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5 Feb 2013

Le Mans 2013 - Porsche confirms works 911 RSR entries

Porsche will enter two 991 RSR race cars in the 2013 Le Mans 24 Hours, their first works entry in the race since 1998. Their entry was confirmed on Friday.

The 2013 911 RSRs are being developed in-house by Porsche and will be entered under numbers 91 and 92, and will race in the GTE class alongside factory Ferrari 458 Italias, Corvette C6s and Aston Martin V8 Vantages.

Marc Lieb, Richard Lietz and Romain Dumas will contest the number 92 car whilst Joerg Mergmeister, Patrick Pilet and Timo Bernhard will race number 91.  The works team is entered under the name Porsche AG Team Manthey.

In addition to the 991 RSRs, customer teams will run 997 RSRs. IMSA Performance Matmut and Felbermayr Proton will field one 997 each whilst film and TV star Patrick Dempsey enters his own team, Dempsey Racing Proton.  Dempsey contested Le Mans in 2009.

Said Hartmut Kristen, Head of Porsche Motorsport, “We are very much looking forward to returning to Le Mans with a Porsche works team for the first time since 1998. The new 911 RSR performed well in earlier tests and is already proving extremely reliable on the track. Between them, our six drivers have scored eight class wins in Le Mans and have a great deal of experience with different 911 race cars. And our customer teams in the GTE-Am class are also well prepared for the 2013 season.”

The works entry in GTE comes ahead of a full works assault by Porsche in the 2014 Le Mans LMP1 class, where they will compete alongside VAG stablemates Audi, as well as Toyota.