Stephane Ortelli has driven some amazing cars over the course of his diverse sports car career – Porsche 911 GT1, Audi R8, Bentley EXP Speed 8, Aston Martin DBR9 and the Courage C60, to name just a few.
He’s raced at Spa, Nurburgring and Bathurst, but the biggest moment of his career came in 1998 when he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans, sharing his Porsche with Allan McNish and Laurent Aiello. The Monaco native (not a transplant like so many fellow racing drivers) still works with Porsche these days, as something of a brand ambassador, driving a wide array of the company’s models; including some of his former track machines.
When he was in Australia to shoot a short film with Mark Webber and the 911 Dakar, Torquecafe asked Ortelli what his ideal three-car garage would be…
VIDEO: Mark Webber and Stephane Ortelli hit the outback in the Porsche 911 Dakar
Daily driver: 2024 Porsche 911 S/T
The fact he chooses a Porsche is no surprise, but his preference is telling. While he may be getting older, Ortelli is still a driving purist at heart, so he wants the most dynamic and engaging version of the 911 currently available.
“I would say, turning 53, the one I really want is the S/T,” he said. “Firstly, it’s an extreme car, the bottom of the car is magic while the speed is over 500hp – with a flat-six, you can’t have better than that. Also, it’s a classic design and it has a seven-speed H-pattern gearbox.”
Fast, classic, manual – hard to argue with that choice.
READ MORE: Porsche 911 S/T is a racing throwback
Something special: 1972 Land Rover Commando 88
His weekend ‘fun car’ is a genuine surprise, but it is in keeping with Ortelli’s love of cars that are analogue rather than digital. A former British Army Land Rover is the definition of an analogue vehicle, with a focus on simplicity and capability ahead of anything else, which is why Ortelli loves it. Ortelli’s Landie began life serving the British Army in Berlin during the Cold War, but these days it lives a more leisurely life.
“I have a fun car at home,” he admitted. “I have a Land Rover Commando 88 from 1972 which I bought in 2007 for the mountain house. [For] the mountain roads it’s perfect. When I ski, I put the skis in; when I mountain bike I put the mountain bike in.”
Track toy: 1998 Porsche 911 GT1-98
Despite having driven so many different cars across his career, it makes perfect sense that Ortelli’s Dream Garage would include the car that took him to his Le Mans victory. The 911 GT1-98 was a stunning looking machine but its Le Mans win was its crowning achievement in what was ultimately a short lifespan of just a single season of factory-backed racing.
But Ortelli’s not just looking back through rose-coloured glasses, decades after last driving it. He’s recently spent plenty of time behind the wheel of the 911 GT1-98 at Porsche events on the snow in the USA and driving up the Austrian Alps.
“It can drive anywhere,” Ortelli said.
He explained: “To be honest, we put this car 2000m high at the mountain top, the famous Austrian roads, out near Zell am See, the roads where they tell me the 911 has been imagined by Ferdinand Porsche there. So for the 60th anniversary we bring this car up there and I drove it downhill and uphill.”
The 911 GT1-98 was the last Porsche prototype based loosely on the 911 road car, but with every element taken to its most extreme level.
“It’s not only the memory,” he said. “It’s extreme. It’s magic. The sound, the speed. You have no traction control or anything like that, so you have to trust the car, we put some rain tyres on and drove on the road. So if I have to choose something, it has to be this one.”
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