Porsche heeft Mini’s aanbod om een 911 Carrera S versus een Mini Cooper S volgende week te laten racen op Road Atlanta geweigerd. Porsche Cars North America president Detlev Von Platen legt uit waarom.

Mini daagde eerder deze week Porsche uit voor een race in de hoop meer media aandacht te genereren. Porsche twijfelde om in te gaan op het aanbod, maar vanwege de ‘kinderlijkheid’ hebben ze alsnog geweigerd.

Hieronder Detlev Von Platen’s mail aan Mini USA’s chef Jim McDowell.

“Dear Jim,

Imagine our surprise to discover our former employee, now the head of Mini, has challenged us to a head-to-head race. As you surely know, Porsche has a long history of racing success, with more than 28,000 wins over the last 60 years. In our early days, we pitted ourselves against the giants, so we’ve been in your shoes.

But as you also know, Porsche doesn’t race for fame, stunts or publicity. We race to challenge ourselves; we race to push sports car technology; we race to translate every win on the track to our cars on the road. If you need a reminder of our intent, please take a look at this short video:

While your challenge seems like a fun and lighthearted campaign, we’ll stick to racing the way we have over the decades. We welcome you at Sebring, Le Mans, Daytona or any other sanctioned race where there is more at stake than T-shirts and valet parking spaces. We also invite you to any of the thousands of tracks around the world where Porsche owners compete each weekend.

Good luck with your race at Road Atlanta on June 21; we hope you enjoy the day.

Sincerely,
Detlev Von Platen
President and CEO, Porsche Cars North America”