Porsche 911 GT3 R tops world's endurance series

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Dec 20

In the 2024 motor racing year, customer teams worldwide raced the Porsche 911 GT3 R at around 350 selected GT3 races and championship rounds. This resulted in over 20 overall victories, approximately 60 class wins and more than 150 podium finishes. The Porsche 911 GT3 R did set the benchmark in the world’s most distinguished endurance racing series:

Manthey in the FIA World Endurance Championship WEC (LMGT3 class),
AO Racing in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (GTD Pro category),
Manufacturers’ title for Porsche in the Intercontinental GT Challenge,
Nürburgring Endurance Series Speed Trophy.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Lusail and Watkins Glen: #92 Manthey PureRxcing's Porsche 911GT3 R #92 won FIA WEC LMGT3 and AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R won IMSA GTD PRO

GTD PRO in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD PRO

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Indianapolis: GTD Pro victory at Indianapolis for #77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R.

In the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the Porsche 911 GT3 R fielded by the customer team AO Racing took centre stage from the very start of the season. At the opening round in Daytona, the team made its intentions clear with second place in class. This was followed by three GTD Pro victories at Laguna Seca, Detroit and Indianapolis plus another podium finish at Mosport in Canada – enough to win all three titles in the GTD Pro category, in which AO Racing outperformed numerous works teams.

📷 © Luc Warnotte: AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R at Daytona, Sebring, The Glen and Road Atlanta.

“This is the greatest success of my career to date,” grinned Laurin Heinrich after the thrilling finale at Road Atlanta: at 23 years old, the former Porsche Junior has become the youngest IMSA champion ever. It wasn’t just the up-and-coming driver from the Porsche squad who entertained spectators: his nine-eleven dubbed ‘Rexy’ was another fan favourite. The distinctive bright green dinosaur livery, strong marketing strategy and captivating appearance attracted many families with young children to IMSA racetracks for the first time. ‘Rexy’ has become an integral part of the paddocks in North America. Source: Porsche

LMGT3 in World Endurance Championship

📷 © Luc Warnotte at bahrain. Manthey PureRxcing’s #92 and Manthey EMA’s 911 GT3 R #91.

The new LMGT3 class made its World Endurance Championship debut in the 2024 season. The two 911 GT3 R race cars fielded by Manthey successfully held their own against fierce competition from nine sports car brands. They clinched the manufacturers’ title for Porsche, as well as first and second place overall for the two Manthey crews and their drivers.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Lusail. Klaus Bachler, Joel Sturm and Alex Malykhin with Manthey PureRxcing’s #92 won LMGT3 class at Qatar 1812.

Klaus Bachler, Joel Sturm and Alex Malykhin scored class victories in Qatar and São Paulo. In the other six races of the season, the trio in Manthey PureRxcing’s #92 car finished on the LMGT3 podium four times and took home an early title at the penultimate event of the year.

📷 © Luc Warnotte: Klaus Bachler, Joel Sturm and Alex Malykhin with Manthey PureRxcing’s #92 at Austin, Francorchamps and Imola.

In Manthey EMA’s 911 GT3 R, Richard Lietz, Morris Schuring and Yasser Shahin celebrated class victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 6-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps. The #91 crew wrapped up the debut season of the new LMGT3 class in the FIA WEC in second place.

📷 © Luc Warnotte: Manthey EMA’s 911 GT3 R #91 with Richard Lietz, Morris Schuring and Yasser Shahin at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 6-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps.

“Winning the title in the new LMGT3 class of the FIA WEC is hugely important to us,” says Sebastian Golz, Project Manager Porsche 911 GT3 R. “Our successes in the world championship are obviously among the highlights. Many more were achieved throughout the 2024 season: victory in the 12-hour race at Bathurst, manufacturers’ title in the Intercontinental GT Challenge, victories and championship triumphs in the GT World Challenge in America, Asia and Europe as well as in the Asian Le Mans Series. On top of that, the Porsche 911 GT3 R has clinched six overall victories in eight races of the Nürburgring Endurance Series and won the GTD Pro class in IMSA.” Source: Porsche

Customers help Porsche win the “unofficial GT3 World Championship”

Wright Motorsports team with #120 Porsche 911 GT3 R won the finale of the Intercontinental GT Challenge in the “Racing Capital of the World” in Indianapolis securing victory of the manufacturers’ title in the “unofficial GT3 World Championship.” by Porsche.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Indianapolis. Wright Motorsports team with #120 Porsche 911 GT3 R won the finale of the Intercontinental GT Challenge.

In the GT World Challenge America, Wright Motorsports scooped the title pool with American drivers Elliott Skeer and Adam Adelson. In the Asian equivalent, Bo/Hongli and Xu/Picariello took home crowns in the Silver Classification and the Pro-Am category. The Porsche 911 GT3 R also claimed race wins in the GT World Challenge Europe and the DTM in the 2024 season. PureRxcing won the Asian Le Mans Series, while the Iron Dames achieved a class victory in the European Le Mans Series in Imola, Italy. In the GT World Challenge Europe, Rutronik Racing claimed its first sprint victory with the 911GT3 R. Former Porsche Junior Ayhancan Güven provided another highlight: the Turkish driver won the GT race at the 2024 FIA Motorsport Games at the wheel of the 911 GT3 R. He also clinched titles in the Asian Le Mans Series and the 24h Series.

Five wins by Falken Motorsport in Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS)

Porsche traditionally uses the Nürburgring-Nordschleife as a test track for the development of their road-going cars. It also proved to be fruitful turf for the sports car manufacturer’s customer teams. The Falken Motorsport and Manthey EMA teams achieved six overall victories in eight endurance races in the 2024 season of the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS). Five of these went to Falken Motorsport. The reward for their outstanding efforts was the NLS Speed Trophy. At the season highlight in the “Green Hell”, the 24-hour race, the “Grello” nine-eleven fielded by record-winner Manthey missed out on victory by just 0.603 seconds. “This result defines our goal for the coming year: we want to win the Eifel classic with one of our customer teams in 2025,” explains Sebastian Golz.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Nürburgring. After the withdrawal of “the Grello” Porsche 911 GT3 R following the an explosion in the paddock causing serious injuries, a downpour of rain eliminated eight of the top SP9 contenders in a multi-car crash during NLS 4. Among them Falken Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 Rs of Nico Menzel (#4) and Alex Lynn’s #3 Falken Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R.