Hollywood actor and TV star Patrick Dempsey is again racing Porsches once more, however thanks the Ferrari film for relighting his motorsport hearth.
Whereas many know him greatest for taking part in ‘McDreamy’ in TV’s smash hit Gray’s Anatomy, it was Patrick Dempsey’s good movement image portrayal of Italian racing ace Piero Taruffi in Michael Mann’s Enzo Ferrari biopic that acquired his aggressive juices flowing once more.
Dempsey’s real-life racing previous included him scaling “his Everest” by standing on the rostrum of the world-famous 24 Hours of Le Mans in France, ending second for Porsche within the GTE-Am class. However after the 2015 season, by which he each drove and ran a crew within the World Endurance Championship, his household life demanded that he returned to taking part in the function of ‘Dad’.
Now, together with his youngsters grown up, and the age of 60 approaching, he climbed again behind the wheel of a racecar in 2024, contesting Porsche’s buyer racing collection in a 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport, and starred in a fly-on-the-wall documentary collection on Hagerty’s YouTube channel.
“As a result of I did all of the driving in Ferrari, I actually forgot how a lot I missed it and the way a lot I actually wanted it,” says Dempsey, who speaks to duPont REGISTRY straight after a follow session at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas. “Simply psychologically, there’s one thing about getting behind the wheel and driving it on the restrict. It’s simply actually cleaning for the soul and for the thoughts, and that basically type of acquired me going properly, you recognize, wouldn’t it’s good to get again right into a racecar?
“After 2015, I needed to be house for my youngsters on the sacrifice of racing, which was a full-time dedication. It was nice to be on the pinnacle of endurance racing, and successful the race in Fuji [the legendary racetrack in Japan] was like successful a championship for me, it was an unbelievable expertise. It’s exhausting to prime that.
“However you need to be disciplined, you need to sacrifice and quit some stuff, and it took an enormous toll on my household. Now, my youngsters are about to graduate highschool. My daughter’s by way of faculty and I’ve acquired a bit of bit extra free time to have the ability to get again into it. However the catalyst was definitely getting behind the wheel and driving these vehicles within the Ferrari film.”
One other step alongside the street was Dempsey taking up the problem of Mexico’s famed Carrera Panamericana in 2023: “I had such a good time doing the street race in Mexico, it jogged my memory of the Baja, besides you keep on the primary roads, and I simply actually wanted to strive it. And that was it, I hadn’t misplaced the eagerness. It’s part of who I’m, and I have to do it.”
Dempsey is an unabashed automobile fanatic, and his ever-expanding assortment is barely constrained by the house at his properties in Malibu and his native Maine.
And his love of Porsches runs deep, as we inquire what he presently owns: “I’m ready on the Dakar proper now. I’ve the R that I acquired in 2015. My 356 from 1963, a Coupe from 1964, a ’72 T that’s within the assortment, and I’ve acquired my little tractor too, the Junior.
“I’m presently doing driving the Turbo, which I actually love as a day by day driver. It’s improbable. I simply acquired my daughter the Macan, so she’s actually having fun with that automobile. And my spouse has the Targa, so we’re full-on Porsche household, and my boys love them too.”
The 356 has a backstory of its personal, because it was his dream automobile buy after showing in Can’t Purchase Me Love in 1987.
“I spent my entire paycheck on that automobile; I feel I acquired the automobile for $8000 or $9000,” he remembers. “In all probability the perfect funding I’ve ever had! You recognize, to at the present time it simply makes me smile, and it’s really easy to take care of. I’ve had lots of completely different manufacturers, lots of completely different vehicles, however there’s nothing like that. It’s unbelievable, and it’s been with me for over 30 years-plus now.”
So, what’s subsequent for Dempsey, on his Porsche racing odyssey?
“There’s a bunch of different races I’d love to do, just like the Mille Miglia, that’s a difficult race and I’d prefer to have that have – a few of these traditional occasions,” he muses. “We’re actually type of discussing what will likely be subsequent 12 months’s program.
“I like the Carrera Cup racing. I feel for those who’re entering into sport, if you are able to do it, that’s the perfect place to be. So, I’d like to do some Cup races as properly. It simply actually will depend on sponsorship, funding after which availability with scheduling, after which testing, that’s the necessary factor.
“I’m lucky sufficient to have the ability to have this chance, it’s simply the enjoyment of driving and competing, it’s simply unbelievable.”
This text appeared in our February 2025 Situation.
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