Porsche has confirmed that it will enter the 24 hours of Le Mans and the World Endurance Championship in the GTE class with a factory team next year. The German sportscar maker will participate through its works team, Porsche AG Team Manthey and will race two (Type 991) 911 RSRs which are currently under development.
Porsche had previously announced that it would be entering the series in the LMP1 category in 2014. Porsche is not new to the sport and had previously participated in the famous race in 1998 racking up victories then.
The team will be headed by Olaf Manthey, a five times overall winner at the Nurburgring 24 Hours and man who has been racing Porsche sport cars in various guises for the last twenty-two years. Porsche has also said that the new race cars and return to Le Mans are a fitting tribute to the 911 range which will complete 50 years in 2013.
We suspect that at least some hybrid technology from the 918 Spyder will find its way into the racecars - this will have the dual purpose of furthering the racecars' performance, while providing the ultimate test bed for the hybrid components before they are put into production in 2014 for the 2015 918 Spyder road car.
Image courtesy: Motor Authority
