Stéphane Ortelli has driven some incredible cars during his diverse sports car career: Porsche 911 GT1, Audi R8, Bentley EXP Speed 8, Aston Martin DBR9 and Courage C60, to name a few.
He raced at Spa, the Nürburgring and Bathurst, but the highlight 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 other racing drivers) still works with Porsche today, as a brand ambassador, driving a wide range of the company’s models, including some of its 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 Stéphane Ortelli travel the backcountry in the Porsche 911 Dakar
Daily Driving: 2024 Porsche 911 S/T
The fact that he chose a Porsche is no surprise, but his preference is telling. Even as he ages, 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 that at 53, the car I really want is the S/T,” he said. “First of all, it’s an extreme car, the underside of the car is magical while the speed is over 500 hp – with a flat-six, you can’t get better than that. Plus, it’s a classic design and it has a seven-speed H-pattern gearbox.”
Fast, classic, manual – it’s hard to argue with this choice.
READ MORE: The Porsche 911 S/T is a Racing Throwback
Something special: 1972 Land Rover Commando 88
His weekend “fun car” is a surprise, but it fits in with Ortelli’s love of analogue rather than digital cars. A former British Army Land Rover is the very definition of an analogue vehicle, with an emphasis on simplicity and capability above all else, which is why Ortelli loves it. Ortelli’s Land Rover started life serving the British Army in Berlin during the Cold War, but it now lives a more sedate life.
“I have a nice car at home,” he admitted. “I have a 1972 Land Rover Commando 88 that I bought in 2007 for the mountain house. [For] “The mountain roads are perfect. When I ski, I put on the skis; when I mountain bike, I put on the mountain bike.”
Track Toy: Porsche 911 GT1-98 1998
While he raced many different cars throughout his career, it makes perfect sense that Ortelli’s Dream Garage would include the car that led to his Le Mans victory. The 911 GT1-98 was a stunning machine, but its Le Mans victory was the crowning achievement of what ultimately was a short life of a single factory-backed racing season.
But Ortelli isn’t content to look back with rose-colored glasses, decades after he last drove it. He’s recently spent plenty of time behind the wheel of the 911 GT1-98 at Porsche snow events in the United States and driving in the Austrian Alps.
“He can go anywhere,” Ortelli said.
He explained: “To be honest, we put this car at 2,000m, on top of a mountain, on the famous Austrian roads, near Zell am See, the roads where, I’m told, the 911 was designed by Ferdinand Porsche. So for the 60th anniversary, we took this car up there and I drove it up and down.”
The 911 GT1-98 was the final Porsche prototype loosely based on the 911 road car, but with every element pushed to its most extreme level.
“It’s not just the memory,” he said. “It’s extreme. It’s magical. The sound, the speed. There’s no traction control or anything like that, so you have to trust the car, we put rain tires on and we drove on the road. So if I have to pick something, it has to be that.”