SPORT Shadowing the giants of the Carrera Panamericana, at the wheel of a Porsche 718 RSK

“When you’re on the road, you can feel this car was made for racing.” At 19, Arthur Mathieu is the youngest driver in the Carrera Cup France, and it’s his second time behind the wheel of this Porsche 718 RSK. He explains that, when driving, “you have to focus on the other cars, not just your own driving.  We need to stay in plain sight, right in the middle of the road, to remind people we exist because this car is so low and light, when we’re coming up behind the SUVs, they can hear us but they can’t see us”, he says smiling.

In fact, this model is seen as the culmination of years’ of Porsche’s involvement in competitive car racing. It was created in 1958, when only 32 copies were built. For Arthur, being able to drive it is “really an exceptional experience. You have to be aware of how lucky you are, that you’re part of a slice of history.”

This car belongs to his father, a passionate Porsche collector, who bought it ten years ago. It was once driven by Ricardo, one of the Rodriguez brothers, famous Mexican drivers who raced several times in the legendary Carrera Panamericana. 

“Even as a kid, my father talked to me about it all the time,” recalls Arthur, who grew up with the legend of the Carrera Panamericana racing event, nicknamed “Pan-Am”. Organised for the first time in 1950, it covered more than 3,300 km from the north to the south of Mexico. The goal was to complete the rally in less than a week, at a breakneck pace, along winding, narrow roads in blistering heat.

When he imagines travelling back in time and taking part in it, Arthur’s enthusiasm is infectious: “The adrenaline must have been wild! With this kind of racing, you can never predict the next corner. You’d have to have an exceptional memory to remember such a long journey. Not to mention all the weather variations, changing road conditions… Everything has to be done at the last minute.” These last minute adjustments must have been even more crucial during the original race, given that the conditions in Mexico in the 1950s were far from those we know now in Europe.

The Carrera Panamericana is one of the most dangerous races in the world. The safety standards of the time were very limited: there were no seat belts in the cars, there was only minimal protection on the roads… Serious, and even fatal, accidents occurred. The mettle of hundreds of experienced drivers was put to the test every year. From the very beginning the Pan-Am made a name for itself. 

Only three years after the original race, the world’s greatest pilots were lining up to take part. Car manufacturers created exceptional models for the event, and Porsche obviously got in on the act. In 1954, Hans Herrman, a German driver, won the Carrera Panamericana, driving a Porsche Spyder 550 with an average speed of 157.12 km/h, a record for the time.

“Hans Herrman must have had really strong arms to have won it,” says an awe-struck Arthur. Herrman certainly made car racing history, even more so because the following year, in 1955, the Carrera Panamericana was cancelled. The decision followed a terrible accident during the 24 hour Le Mans race, which left 87 dead. Fearful that the same horrifying misadventure could occur during Pan-Am, the Mexican authorities shut it down.

The racing event was revived in 1988, in the form of a car rally for vintage cars made prior to 1955, but, as Arthur explains,  “The race is different today.” Even if the route was exactly re-enacted today, “Both cars and engineering have evolved so much since then that the challenge of the Carrera Panamericana is no longer the same.”

Arthur knows the history and value of his father’s 718 RSK. This model immediately followed the Porsche Spyder 550, the one which won the “Pan-Am” in 1954. Designed a few years later to race the full 24 Hours of Le Mans, he tells us that “It won everything it competed in, it was known as the “Giant Killer!”

Arthur is not a collector himself – he is only 19 years old, after all. But his childhood passion for Porsche and its history have now become cemented through his adult dedication to motorsport. “My love for the history of Porsche created my passion for motorsport – the two are inseparable.” Two years ago, when he was still a minor and not yet a high school graduate, he was already making a name for himself in the world of motor racing. Arthur stands out not only for his age, but also for his vehicles, because he brings Art Cars to the circuit.  Now, alongside studying, Arthur dreams of motor racing and hopes one day to race for 24 hours in the Le Mans event, and drive historic vintage models. Ideally, a Porsche.

When he gets out of the 718 RSK, we notice a TAG Heuer dial on his wrist. It was his sole gift for his 18th birthday. “They’re a real match!” he tells us about his watch and Porsche. He pauses for a beat, then carries on: “We often compare the engine of the 718 RSK to watchmaking, because there are a lot of gears in this engine. Whether in terms of their finesse, performance or singularity, the two are made for each other.” The Carrera Panamericana might have been short lived, but at the hands of this young driver – whether behind the wheel or around his wrist –  the Carrera spirit lives on.