Porsche has paid tribute to the worldwide achievements of teams and drivers during the 2017 season at its “Night of Champions” motorsport gala in Weissach. The company also announced its plans for the next motorsport season.
Largest ever GT factory mission at Le Mans
Porsche plans to campaign four factory vehicles at the 86th running of the Le Mans 24 Hours. The two Porsche G
T Teams from the FIA WEC and the IMSA WeatherTech Championship each field two ca. 510 hp GT racers from Weissach. Gianmaria Bruni, Richard Lietz and Frédéric Makowiecki share the cockpit of the #91 car. In the number 92 vehicle are Kévin Estre, Michael Christensen and Laurens Vanthoor. Patrick Pilet, Nick Tandy and Earl Bamber will probably drive the number 93 car, while the #94 Porsche 911 RSR is for Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas and Sven Müller. With Bamber, Bernhard, Dumas and Tandy, a total of four outright Le Mans winners will compete as part of the Porsche works squad.
Porsche again fights for the world championship in 2018
In the 2018/2019 season, Porsche again sends its factory Porsche GT Team to contest the GTE-Pro class of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). Gianmaria Bruni and Richard Lietz in the #91 Porsche 911 RSR fight for the world championship, with Michael Christensen and Kévin Estre manning the #92 vehicle. In the GTE-Am class, a number of customer teams have applied for a starting spot with the 2017-spec 911 RSR. In total, Porsche has sold seven 911 RSR to customers for the WEC, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the European Le Mans Series.
Strong commitment in the USA
One of the most successful driver pairings in the IMSA WeatherTech Championship join forces again in 2018. Like in their 2015 championship winning year, Nick Tandy and Patrick Pilet share the cockpit of the 911 RSR with the starting number 911. In the #912 sister car, the two-time Le Mans overall winner Earl Bamber and the Intercontinental GT Challenge and Blancpain Series champion, Laurens Vanthoor, form a world-class driver duo.
911 GT3 R customer sport racer receives an upgrade
The successful 911 GT3 R customer racing model undergoes an upgrade for the 2018 GT3 season. The parts kit, which can be used to update all 2016 and 2017 models, includes amongst other things a new front lid for the optimization of thermal management and side flicks to improve the aerobalance.
Firm commitment to worldwide GT3 sport
At each round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge, the company lends its support to at least one local team in their 911 GT3 R pro-class campaign. The works driver trio Dirk Werner, Romain Dumas and Frédéric Makowiecki will contest all races and fight for the drivers’ championship. In the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup, the three also share the cockpit of a 911 GT3 R. This will participate at all races by Manthey Racing. In many other international and national GT series such as the European Le Mans Series, the Pirelli World Challenge, the Japanese Super GT series, the IMSA WeatherTech Championship (GTD class) and the Nürburgring Long Distance Championship, Porsche supports customer teams with engineers and drivers.
World champion Timo Bernhard contests the ADAC GT Masters
The reigning FIA WEC world champion and Le Mans winner makes his comeback into GT racing in the 2018 season. Joining forces with Kévin Estre, the owner of the racing team will contest the ADAC GT Masters with his own Team 75 Bernhard.
Nine 911 GT3 R tackle the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring
Nine 911 GT3 R are expected to line up at the Nürburgring to contest the ADAC 24-hour race. Five vehicles will be fielded by customer teams in the pro class, with four in the amateur class. Manthey Racing campaigns two vehicles manned by factory drivers. Sharing driving duties in the #911 Porsche 911 GT3 R are Earl Bamber, Laurens Vanthoor, Kévin Estre and Patrick Pilet. Taking up the race in the #912 car are Romain Dumas, Richard Lietz, Frédéric Makowiecki and Nick Tandy. A total of 13 Porsche works drivers and four Young Professionals will tackle the Eifel marathon on 12/13 May.
Porsche further expands its youth development programme
In the 2018 season, a total of four top young pilots will compete around the world as Porsche Young Professionals. After their successes in Porsche’s one-make cup series, Dennis Olsen and Matt Campbell have taken the next career step. Matteo Cairoli and Mathieu Jaminet also gave convincing performances in their first season as young professionals in GT racing and will continue to receive support in 2018.
Porsche also provides these pilots with training, which includes fitness tests. So far, Christina Nielsen from Denmark is the first driver to be chosen. The winner of the German E-Kart Championship (DEKM), held for the first time in 2018, can also benefit from a number of training programmes, which evolved into the Porsche youth development scheme. Porsche Motorsport will partner the innovative and particularly cost-effective DEKM from the very first race, while the karts, capable of reaching 130 km/h, will be fielded centrally to ensure a level playing field and to prevent runaway costs.
911 GT3 Cup sets a new record
The new 911 GT3 Cup, which celebrated its premiere in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, the Carrera Cup Deutschland as well as in North America in the 2017 season, will participate in the majority of Porsche’s 21 one-make cup series around the world in 2018. Up until spring 2018, a total of 339 units of the 485 hp one-make cup racer will roll off the assembly line at the company’s main facility in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen, which makes it the world’s top-selling sports car.
919 Hybrid goes on a worldwide farewell tour
The LMP Team will spend 2018 concentrating on its new mission: its successful entry into Formula E. The start takes place in season six, beginning at the end of 2019. Until then, the team will design, develop and test a complete powertrain. The first test drives with the new Formula E race car from Porsche will happen in early 2019.
A second field of activity will be the operational implementation of a farewell tour for the three-time Le Mans winning Porsche 919 Hybrid car. Outside the events of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and thus outside the regulations of usable energy amounts, the innovative race car will appear at many individual events throughout the year. There will be a precise programme early in 2018. At the end of 2018, the era of the ca. 900 hp hybrid prototype will come to a close, while the 919 will then make its last trip to the Porsche Museum.
Porsche Cup: Christian Ried is the most successful private driver of 2017
This year’s winner of the Porsche Cup, the trophy for the world’s most successful private Porsche driver, goes to Christian Ried (38). The racing driver/owner of the Dempsey Proton Racing squad received the trophy by Dr Wolfgang Porsche, the Chairman of the Supervisory Board at Porsche AG. In addition, Ried takes home a car of the brand with a value of 120,000 Euro. Thanks to his successes in the FIA WEC and the European Le Mans Series, he earned 8,700 points over the past season at the wheel of the Porsche 911 RSR. Second-placed Robert Renauer, last year’s Porsche Cup recipient, can look forward to prize money totalling 30,000 Euros. For third place, Switzerland’s Daniel Allemann wins 25,000 Euro. The Porsche Cup has been awarded since 1970 and is based on an idea of Ferry Porsche.
