‘I'M NOT THE EASIEST BOSS'

HIS METHODS INCLUDE LONG ALPINE DRIVES AND BEER, BUT THE MAN BEHIND PORSCHE’S WILDEST SPORTS CARS EXPECTS HARD WORK – AND RESULTS

- JAMES TAYLOR

ANDREAS PREUNINGER TALKS fast. His words flow rapidly, without interruption or hesitation, straight-shot, from the hip. He talks fast, thinks fast, acts fast and drives fast – as we’re about to discover when he drives us up the hill at the 2019 Goodwood Festival of Speed in the 911 Speedster, the latest car he’s overseen as Porsche’s head of GT vehicles.

This is a man whose life is driven by speed, and defined by decisiveness. And he’s not even at work. This is what he’s like on holiday – or, more strictly, a three-month sabbatical. “I’ve made a break in my break to be here, but actually this isn’t real work,” he insists. “If you are a little bit into cars and you don’t get goosebumps when you come to Goodwood, it’s time to go to the doctor. This is my 13th time and I’m still getting them.”

Preuninger’s overseen every 911 GT3 since the turn of the millennium – which is to say, all of them apart from the original 996 (although he did do the facelifted version, and the first GT3 RS). He’s also been responsible for the 911 R, Cayman GT4… the sort of once-driven, never-forgotten creations so revered that they defy the laws of fiscal physics and appreciate in value as soon as they turn a wheel. The singular way they drive is due in no small part to the 100-proof petrolhead spirit of the man who has become known as Mr GT3.

He clearly deserves a lot of the credit, but he says much of the GT division’s success is down to teamwork – which is how he’s able to take a three-month break, confident that he won’t return to a well-worn dartboard but little progress on high-performance Porsches.