice. The tradition of ice racing stopped in the 70s because the ice on the lake could not withstand the weight of the cars and audience.

The spectacle took a new start in 2019.  The enthusiasm of Ferdi Porsche (great-grandson of the old professor, and son of Wolfgang Porsche) and his friend Vinzenz Greger  worked.  Names like Richard Lietz and Hans-Joachim Stuck put their shoulders under the project. The two organizers even planned the traditional Skijoring. Courageous skiers, connected by a tow line, are pulled by a car. The event attracted some 8000 visitors to the homebase of the family Porsche. Last year,  the 2nd edition of the GP Ice Race even welcomed approximately 16.000 people with participants from all over the world. The book ‘GP Ice Race’ by Ferdi Porsche and Vincenz Greger tells us all about both events. And much, much more.

The book comes with exclusive background stories about the races. The reader will learn why both young guys wanted to revive the tradition of ice-racing. In an interview style approach, both Ferdinand Porsche and Vincent Greger explain how the idea was born. They explain how they managed to make the first event in 2019 an overwhelming success.

The authors dedicate a complete chapter to the history of the Porsche Gedächtnissrennen, and the liaison between the family Porsche and Zell am See. Pictures from the Porsche Archives, the archives of Hans Truol and some private archives illustrate that history.  Moreover, each of the 2019 and 2020 ice races have their own chapter, with dozens and dozens of photographs. Many of them are from renowned photographers like Stephan Bonger.

Conclusion

The book “GP Ice Race” is like a hybrid car. You can use it in different ways. The pictures that illustrate the historical races, combined with these of the modern races make the book an amazing journey through the history of the ice-races. Just by flipping through the pages, you’ll be able to relive the atmosphere. You almost feel the cold, as if you were witnessing the spectacle yourself. This way, you can dream away and transfer yourself from the 50s to 2020 just by flipping some pages.

That makes GP Ice Race a great coffee-table book.  However, dozens of interesting facts will wait for you, when you take the time to read the text.  The duality of the book, both coffee-table and interesting to read, makes this book so good. It is a fantastic addition to the library of any motorsports enthusiast. Even those who don’t like Porsche at all, will definitely like the unique atmosphere that lives at an ice-race. And you can expierence that in a sublime way in “GP Ice Race”.