Last in our series (at least for now) of Porsche RS Spyder chassis features is 9R6-704. This chassis started life in the hands of New York-based Dyson Racing in IMSA competition. Dyson ran the car in 2007 and 2008. Drivers in 2007 as #16 were primarily Andy Wallace and Butch Leiztinger with guest appearances from Andy Lally for the longer races at Sebring and Petit LeMans. The 2008 schedule found Marino Franchitti taking over for Wallace with Leitzinger and guest Lally remaining as the car ran with #20.
The best result for the Dyson team was the second place overall at the 2008 12 Hours of Sebring. Other finishes flirted with the podium, but the team faced stiff competition from Audi for overall victories and Penske Racing for LMP2 class victories.
[Side note: Dyson also ran 9R6-705 in 2007 and 2008. It ran as the #20 in 2007 and #16 in 2008. The car suffered a crash at Lime Rock in 2008 which required a new tub. A tub that would have been chassis 713 is believed to have been used as a replacement for 9R6-705. The story of Dyson’s fraught race at Lime Rock which resulted in accidents for both Porsches and the very quick repair job to make the race in Mid-Ohio two weeks later is here. The new tub was flown in from Germany and delivered straight to the Mid-Ohio paddock on Wednesday before the race where the Dyson mechanics completely rebuilt the car. There is some confusion whether the rebuild was for 9R6-704 or 9R6-705, but the pieces appear to point to 9R6-705 as the chassis with the new tub.]
At the end of 2008, the car was sold to Greg Pickett and Muscle Milk Racing. Muscle Milk ran a partial schedule in 2008 with outings at Mid-Ohio, Road America, Petit LeMans and Laguna Seca. Greg Pickett and Klaus Graf split the duties at most of the races with Sascha Maassen driving at Petit LeMans.
2009 saw another partial season with five outings. 9R6-704 won the LMP2 class at the 12 Hours of Sebring and then claimed an overall victory at Lime Rock in the car’s last race in July. Pickett and Graf again did most of the 2009 driving with Maassen and Memo Gidley joining where needed.
As always, grateful thanks to Racingsportscars.com for full race results of each chassis. Link to 9R6-704 here.
At Rennsport Reunion IV at Laguna Seca, the car was on display with the Porsche Motorsport North America Vintage support program. Difficult to think of the RS Spyder as “vintage”, but in 2011 it was several years removed from active motorsport competition and cars were in customer hands. 9R6-704 did not run at Rennsport IV, but was on display only.
The car found its way to Bruce Canepa’s hands and he listed it for sale in mid-2014 – the listing is gone, but a large photo album is still on Canepa’s website. (The original listing is replicated here on Flatsixes.com.) It moved to the Gunnar Racing stable in mid-2015, just in time for the Porsche Rennsport Reunion V at Laguna Seca in September 2015.
Gunnar Jeannette drove the car and showed very competitive pace in qualifying before a wiring harness problem intervened and prevented the car from making the race.
The photos are a mix from Rennsport Reunion IV and V. Enjoy!
The new Porsche 9R6-709 ran at the March 2008 test at Paul Ricard before making its race debut in April at the 1000km of Catalunya. It finished 9th over all and 3rd in class. (The Van Merksteijn Porsche RS Spyder 9R6-708 won in LMP2 class.)
Later in April 2008, the team claimed its first win at the 1000km of Monza with a win in LMP2 class and an eighth overall. The 1000km of Spa saw a third in class with another eighth overall finish.
All of the prior running led to the 24 Hours of LeMans in June 2008. The team added driver Sascha Maassen for the endurance event. The car finished second in class (again to the Van Merksteijn RS Spyder) with a 7 lap deficit and 12th overall. The 2008 campaign finished out at the Nurburgring (3rd in class and 10th overall) and Silverstone (5th in class and 12th overall).
In September 2008, the team announced that it was ending all motorsport activities. Essex was apparently involved in the property investment business and presumably the financial credit crisis was requiring attention elsewhere.
However, the team returned for a LeMans run in 2009. The driving team was comprised of Emmanuel Collard, Caspar Elgaard and fellow Dane Kristian Poulsen. A class win in the lead-up at the Spa 1000km was followed by a class win and 10th overall finish at the 24 Hours of LeMans. Fans used to seeing the traditional blue needed to adjust to the new green and white livery which ran at LeMans in recognition of the partnership with Michelin to raise awareness of the new “Green Challenge”. LeMans was the last competitive outing for the car. While it ran in blue for most of its life, it remains in the green and white colors of the 2009 LeMans class win. Results data courtesy of 
The #31 2007 Porsche RS Spyder 9R6-709 appeared at Porsche Rennsport Reunion V at Laguna Seca in September 2015. The car is part of David MacNeil’s collection and was driven at the event by son and IMSA GT driver Cooper MacNeil. Cooper wheeled the car to a 
It ran 10 races in 2008 with success. It won overall in Salt Lake, but also claimed wins and podiums in the LMP2 class. It won in class in its debut at the St. Petersburg, Fl. street course and then again at Mid-Ohio, claimed 2nd in class at Long Beach, Lime Rock, Road America, and Petit LeMans (Road Atlanta). It finished third at Laguna Seca, fourth in Detroit, and sixth at Mosport. Credit and much thanks to 
After its competition life, 9R6-710 became one of the few RS Spyders to be retained by the factory. It lives most often in the Porsche factory museum in Stuttgart, but does get out to see the public periodically. In 2014, the car made an appearance at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and in 2015, the car was among the group that the factory brought from the museum to Rennsport Reunion V.
9R6-710 did not run at speed with any of the race groups at Rennsport, but did participate in the parade. Thanks much to Klaus Bischof and the team at Porsche for bringing the car to the event. Enjoy the pics.
Time for another set of photos featuring one of the Porsche RS Spyders at Rennsport Reunion V. This time, our feature car is 9R6-711. As far as I can tell, this car had no competition history. It was built in 2007 and served as a backup car for Swiss Horag Racing in 2008 (primary car was 9R6 707). 
It was driven at Rennsport Reunion IV at Laguna Seca in 2011, entered by Doran Racing and driven by Fredy Leinhard. Doran and Leinhard have a long history together. In June 2014, the car was acquired by Christian Zugel with support by Gunnar Racing. 
At Rennsport Reunion V, 9R6 708 shared paddock space with other goodies from Gunnar Racing – including three other RS Spyders. With all that as prelude, enjoy the pics of 9R6 708 at Rennsport Reunion V! Thanks to Bruce Canepa, Dan Curry and Gunnar Racing for taking good care of her and sharing her with the world.
If you want to see the driver’s eye view that Bleekemolen had at the wheel of the Porsche RS Spyder, check out the 14 minutes of fantastic video 
Rennphoto.net 