Porsche’s famous track weapon gets the 992 treatment

PORSCHE’S 911 GT3 is iconic. The brand wisely snaffled the licence exclusively for road cars and then failed to go absolutely bonkers and plaster it on what it pleased to tick over a few more sales. It’s a badge that means something to even casual fans of fast cars and means something extremely special to Porsche enthusiasts.

If you stick a GT3 badge on the back of a 911, mean it. It has to be something user-friendly – as almost all modern 911s are. It has to evoke the wild success Porsche has enjoyed in motorsport – it has to look the part but more importantly, feel the part.

Nobody has ever said, “The Porsche 911 GT3 is underrated,” because its reputation is legendary and well-guarded.

Approaching a drive of a GT3 is an intimidating prospect given all of that. Regardless of the $369,700 plus on-roads entry price – $42,600 more than its predecessor – it’s more intimidating to know that the four laid out before us in the pitlane at Sydney Motorsport Park are almost literally irreplaceable.

While Porsche representatives are hesitant to use the phrase “sold out” they are basically sold out. The only way to get one is to convince someone who has a slot to give it up. Good luck.

And then someone casually mentions that Luke Youlden posted an (unofficial) lap with a passenger on board in one of these very cars featuring the kind of pace you can expect to see on a Supercars timing board.

Two of them are a vivid (optional) blue and the third in canary yellow. It looks even meaner than the 991 it replaces and while the 911 is not normally referred to as such, it’s genuinely beautiful, if unconventionally so.

The fourth remains on display inside the pit garage, to be called into action should the unthinkable happen.

Wish us luck!