Tennis Pros Take A Few Laps With Porsche Ace Mark Webber
Porsche celebrated their 40th Tennis Grand Prix by inviting a couple of pro racket handlers to ride along with the Le Mans winner
The first Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart was held in 1978 and was won by USA tennis legend Tracy Austin. Austin and current Australian tennis great Samantha Stosur were given the red carpet treatment in Germany with Porsche rolling out their Le Mans victor and brand ambassador Mark Webber to show the ladies a good time. Given a pair of brand new 911 GT3s, one red, one white, and an empty test track, the tennis pair were treated to driving instruction to get a feel for the track themselves, then they swapped seats with Webber for the ride of their lives.
Austin looked to be a bit frazzled when she exited the GT3's passenger door, but Stosur seemed slightly less worried by the process. Given the opportunity, we aren't sure how we'd fare, as we're hardly the best of passengers, especially on track. However, given Webber's track record, we might be a little more receptive to right seat ridealongs if he were driving. If you want to know what a lap of Porsche's test track looks like, check it out here.
We imagine that if Webber were particularly serious about improving his backhand swing, either of these pros could give him a couple pointers. They got to learn from one of the best drivers on the planet how to pilot a car around a race course, and turnabout is fair play. In both driving segments, Webber is using a PDK version of the GT3, so perhaps it's fair to say that these ladies were served an experience that they'll always love.