Racing a rare classic is the perfect way to spend a weekend if you?re Harm Lagaay, the former design chief for Porsche
Historic motor racing attracts two types of people. To own and race a fragile car in events that offer little prize money, no career prospects and expensive repair bills, one has to be either a fabulously wealthy, ?arrive-and-drive? gentleman racer or a bloody-knuckled, passionate enthusiast willing to do everything on your own.
Harm Lagaay, the 57-year-old former chief designer of for Porsche and one of the most respected figures in the automotive world, is one of the latter. Even more surprising is that the machine Mr Lagaay races ? a brutal, 300km/h, Australian-built 1969 Elfin CanAm car ? is about the furthest thing from a prim and proper Porsche that one can imagine.
The tall, pensive Dutchman cherishes those weekends he can spend at motor racing circuits with ?Team Lagaay? ? Desiree, his wife of 30 years, colleague Peter Reisinger, and Mr Reisinger?s wife, Maria. The two men have been close friends since 1970, when both started work in Porsche?s design department.
They tow the Elfin to meetings on a modest trailer. behind their Cayennes. In the back of Mr Reisinger?s car are two Porsche mountain bikes.
?We go cycling wherever we go. If the car breaks down or if the weekend doesn?t go well, we just go riding,? Mr Reisinger says.