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I think some people may be confused here. Porsche do race the 996. In fact, the 996 GT3 won their class at Le Mans in 2002 (beating BMW and Ferrari) and the preceding two years too so I think in that sense they are carrying on factory tradition. Some might argue that they don't race with the standard 996 engine but then again a 1970's Porsche 935 has just as little in common with a Porsche 911t of the same era so to say the company is just trading on past glories is being really unfair I think.
Yes, they are not represented in the top flight of endurance racing such as the prototype category but unlike every other manufacturer in F1 or sports prototypes, Porsche hasn't got a rich daddy paying for the racing unlike Fiat and Ferrari ($300m annual racing budget), VW and Audi ($100m racing budget) and the others. The Carrera GT will not race because it would be uncompetitive for an overall win so what's the point? Sports car racing is nothing like it was in the 70s when production based racers could fight for overall honours. It is far too specialised now so that even the most extreme road cars will not be able to be competitive - witness how Ferrari built but never raced the F50 GT1, Mclaren's F1 was uncompetitive a year after it's debut and even the Saleen S7 will never get an overall win in racing.
As for the warranty issue, I think the growth of track days and DE's recently have meant that the company just has to be prudent to protect itself from a new breed of buyers. Poseurs in Porsches have existed from the early days so don't blame the 996 for attracting these types of buyers. Besides, does that mean that anyone who doesn't track their Porsche is a poseur?? I think that label will stick to a lot of people on this thread....
As for racing the Cayenne - what's that all about??? rdvnac made a good point about the Mitsubishi Lancer if racing successfully automatically meant the road car is good.
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