Attacking the Nürburgring In a Hand-Controlled Porsche 911 GT3 RS

No excuses. This man may not have use of his legs, but he still pushes his hand-controlled Porsche 911 GT3 RS to 140 mph on the track.

Every once in a while, you come across a video of a man pushing a car on a racetrack that is much more than a man pushing a car on a racetrack. The video you see here is one of those examples. This video shows a level of perseverance and courage that goes beyond just driving around the Nürburgring. If you skip to the middle of the video, you may not even notice what makes this so special. It seems like it is a driver in a GT3 RS racing around the most famous track in the world. And while that is exactly what is happening the driver and the car are a little bit different. The driver does not have use of his legs. The car he is driving is a hand-controlled Porsche 911 GT3 RS.

Misha Charoudin recently posted this video on his YouTube channel. And as you can clearly see, this is no slow and lazy parade lap around the course. There are times when the car approaches 140 mph. The throttle is controlled with a paddle around the steering wheel. It is operated by the driver’s palm. Brakes are controlled by a lever right next to the PDK shifter. It is a well-integrated setup that the driver is obviously quite comfortable with.

No Excuses

We don’t know much about the man driving the car in the video. What we do know is that he does not let the fact that he cannot use his legs keep him from doing what he loves. We can all take a lesson from him. Drivers are famous for making excuses. My tires were too worn, there was a headwind, the sun was in my eyes, and so on. And certainly, having to drive a hand-controlled Porsche could be used as an excuse for taking it easy. But not for this man. He is out there giving it his all and living his dream. He likely faces many obstacles in life but if this lap is any indication, he has no trouble overcoming every single one of them.

The Car

The man is an inspiration and that is the main point here. But let’s just take a moment to discuss the car. It is a 991.2 GT3 RS. One of the most potent track weapons you can find. And like all of the recent Porsche RS cars it comes only with the PDK transmission. That will make the conversion to hand-controls a bit easier. The PDK shift paddles remain behind the steering wheel. But in front of the wheel is a large paddle that acts as the accelerator. In the lap video you can see the driver comfortably operate both the shift and throttle paddles with his hands. The brakes are applied with a lever near the PDK shifter. It is a lot of work for the hands during a lap, but the driver has clearly done this many times before.

The Inspiration

Many of us hesitate to drive on the track for one reason or another. Even people that are lucky enough to have a GT3 RS prefer to keep it in the garage and maybe roll it out to a local cars and coffee once in a while. That is fine, it is your car, and you can enjoy it any way you like. But this man earns our respect for going out there and driving a GT3 RS the way it should be driven. Nothing is going to get in his way.

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Joe Kucinski

Joe has been obsessed with cars since he got his very first Matchbox toy in the ‘70s. In 2003, he found a new obsession in track days that led to obtaining his SCCA competition license in 2015. In 2019, he became a certified driving instructor for the National Auto Sport Association. His love for all things four wheels has never wavered, whether it's driving some of the best cars in the world on the racetrack, tackling 2,000-mile road trips in 2-seat sports cars or being winched off the side of a mountaintop in a Jeep. Writing for the suite of Internet Brands Auto Communities sites, including Rennlist.com, Ford Truck Enthusiasts, 6 Speed and more allows him to share that knowledge and passion with others.