There’s a Hero

Edric met a childhood idol who took him for a drive – and not just any drive.

The talented Walter Rohrl caught in a speedy selfie with the less talented columnist.

WALTER Rohrl – multiple world rally champion in the 1980s, all-round motorsport legend and, latterly, the man who helps Porsche hone the on-limit handling of its most extreme sports cars – treated me to a full-tilt lap of the stunning, daunting Portimao circuit in southern Portugal. The occasion was the launch of the German marque’s hardcore Cayman GT4. Apart from the car itself, Walter was the main attraction. Typically, us journos are paced around the racetrack by a professional driver to familiarise us with cornering lines and braking points, and, hopefully, to rein in any overenthusiasm. But when the pace car driver is Walter himself, you sit up and take notice.

After following in his wheel tracks for some laps (hard-driven by my standards; probably a canter by his), we were asked if anyone would like a “hot” lap riding shotgun with him. I didn’t need to be asked twice. Unlike other professional race drivers I have passengered Walter seemed a lot busier at the wheel, constantly fidgeting (“fighting” would be the wrong word) with the steering under braking and through each bend, instead of setting it up at an angle and holding it there. His entry into slower bends was also tighter than the classic wide-entry racing line. I guess old rally habits die hard.

The hardcore Cayman GT4 was the 385bhp “taxi ride” that Edric took.

But in any case, the result was astonishing pace, otherworldly car control and, on my part, a total absence of fear despite hurtling around an unfamiliar track with hair-raising blind crests and dauntingly fast bends. This, after all, was the man who has set multiple production-car records around the Nurburgring. Halfway through, I spotted a camera-equipped drone in the sky tracking our lap, which made me think of the TV helicopters following rally cars at world championship events, and somehow the experience became even more surreal.

Walter Rohrl and me, on a remote track in the middle of nowhere, being filmed from the air like a leading WRC crew. And as we crossed the finish line, I noticed Walter touching the watch on his left wrist, and realised that he had been timing himself. “What’s your time?” I asked him. “Two minutes, three seconds,” he replied. It was a second slower than his fastest lap so far that day. It’s mind-boggling that a motorsport legend like Walter, with nothing left to prove, still has the fire within to bother timing himself, even while giving yet another joyride to some unknown journo. But it’s also immensely gratifying.

Edric’s joyride with his childhood hero in the porsche cayman gt4 showed that walter rohrl is a petrolhead, just like us.