This book is not for everyone! Neither the chassis number historian nor the pure "coffee table book" enthusiast will find fulfillment here. Rather, the book Porsche "SportErfolge" is aimed at enthusiasts of early Porsche vehicles who are particularly interested in the sporting use of these rarities.
Tony Adriaensens has compiled almost 400 previously unpublished or hardly published pictures from 12 years, showing the early Porsche 356, the 550 Spyder, the RSK models and even the formula cars in active use. The pictures are accompanied by English texts that describe the events, vehicles and drivers in an interesting way.
Fascinating photo material
The mere fact that most of the photos shown have never been published before, or at least not in an easily accessible form, makes this book a real treasure.
Above all, however, it is also the type of photos that not only show classic racing scenes, but also capture impressions from behind the scenes. Be it portraits of unknown drivers, photos of crashed cars or shots of repairs to makeshift pits, the pictures are simply fascinating and almost all of them are also of very good quality.
Not least thanks to the use of 6x6 roll film and Kodachrome film material, the photos are impressive with their very good sharpness and convincing colors.
Rarely shown events
Of course, pictures and stories of the big races such as the Mille Miglia or Targa Florio are always interesting. But the photos and background information on events that are rarely heard of are also special, be it the ACS/SAR weekend in Campione (1954), the sixth Pebble Beach Road Race (1955), the Dübendorf Slalom (1956), the Coupe Delamare-Deboutteville (1957) or the Ollon-Villars hill climb (1960).
10 years of Liège-Rome-Liège
The most consistently documented race is the classic Liège-Rome-Liège. Incredible demands were made of the teams here, with 5,186 km having to be covered in 88 hours and 45 minutes in the third edition in 1952, riding day and night, with no provision for breaks. Penalty times were recorded at 54 checkpoints and teams were even disqualified if they deviated significantly. It was certainly not a fun ride!
For each of the ten years between 1952 and 1962, the book contains illustrations of the Porsche teams involved, showing the vehicles that sometimes emerged from the event in a badly undulated state. The texts note the performance of the participants and events from the sidelines of the event.
Behind the scenes of the 24 Hours of Le Mans
Of course, the big races of the fifties are also covered in the book "SportErfolge", such as the Targa, the Mille or the 24 Hours of Le Mans. And here, too, there are pictures that you don't usually find in the relevant books. And in the text you learn in detail what prevented the individual Porsche vehicles from performing well (overall victories were of course not possible with the car material of the time), or not.
Entertainingly written and yet informative
The book portrays 102 events and naturally focuses on the Porsche sports cars involved. You learn the basics about each race, but anecdotes and special features are also included, and everything is presented in a light-hearted manner. And, although Tony Adriaensens makes it clear in the foreword that he did not want to get bogged down with chassis numbers, you are referred to specific cars (and their chassis numbers) in many places, even if they are not Porsche vehicles.
Not just for the researcher
Of course, this book is a gem especially for those who want to add to or research the history of a particular automobile. Cars (and their license plates) can be discovered here that have rarely made it into a book elsewhere.
But you don't have to have such a specific interest to enjoy "SportErfolge". Anyone interested in Porsches and their use in motorsport will certainly learn something new and will find it hard to put this book down. The €185 is definitely money well spent and will provide many hours of reading pleasure.
The book Sporterfolge is available via Amazon 
Bibliographic information
- ISBN: 978-90-801-1974-1
- Publisher: Corsa Research, November 2012
- Author: Tony Adriaensens
- Language: English
- Format: 24.5 x 22 cm, hardcover in slipcase
- Illustrations: 113 color and 263 black and white photos
- Number of pages: 640
