Watch This 82-Year-Old Grandma Flog a Porsche 991 GT3 RS at the Track
Sonja Heiniger isn’t your average grandma, as she uses her 991 GT3 RS to check the egos of young men on a regular basis.
Many of us spend a considerable amount of time on the track, pushing our cars to their very limits in an attempt to shave tenths of a second off our best lap time. Some of us are even what one might call skilled drivers, while others, well, not so much. But quite a few would be put to shame by an 82-year-old grandma named Sonja M. Heiniger, as we can see in this video from YouTuber MattyB727, in which Heiniger hot laps the Monza circuit in her Porsche 991 GT3 RS.
As one might expect, Heiniger isn’t your average grandma. In fact, she’s also no stranger to exotic cars, as the Swiss owner of an internet services firm has owned a grand total of four Lamborghinis in recent years, including a Gallardo Super Trofeo Stradale. She also regularly hits the track in her 991 GT3 RS, including at this recent Kunoschaer track day in Monza, Italy.
Heiniger has also participated in Porsche Club races in Zurich since 2005, becoming a regular sight for those in the paddocks. Over that time, she’s changed quite a few perceptions. Heiniger admits that she’s faced the typical cold shoulders from male drivers she’s passed out on the track, and if that isn’t enough, she’s also almost always the oldest competitor in every event she participates in, too.
As one might imagine, Heiniger’s husband used to compete alongside her but lost his passion for racing years ago. Now, she continues to do it solo, in Porsches she purchased with her own money. She’s also gotten quite good at it over the years, having entered her first race at the tender age of 18. And her preference has always remained with Porsche, having purchased her first one – a 993 Turbo – on the used car market many years ago.
Perhaps the most surprising thing about Heiniger’s story is that she’s been a regular on the track for decades, and yet, her presence still catches so many people by surprise. But then again, it isn’t every day you come across an 82-year-old grandma flogging her 991 GT3 RS on the track, destroying the egos of men a third of her age.
Join the Rennlist forums!
