Manthey – Syndication Server

United Autosports wins LMP2 while Porsche takes LMGT3 at Le Mans

Beyond the Hypercar headlines, the other two categories in the 2024 running of the Le Mans 24 Hours provided plenty of action for the fans trackside and at home. Inter Europol Competition made a valiant effort to defend its 2023 title in LMP2, but …

Beyond the Hypercar headlines, the other two categories in the 2024 running of the Le Mans 24 Hours provided plenty of action for the fans trackside and at home.

Inter Europol Competition made a valiant effort to defend its 2023 title in LMP2, but in the end, United Autosports’ No. 22 ORECA Gibson was just too strong in the closing hours.

Anchored by the experienced Oliver Jarvis, a previous winner, with two Le Mans rookies in Bijoy Garg and rising star Nolan Siegel, the team demonstrated its strength throughout the race. They put a stamp on it at the end with an 18.651s gap to the No. 34 Inter Europol entry of Jakub Smiechowski, Vladislav Lomko and Clement Novalak.

“It’s unbelievable! First time here, there was so much to learn, and I’m so lucky to have done it with such a great group of people,” said Siegel before Garg added: “This is the best moment of my life.”

United’s No. 22 was involved in a tangle early in the race and often struggled to separate itself from the main pack. It didn’t matter on Sunday afternoon — once the field was reset by the final safety car, a sprint race within the race broke out.

Blistering pace and strategic nous made the difference, with Oliver Jarvis enjoying a standout drive — setting the fastest race lap in the category– while Siegel looked every bit the emerging star he is and Garg enjoying a near-faultless performance in a field featuring a number of additional standout Silver-ranked drivers.

Tire choice at the end was particularly vital, but United’s gamble paid off en route to a second Le Mans 24 Hours LMP2 class win.

“It’s always an incredible feeling to be in Le Mans, but to be able to win it is an honor,” Jarvis said post-race.

“I was relieved to see the checkered flag. What a tough race. Just staying on the track was already an achievement. The conditions were so difficult. There were there were times when I wasn’t sure if we were going to win it, or stick it in the wall.

“Big thank you to my two teammates. They arrived here as rookies and they’re leaving as winners.

“United Autosport as always gave us a phenomenal car. They got everything right and we can be very proud of what we achieved today.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1416]

Behind the top two runners, the IDEC Sport ORECA completed the podium after spending almost the entire race firmly in the mix. Paul Lafargue, Reshad de Gerus and Job van Uitert could have won the race on another day.

Vector Sport and Nielsen Racing may have, too. Both British teams were impressive this weekend, but saw their chances of victory unravel gradually once night fell.

It was a similar story for the No. 183 AF Corse ORECA which won the Pro/Am division comfortably — by two laps — but looked capable of an even higher finish. Into Sunday morning the car led for large chunks of time and slipped out of the top three towards the end as Bronze-ranked Francois Perrodo finished off his drive time.

Nevertheless, a Pro/Am win is what AF Corse’s drivers came for, and they were rarely challenged in the second half of the race by the other seven cars in their division.

The No. 14 AO by TF ORECA — running in its “Spike The Dragon” livery — with its headline driver Louis Deletraz took second in the class with a sixth-place finish, while the DKR entry completed the sub-class podium.

There were countless incidents in LMP2 throughout the 24 hours, and so many wholesale changes to the running order as Bronze drivers completed stints in tricky conditions, rain showers caught pro drivers out and tire strategy became tough to manage.

There were, though, only a few retirements. The No. 45 Crowdstrike by APR No. 07 lost a wheel and stopped, the No. 30 Duqueine Team ORECA suffered an engine failure and the No. 9 Proton entry was abandoned with mechanical woes of its own.

Many contending cars ended up off the lead lap towards the end. The No. 37 COOL Racing ORECA, a pre-race favorite, was in the mix until an unexplained visit to the garage in the closing stages.

The No. 23 United Autosports ORECA featuring 2023 GTE Am winner Ben Keating also ended up losing precious time in pit lane after the Texan got stuck in the gravel at the Dunlop Bridge on Saturday evening.

Porsche’s Hypercar fleet may have failed to deliver a famous 20th overall win, but it wasn’t all bad news for the German manufacturer, which made history by winning the first-ever LMGT3 race at Le Mans with the Manthey EMA entry. JEP/Motorsport Images

Before the start many LMGT3 observers would have picked Pure Rxcing’s all-conquering 911 to deliver the goods this weekend, but it was the sister EMA entry of Yasser Shahin, Morris Schuring and Richard Lietz that would come out on top.

“It was so difficult this year, because I felt I was on slick tires in the wet or in mixed conditions all the time. It was a flat-out race, in which strategy was so important,” Lietz commented.

“At the end we were the chosen ones, the lucky ones, so I am thrilled to be here with Morris, Yasser and Manthey to win this for Porsche.”

After the first half of the race proved intense on a lap-to-lap basis, and particularly tricky to read, LMGT3 settled down into somewhat of a pattern in the final third, with the Manthey EMA Porsche and No. 31 WRT BMW M4 LMGT3 emerging as the two cars in contention for victory.

The pair swapped places multiple times in the run to the flag, but ultimately Lietz had the pace when it mattered and pulled away in his final stint.

It was, nevertheless, a hugely impressive run from Augusto Farfus, Darren Leung and Sean Geleal in the No. 31. Early on they struggled to feature when the weather first turned, but as the night hours approached and the second half of the race was in sight, the race came back to them.

A podium provided an extremely useful bundle of WEC championship points, but more importantly, served as a morale boost on an otherwise traumatic weekend for BMW and WRT in which both Hypercars and the No. 46 BMW M4 piloted by Valentino Rossi failed to make the finish.

Proton Competition was another team that will leave Le Mans thankful it claimed a podium finish. Its No. 99 963 had a torrid time in Hypercar and limped home, the No. 77 Mustang was crashed into and hit mechanical trouble, and its LMP2 ORECA retired with a loss of power.

Mechanical trouble for the Proton Competition #77 Mustang.

Watch live on https://t.co/IPZa0nvsLu.#WEC #LeMans24 pic.twitter.com/JrGIUl9aT2

— FIA World Endurance Championship (@FIAWEC) June 15, 2024

On the flip side, Proton’s No. 88 Ford Mustang of Giorgio Roda, Mikkel Pedersen and Dennis Olsen had a rollercoaster race but proved that the Blue Oval’s new challenger can stay reliable and fast in the toughest of conditions.

The No. 44 sister car impressed too, coming home fourth after a metronomic run on John Hartshorne’s final Le Mans start.

Iron Dames’ Lamborghini completed the top five with a solid performance, but Rahel Frey, Sarah Bovy and Michelle Gatting were aiming higher. Adding to what has been a brutal start to the WEC and ELMS seasons for the all-female-crewed team, they struggled to fully recover from being side-swiped by the No. 4 Penske Porsche in the early hours of the race on the Porsche Curves.

There were a number of other storylines to follow, both good and bad.

As a whole this was a hugely impressive outing for AKKODIS ASP and its pair of Lexus RC F LMGT3s. Following a tough start to life as a Lexus customer, Jerome Policand’s team were often in the mix for a podium through the first 16 hours.

United Autosports’ first effort at Le Mans as a McLaren partner team was also head-turning. It is clear that the British LMP2-winning team is making rapid progress with the LMGT3 EVO from the Woking marque. Both cars had pace and cycled into the top three at various points — suffering mechanical dramas and retiring late in the race is simply unfortunate.

Manthey Pure Rxcing and Heart of Racing also could have won come Sunday afternoon had they not hit trouble.

The Lithuanian Porsche crew that stood out firmly from the pack in the WEC races prior to Le Mans burned through most of Alex Malykhin’s Bronze driver time by nightfall. They’d built a lead before gearbox trouble dropped the car out of contention in the early hours.

Heart of Racing, meanwhile, missed out on a chance to score the 2024 Vantage AMR its first major endurance win when Daniel Mancinelli ended up on his roof at Indianapolis after going backwards into the tires at the kink at high speed.

What about Corvette, and its new Z06 LMGT3.Rs from TF Sport? Making the finish quickly became the aim as the pace wasn’t there.

Both Vettes made it to the line and achieved their target after suffering from various ailments, the highest place of the two being the No. 82 which finished 11th.

“We made it to the end, which is an amazing accomplishment,” reflected Daniel Juncadella.

“We lost the clutch six or seven hours in, so that was quite insane. I’m very happy with the result considering some of the difficulties today. We got behind by three laps but finished two laps back, so that is encouraging.

“All in all, it was a great first experience for me at Le Mans. I had a lot of driving in all conditions, and the Corvette handled very good. It actually got better throughout the race, and I’m quite happy with that. Thanks to TF Sport, the guys at GM Corvette Racing and Pratt Miller for all their work this week. It’s such a pleasure to be part of such a big program. I’m looking forward to many more.”

RESULTS

JOTA gains first privateer Hypercar victory in tumultuous Spa 6 Hours

Hertz Team JOTA scored a historic maiden overall WEC victory in the 2024 running of the FIA WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps Saturday, battling through a race that was red-flagged and extended after a major incident on the Kemmel Straight involving …

The red flag occurred four hours and 13 minutes in when Earl Bamber — driving the No. 2 Cadillac in a fight with the No. 99 Proton Porsche for third overall — hit the concrete wall on driver’s right hard after swiping the front of Sean Gelael’s No. 31 WRT BMW. The contact occurred as he moved across the track to get alongside the Porsche. This resulted in Bamber getting air while spinning after hitting the wall head-on.

Thankfully Cadillac and BMW quickly confirmed that Bamber and Gelael were OK after the violent incident, which also sent the BMW into the barriers on driver’s left.

“Great that Caddy built strong chassis, so it’s nice to walk away from that one,” Bamber said after the incident. “It’s a real shame for the result because I think we were on to something real good today. I think we had good strategy, good speed, so again we showed like in Qatar that if we have things go the right way we can definitely challenge for podiums in this championship. It’s good to realize that. Imola was just a bump on the radar performance-wise. Now we look forward to Le Mans.”

After nearly two hours of cleanup work and barrier repairs, the record crowd of more than 88,000 fans trackside was treated to more than an hour of intense racing. The safety car set up a thrilling sprint finish, in which Hertz Team JOTA stole the show a year on from its Hypercar debut at the same circuit.

The race simply fell into the hands of the British team’s No. 12 Porsche — and the No. 6 Porsche Penske 963 — as both pitted just before the red flag, giving the two a sizable lead when the race resumed — the rest of the field stopped either for emergency service under safety car and then again under green, or for fuel shortly after the race restarted.

As the red flag came out, Ferrari looked in control, with the No. 51 having risen to the lead in the fourth hour and the No. 50 second after a fight from the back of the grid. Like most of the field, they needed to pit both cars, which meant the chances of a 1-2 finish evaporated.

In the run to the flag, with the rest of the pack a minute behind, it became a duel between Callum Ilott and Kevin Estre. Estre was unable to catch Ilott and pass, despite the fact that the factory car had a full set of fresh tires for the final stint, while JOTA opted to change just the left side Michelins on its contender to gain track position. The No. 6 drivers still lead the championship standings heading into Le Mans, though, with a third consecutive top-three finish.

Ilott eventually crossed the line 12.3s in front, scoring JOTA its first WEC overall win, the first privateer win of the Hypercar era and the first privateer FIA WEC overall win since Rebellion’s LMP1 victory at CoTA in 2020.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1416]

“It’s great. It’s a year since we got the car and the team just do a fantastic job all the time. We got lucky, but you make your own luck. It’s a shame Norman [Nato, occupied with Formula E this weekend] isn’t here with us, but I couldn’t be happier,” said Will Stevens.

“We just executed at the end; everyone did an amazing job. What a day!” Ilott added.

Ferrari’s No. 50 499P — disqualified after qualifying — took the final spot on the podium after a strong recovery drive from the back of the field by Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen.

The sister car would come home fourth in yet another WEC race in which the Ferrari 499Ps had the pace and consistency to win but failed to do so.

Proton Competition’s No. 99 Porsche completed the top five after an astonishing performance from the German team.

The car held the lead at the halfway mark after Julien Andlauer stormed to the front in the opening stint. After Neel Jani handed over the driver’s seat, Andlauer added to his mesmeric effort by making a series of daring moves up the inside at Eau Rouge/Raidillon on an Alpine and both Toyotas to haul the car back into contention. Leaving the final result to one side, in many ways Proton was the more impressive privateer Porsche team at Spa.

The two Toyotas ended up a disappointing sixth and seventh, with the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari eighth.

Porsche wound up with double-success at Spa, with the Manthey Porsche LMGT3 team taking class honors as well. Motorsport Images

In LMGT3, a last-lap move at Les Combes decided the order of a 1-2 for Manthey and Porsche, when Richard Lietz dived up the inside of Klaus Bachler to score the EMA 911 its first win of the season. It also secured a double win for the German marque on the day.

That pass relegated championship leader Pure Rxcing and its new car to second place. It was nevertheless a remarkable performance from Alex Malykhin, Joel Sturm and Bachler after starting 10th following the team’s incident in qualifying that forced its crew to build up a new chassis overnight.

Heroic work was done after a dramatic moment that saw Iron Lynx’s Lamborghini take a splash of fuel at the start of the final lap from the lead, dropping the car to third.

“I had no information from the team; I thought maybe [the others] were struggling with tires,” race-winner Lietz said.

“It was only when I passed him (Klaus Bachler) that I was told that he was low on energy. I think our friends from the Italian side, the Lambos, they also had an issue with energy at the end, so I think the race restarted at the correct time for us. Some fuel saving some tyre management and at the end, some luck.”

Off the podium, the No. 85 Iron Dames Lamborghini, which started from pole and built a comfortable lead early on, took fourth. The team lost crucial seconds to a delay at its final stop and contact with the No. 7 Toyota at La Source.

Like Iron Lynx’s Huracan, United Autosports’ No. 92 McLaren GT3 EVO came achingly close to claiming its first win of the season. James Cottingham, Nicolas Costa and Gregoire Saucy were in the fight throughout after Cottingham’s strong start, often locked in a battle with the Iron Dames Lamborghini for the lead.

The way its strategy panned out, the red flag restart shuffled the pack significantly and forced the McLaren to pit for a splash with 10 minutes to go, dropping the car to fifth.

The red-flag incident wasn’t the only significant crash in the race, as the action was interrupted earlier on by a lengthy safety car in the second hour for barrier repairs after a three-car accident at Bruxelles.

Rene Rast in the No. 20 WRT BMW M Hybrid tagged Phil Hanson in the No. 38 Hertz Team JOTA Porsche, sending Hanson into Ahmad Al Harthy in the No. 46 WRT BMW, who was a passenger as the M4 was sent veering off the road and into the barriers.

The hit for Al Harthy was hard, the car retiring on the spot with heavy front-end damage. Hanson, meanwhile, after ending up backing into the tires, briefly got the car fired but was unable to get back into the race. The contact occurred because Hanson was lifting and coasting into the braking zone down the hill while overtaking the No. 46 BMW. Again, thankfully both drivers were OK.

Vincent Vosse, team principal of WRT, said he believed it was a racing incident, with “the cars in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

In general, the attrition rate was unusually high at Spa. Eight cars retired — the ones damaged in the two crashes, plus four others: the No. 95 United Autosports McLaren, gearbox oil leak; the pole-sitting No. 5 Penske Porsche, crashed out at Blanchimont while running third; the Lamborghini SC63, suspension failure; and the No. 81 TF Sport Corvette, withdrawn with a gearbox issue.

RESULTS

Porsche completes dominant day with WEC LMGT3 win in Qatar

The inaugural FIA WEC race for the LMGT3 class wasn’t quite the door-banging thriller that many of the teams expected before the lights went out, but it generated plenty of talking points after nine hours and 55 minutes of racing in Qatar. The No. …

The No. 92 Manthey Pure Rxcing Porsche 911 LMGT3 R 992 came across the line first after an engrossing battle with the Heart of Racing Aston Martin, adding to Porsche’s perfect day (along with the overall podium sweep). Alex Malykhin, Joel Sturm and Klaus Bachler were masterful and constructed a fault-free performance in the Lithuanian team’s FIA WEC debut.

The performance continued the team’s title-winning form from the Asian Le Mans Series over the winter and handed it an early championship lead heading into the European rounds of the championship. It also adds to the team’s remarkable journey since making its GT3 race debut in January 2023.

“It was tough. I’m really tired, but it was a fantastic result for us,” Bachler said after the race, in which Pure Rxcing became the first Lithuanian outfit to win in the WEC. “It was all about what Alex (Malykhin) did at the beginning with his pace. He is really strong for his category; he works so hard. We prepared ourselves in Asia and drove well together.

“We stayed out of trouble; we didn’t get penalties.”

The Porsche win should take nothing away from the Heart of Racing team, which powered to a well-earned podium for the 2024 Vantage AMR LMGT3 in its WEC debut and just its second race globally.

Ian James set up the run to second, completing his drive time early before Daniel Mancinelli and Alex Riberas completed the task, coming home just 4.8s behind the winning Porsche.

Third and a lap down from the top two winning Porsche was the No. 777 D’Station Aston Martin. The Japanese team’s new-look lineup delivered the goods and made it a double podium for the British brand.

Oh so close fto success or MotoGP star Valentino Rossi. JEP/Motorsport Images

The No. 777’s run in the closing stages with Marco Sorensen aboard denied the No. 46 WRT BMW M4 GT3 — and consequently MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi — a podium finish.

This was a race that ran almost entirely green, with no major incidents. As a result, the key to victory became the strategy surrounding Bronze driver time. Once they all completed their minimum time behind the wheel, the pecking order became clearer.

There were major differences in strategy as some teams opted to get it done quickly, while others rested their amateurs until the second half of the race. It played a part in preventing the race from becoming an out-and-out thriller, because the field ended up spread out after a few hours and only a handful of cars finished on the same lap.

Heart of Racing and the No. 46 BMW’s strong results were set up by iron-man efforts from Ian James and Ahmad Al Harthy early in the race. The pair were the first of the Bronze drivers to complete their mandatory time, allowing the pro drivers in their cars to fight their way to the finish.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1416]

Al Harthy’s 3h22m stint during the hottest part of the day was perhaps the most impressive. The Omani driver in his WRT debut stayed in the car for a full fourth stint, significantly longer than necessary.

“We had an option to keep me in the car for my entire driving time. They kept asking me how I was feeling,” he said. “I told them if it works for the strategy I will stay in.

“45m in I found out I had no water,” he added. “It was tough. Luckily I had pit stops when I could drink, but I was just motivated to do the best job for my team.”

Behind the No. 46, the No. 54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 — which spent a period of the race in the lead — took fifth, ahead of the No. 31 WRT BMW that finished 1m7s adrift in sixth.

Much attention was paid to the six new-for-2024 GT3 cars in the field this week, and the results were mixed across the entries from TF Sport, Heart of Racing, D’Station Racing and Proton Competition.

The clear standout once the race got underway was the new Aston Martin Vantage GT3. D’Station and Heart of Racing’s cars looked quick throughout and suffered no mechanical issues, making for a memorable debut for the car on the world stage.

TF Sport started strong with pole in the new Corvette, but it wasn’t to be after electrical gremlins reared an ugly head. Motorsport Images

The Corvettes and Fords, on the other hand, struggled to leave a strong first impression.

TF Sport turned heads by taking pole position with the Z06 LMGT3.R. But its level of optimism wouldn’t last long as the Hyperpole pace-setting No. 81 quickly lost the lead to the Pure Rxcing Porsche and eventually ran into a number of mechanical problems.

The first was a shifter issue that saw the car grind to a halt at pit-in, before it was eventually retired after 177 laps when the crew found damage to an electrical harness during the spring change in the garage. It was one of two cars in the class that failed to finish, the other being the No. 78 AKKODIS ASP Lexus.

“After the dream start to our WEC campaign with Tom getting pole in the brand new Corvette Z06 GT3.R, unfortunately, today didn’t go as planned,” factory driver Charlie Eastwood summarised.

“We had a great start to the race, but after ending up a few laps down, we thought it best – as we’re still new to this brand new car – to make a test out of the race itself.

“As we came in for a stop after my first stint, we realized that we had a problem with an electrical harness and had to retire the car. It was such a high yesterday, but it wasn’t the result we hoped for today. Imola is just around the corner, and I know we will come back strong.”

The team’s No. 82 crew thankfully produced a better outing, but Hiroshi Koizumi, Sebastien Baud and Daniel Juncadella were never in contention, finishing a distant 10th.

Proton, meanwhile, spent the entire buildup to the race and the race itself seemingly on the back foot. From the shipping delays before the Prologue to the event’s conclusion Saturday evening, the Mustangs were unable to claw their way to the front of the field.

A ninth-place finish for Dennis Olsen, Giorgio Roda and Mikkel Pedersen did at least score the team some points for all its efforts this week to get the cars prepped and racing.

The good news is that there were no major issues; the bad news is that the German team doesn’t yet look close to being at the sharp end.

Next up on the 2024 FIA WEC schedule is the 6 Hours of Imola on April 21st.

RESULTS

Manthey Porsche team announces WEC LMGT3 lineups

The driver lineups for the pair of Manthey-run Porsche 911 GT3 R 992s set to compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship’s new LMGT3 class in 2024 are now set. The No. 91 Porsche, which will run under the Manthey EMA banner, will be driven by …

The driver lineups for the pair of Manthey-run Porsche 911 GT3 R 992s set to compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship’s new LMGT3 class in 2024 are now set.

The No. 91 Porsche, which will run under the Manthey EMA banner, will be driven by Richard Lietz, Morris Schuring and Yasser Shahin, while the No. 92 entered under the Lithuanian flag for PureRxcing will be steered by Klaus Bachler, Alex Malykhin and Joel Sturm.

“After the years we spent together with Porsche in the FIA WEC, we are delighted to have found two strong partners in EMA Motorsport and Pure Rxcing to return to the series,” says Nicolas Raeder, the managing director of Manthey Racing GmbH. “Our goal is clear: we aim to build on our successes and compete for victories and the championship. With 18 cars, the new LMGT3 starting field promises thrilling races and a close championship battle.

“We are delighted to be part of the inaugural season of the LMGT3 in the WEC and look forward to seeing what this year has in store for us. I think our team is very well prepared and everyone is highly motivated and we hope to show that right from the start.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1416]

The No. 91 sees the DTM title-winning partnership between Manthey and EMA Motorsport continue and head to the world stage. The team hopes that the combination of Porsche works driver Lietz, Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup driver Schuring as well as two-time GT World Challenge Australia champion Shahin is a winning one.

It is notable that Shahin, whose family own the Bend Motorsport Park, has been confirmed in a Porsche. The two-time GT World Challenge Australia champion tested with United Autosports towards the end of last year for a McLaren drive. His decision to join Manthey will surely come as a disappointment to the Anglo-American team.

“I’m looking forward to contesting a WEC season,” says Shahin. “I’ve always enjoyed the endurance format and believe it offers the greatest challenge and opportunity for a driver. To compete in it with Manthey and Porsche is truly a privilege and a race driver’s dream. I’ve found an excellent fit with Manthey and the way they run a race team.

“Representing the Bend Motorsport Park and EMA Motorsport on the world stage will be fantastic. It won’t be easy though — the sheer volume of driving and stints in the WEC will be physically demanding. New tracks and a new tire add to the difficulty and challenge. But our WEC driver lineup is fantastic. We have a fabulous mix of speed and consistency.

“Richard is such an experienced endurance driver and Morris is coming off an outstanding season in the Carrera Cup. So I feel that our WEC driver lineup is extremely strong — we have excellent driver chemistry and everyone is looking forward to the start of the season.”

Meanwhile, Klaus Bachler, Alex Malykhin and Joel Sturm in the No. 92 is a familiar lineup. The trio have already competed together for the team in the 24 Hours of Spa and the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup. In addition to a class victory in the Sprint Cup by Alex Malykhin, they also won the overall GT World Challenge Europe Bronze Teams classification in 2023.

Malykhin and Sturm were also behind the wheel for Pure Rxcing in the overall victory of the Abu Dhabi Six Hours and in the Asian Le Mans Series. Porsche contract driver Klaus Bachler brings WEC and IMSA GT experience to the lineup.

The driver news from Manthey comes in the wake of D’Station Racing confirming a brand-new trio for its 2024 LMGT3 campaign with Aston Matin. Factory driver and three-time WEC champion, Marco Sørensen will lead the lineup and will be joined by a new pairing for the team for the races other than Le Mans: Frenchmen Erwan Bastard and Clément Mateu.

Mateu, the team’s Bronze driver, is set to compete at every round bar Le Mans. There, longtime D’Station driver Satoshi Hoshino will rejoin the team for a single race.

Porsche taps Manthey for 2024 WEC LMGT3

Porsche has revealed that it has chosen Manthey to run a pair of 911 GT3 R 992s in the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship season in the new LMGT3 category. The German marque says it selected Manthey, its German subsidiary, due to its previous …

Porsche has revealed that it has chosen Manthey to run a pair of 911 GT3 R 992s in the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship season in the new LMGT3 category.

The German marque says it selected Manthey, its German subsidiary, due to its previous successes competing in the WEC’s now-defunct GTE Pro class, which included three Le Mans class wins.

The Meuspath, Germany-based team, which was founded in 1996, also has seven overall Nürburgring 24 Hours victories to its name and currently competes with it in DTM. Since 2013, Porsche AG has also held a 51 percent share in the Manthey organization.

“We had huge interest from potential, strong operational teams. The decision wasn’t easy,” said Thomas Laudenbach, vice president of Porsche Motorsport. “However, since the grid spots are limited, we had to make this decision. Our choice fell on Manthey for a number of reasons.

“Besides the fact that it is a subsidiary, several other factors speak in favor of Manthey: The team is very familiar with the Porsche 911 GT3 R from DTM races and major endurance classics, among others.

“Moreover, Manthey is closely acquainted with the special characteristics of the FIA WEC thanks to many years of factory racing with the Porsche 911 RSR. Last but not least, Porsche’s successful history with the team is an important factor.

“Together with Manthey, we’ve won the world championship and clinched three class victories at Le Mans. We’re confident that we’ll be strongly represented in the new LMGT3 class next year.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1416]

Because the number of teams competing in Hypercar is set to grow significantly next season, the FIA WEC has limited the number of grid slots for each participating manufacturer to two. This will ensure the class is diverse.

With the new GT3-based class set to be oversubscribed, priority is being handed to manufacturers, like Porsche, which also competes in Hypercar. Each manufacturer granted spaces on the grid has also been handed the responsibility of selecting a team to run its program.

In addition to Porsche formally revealing that it has selected Manthey, Ford has signed up current Porsche Hypercar and GTP team Proton Competition and Corvette has struck a deal with longstanding Aston Martin customer TF Sport.

“The small number of allocated grid positions in the new LMGT3 field of the WEC doesn’t quite do justice to Porsche Motorsport’s broad-based approach to customer racing, unfortunately,” conceded Michael Dreiser, director of sales at Porsche Motorsport. “This year we have five to eight customer Porsches in the GT category alone. In addition, there are two 963 racers in the Hypercar class. We hope that the LMGT3 category will evolve well from 2024 and that we may be able to compete with more customer teams in the future.”

Manthey will reveal its LMGT3 team name and drivers at a later date.

“I’m proud that we can return to the FIA WEC Endurance Championship as an operational team and thus expand our GT3 program next year,” said Nicolas Raeder, managing director Manthey Racing GmbH. “We’ve already notched up successes in the WEC with Porsche and have a lot of experience and know-how regarding the tracks and procedures. The 2024 season will be exciting and I’m particularly pleased that we’ll be back at Le Mans.”