Porsche 911 GT3 R wins LMGT3 debut at Le Mans

In the Hypercar class, Porsche Penske Motorsport’s no. 6 finished fourth overall. Top ranked 963. No. 5 The sister car and two hybrid prototypes fielded by the Hertz Team Jota customer group took the top spot. 10.

Wild weather characterized the 92nd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. A record crowd of 329,000 witnessed this year’s Endurance Classic. Charal Rami, the race director stopped the safety cars and neutralized the field. More rain with about two hours left on the clock and the final moments of the race pushed the battle for glory to a climax. Thanks to the right strategy and strong driving performance, Austria’s Richard Leitz, Dutchman Morris Schuring and Australia’s Yasser Shahin crossed the finish line without major incident in the LMGT3 class. After 24 hours, Manthey EMA’s 911 GT3 R took a lap lead over its hottest pursuers. The sister vehicle fielded by Manthey PureRxcing topped the new GT3 class for the first half of the race, but eventually finished 14th after a technical issue.

„Being the first manufacturer to win at Le Mans with a GT3 race car is a unique story that no one can take away from us,” says Sebastian Coles, project manager for the Porsche 911 GT3 R. „This is the chapter we wrote. The collaboration with all our colleagues at Weissach. It is for us It was a new challenge. Congratulations to the EMA team. Things went really well for us in the World Championship standings. It’s a shame that the 911 R has technical problems. Now, let’s look at that data It’s time to go for the World Championship.

„I am delighted with Manthey EMA’s class win in the LMGT3 class,” reflects Thomas Lautenbach. Vice President Porsche Motorsport adds: „With this win, Porsche has further confirmed itself at the top of the GT3 classification in the WEC. Huge congratulations to the Eiffel team. It’s a huge win for Porsche! In light of the overall standings, I would first like to congratulate Ferrari on their second consecutive Le Mans victory. Top Class It was a very close battle. We saw a lot of wheel-to-wheel duels and then there was no doubt that it was a treat for the fans. We were hoping for a fourth place first, then the data Let’s get down to the analysis, because one thing is clear: Porsche is competing to win at Le Mans.

Polesitter Kévin Estre of France, André Lotterer of Germany and Laurens Vanthoor of Belgium battled to the finish in the No. 6 car. At the flag, the best-running Porsche 963 was third by just 1.167 seconds. The sister car shared by Australian Matt Campbell, Denmark’s Michael Christensen and Frenchman Frederik Makovicky lost contact with the leading pack late in the night, the No. 5 finally finished sixth. For the No. 4 entry, the dream of a Le Mans victory was dashed at 9:15 a.m. on Sunday. Brazilian Felipe Nasr slid sideways into the barriers near the Indianapolis bends, forcing the car to retire. Earlier, France’s Nasr and his teammates Mathieu Jaminet and Great Britain’s Nick Tandy dropped back after multiple penalties and a repair stop due to a shunt with another driver.

„Congratulations to Ferrari and our team: we were so close to a big win,” says Urs Kuratle, Director of Factory Motorsport LMDh. „Today we have to admit that we were not completely error-free. We missed the podium by a few meters. Our Porsche 963 was capable; our drivers and the whole team did an exemplary job. I want to thank them for that. We will be back next year.

„A very rainy 24 Hours of Le Mans has come to an end,” said Jonathan Duguid, Managing Director of Porsche Penske Motorsport. „Our No. 6 and No. 5 cars pulled out all the stops in the last four hours. Our team pushed the strategic limits to the edge when it came to tire choice. We challenged Ferrari and Toyota for victory. We wanted to finish fourth for our number 6. However, things went better than last year: our team was able to secure a lot of points towards the World Endurance Championship.

With these results, Porsche has secured its top spot in the FIA ​​WEC Manufacturers’ Championship. On July 14 in São Paulo (Brazil), the drivers’ teams of the first and fifth-placed No. 6 and No. 5 race cars head into the fifth round of the season. In the LMGT3 Championship, Le Mans class winners Lietz, Schuring and Shahin have moved up to first in their class. Their brand and team-mates Austria’s Klaus Bachler, Germany’s Joel Sturm and England’s Alex Malikin are three points behind in third.

Bad luck struck two customer teams, Hertz Team Jota and Proton Competition with their Porsche 963 cars. British team no. 12 inspired the entry and eventually finished eighth overall. After the crash in Wednesday’s final practice session, the vehicle underwent a complete rebuild. Former Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button drove the no. The 38 sister car finished the race in ninth place after several penalties. Proton competition no. The 99 entry suffered some technical issues and eventually finished the race in 16th place.

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Nicholas Rader (managing director of Manthe): “This is Manthey’s fifth Le Mans class win after 1999, 2013, 2018 and 2022. It was very tiring but as always it was a great event and a great honour. When Wolfgang Porsche came to greet me, that’s when the tears started. The decisive factor is the combination of drivers, engineers and mechanics – the entire team. Many believe that success depends on a certain factor. But the whole team makes it happen.

Morris Schuring (Porsche 911 GT3 R #91): „It was a dream come true for me! I was 19 years old, so I didn’t even dare to think about winning a class at my first Le Mans start! I think we drove an almost flawless race with my teammates and the Mante team. No mistakes, no penalties and always the right tyre. The test – it feels like a textbook example of a successful 24-hour race and we can be proud of that.”

Kevin Estre (Porsche 963 #6): „Fourth place and missing out on the podium by one second – it wasn’t the result we were aiming for. We won and drove a good race with just one mistake in the tire choice in the early stages. As we fought to regain the order, in the end we couldn’t find the pace we needed to be in contention for the overall win. .We need to keep learning and come back stronger next year.

Michael Christensen (Porsche 963 #5): „It was a tough race. We made a lot of good strategic decisions, but at the midway mark we made a bad mistake. We stayed too long on slicks when there was a lot of water on the track. At the same time, we have to recognize how strong our competitors are. Our performance was better than last year. It was great, but there are still some areas that need to be improved.

Nick Tandy (Porsche 963 #4): „The morning crash brought a difficult race to an abrupt end for us. From the start, our No. 4 was plagued by penalties, mistakes and contacts – totally unusual for us. I don’t blame my team-mate Felipe Nasr. Anyone driving cold slick tires on a wet track will soon fly away. The crash is not unusual. We are very disappointed that Le Mans 2024 has come to an end. We are now looking forward to the next weekend’s IMSA race at Watkins Glen.

Will Stevens (Porsche 963 #12): „There are two sides to the coin of this result. If someone had offered us on Saturday – to finish the race on the lead lap and without technical problems – we would have accepted without hesitation. On the other hand, we didn’t come here to finish eighth. We had problems with our race pace. Wednesday’s accident was a big setback. Big for the whole team. congratulations. „

Jenson Button (Porsche 963 #38): „It was one of the toughest races I’ve driven in these conditions! It was really brutal out there; I kept pushing the car to the absolute limit and couldn’t rest for a second. It’s very tiring to maintain concentration for so long. The result was not what we expected. But we brought both cars home on the lead lap. We have brought it, it is something to be proud of.

The conclusion of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2024

Hypercar Class:
1. Fuoco/Molina/Nielsen (I/E/DK), Ferrari #50, 311 laps
2. De Vries/Kobayashi/Lopez (NL/J/ARG), Toyota #7, -14.221s
3. Calado/Giovinazzi/Pier Guidi (UK/I/I), Ferrari #51, -36.730 seconds
4. Estre/Lotterer/Vanthoor (F/D/B), Porsche 963 #6, -37.897 seconds
6. Campbell/Christensen/Makowicki (AUS/DK/F), Porsche 963 #5, -1:45.654 minutes
8. Ilott/Nato/Stevens (UK/F/UK), Porsche 963 #12, 311 laps, -3:02.691 minutes
9. Button/Hanson/Rasmussen (UK/UK/TK), Porsche 963 #38, -3:36.756 mins
16. Andlauer/Jani/Tincknell (F/CH/UK), Porsche 963 #99, -60 laps
Tnf. Jaminet/Nasr/Tandy (F/BR/UK), Porsche 963 #4, -100 laps

LMGT3 Class:
1. Lietz/Schuring/Shahin (A/NL/AUS), Porsche 911 GT3 R #91, 281 laps
2. Farfus/Kalel/Leung (BR/IDN/UK), BMW #31, -1 lap
3. Olsen/Pederson/Roda (N/DK/I), Ford #88, -1 lap
14. Bachler/Malykhin/Sturm (A/UK/D), Porsche 911 GT3 R #92, -8 laps

All results and championship standings Here.