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Porsche has been successful in many branches ofmotorsport of which most have been in long-distance races.
Despite their early involvement in motorsports being limited to supplying relatively small engines to racing underdogs up until the late 1960s, by the mid-1950s Porsche had already tasted moderate success in the realm ofsports car racing, most notably in theCarrera Panamericana andTarga Florio, classic races which were later used in the naming of streetcars.[citation needed] ThePorsche 917 of 1969 turned them into a powerhouse, winning in 1970 the first of over a dozen24 Hours of Le Mans, more than any other company. With the 911 Carrera RSR and thePorsche 935 Turbo, Porsche dominated the 1970s and even has beaten sports prototypes, a category in which Porsche entered the successful 936, 956, and 962 models.
Porsche is currently the world's largest race car manufacturer. In 2006, Porsche built 195 race cars for various international motor sports events, and in 2007 Porsche is expected to construct no fewer than 275 dedicated race cars (7RS Spyder LMP2 prototypes, 37 GT2 spec 911 GT3-RSRs, and 231 911 GT3 Cup vehicles).[1]
Porsche regards racing as an essential part of ongoingengineering development—it was traditionally very rare for factory-entered Porsche racing cars to appear at consecutive races in the same specification. Some aspect of the car almost invariably was being developed, whether for the future race programs or as proof of concept for future road cars.
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In the 1960s, Porsche grew into a major competitor in sports car racing, sometimes entering half a dozen cars which were soon sold to customers. Apart from the factory team, calling itself Porsche AG orPorsche System Engineering since 1961, Austrian-basedPorsche Salzburg was set up in 1969 as a second works team to share the workload, providing the much sought first overall win at Le Mans, in 1970.Martini Racing andJohn Wyer'sGulf Racing were other teams receiving factory support, allowing Zuffenhausen to focus on development, while the teams provided the sponsorship funds and manpower to be present and successful at many international races. In CanAm, Porsche cooperated withPenske, while inDeutsche Rennsportmeisterschaft, customers likeKremer Racing,Georg Loos andJoest Racing enjoyed various degrees of factory support. After appearing asMartini Porsche in the mid-1970s, the factory entered asRothmans Porsche in the mid-1980s.
Many Porsche race cars are run successfully by customer teams, financed, and run without any factory support; often they have beaten the factory itself.
Recently,996-generation 911 GT3s have dominated their class at Le Mans and similar endurance and GT races. The late 1990s saw the rise of racing success for Porsche withThe Racer's Group, a team owned byKevin Buckler in Northern California. In 2002, Buckler won the24 Hours of Daytona GT Class and the24 Hours of Le Mans GT Class. In 2003, a 911 run by The Racers Group (TRG) became the first GT Class vehicle since 1977 to take the overall24 Hours of Daytona victory. At the24h Nürburgring, factory-backedManthey Racing GT3 won since 2006. The team of Olaf Manthey, based at the Nürburgring, had entered the semi-works GT3-R in 1999.
As Porsche only had small capacity road and racing cars in the 1950s and 1960s, they scored many wins in their classes, and occasionally also overall victories against bigger cars, most notably winning theTarga Florio in 1956, 1959, 1960, 1964, and every year from 1966 to 1970 inprototypes that lacked horsepower relative to the competition, but which made up for that, with reliability, low drag, low weight and good handling.[citation needed]
In their September 2003 publication,Excellence magazine identifiedLake Underwood as Porsche'squiet giant in the United States[2] and he is among the four drivers, includingArt Bunker,Bob Holbert, andCharlie Wallace who are identified by the Porsche Club of America as having made Porsche a giant-killer in the US during the 1950s and early 1960s.[3] Notable early successes in the US also included an overall win in the 1963Road America 500 in an Elva Mark 7 Porsche powered sports racer driven byBill Wuesthoff andAugie Pabst.
Porsche started racing with lightweight, tuned derivatives of the356 road car, but rapidly moved on to campaigning dedicated racing cars, with the550,718, RS, and RSK models being the backbone of the company's racing programme through to the mid-1960s. The 90x series of cars in the 60s saw Porsche start to expand from class winners that stood a chance of overall wins in tougher races where endurance and handling mattered, to likely overall victors. Engines did not surpass the two litres mark until the rule-makers limited the capacity of the prototype class to 3 litres after 1967, as the four-litreFerrari P series and the seven-litreFord GT40 became too fast. Porsche first expanded its 8-cyl flat engine to 2.2 litres in the 907, then developed the908 with full three litres in 1968. Based on this 8-cyl flat engine and a loophole in the rules, the 4.5-litre flat 12917 was introduced in 1969, eventually expanded to five litres, and later even to 5.4 and turbocharged. Within a few years, Porsche with the 917 had grown from underdog to the supplier of the fastest (380 km/h at Le Mans) and most powerful (1580 hp in CanAm) race car in the world.[citation needed]
Even though introduced in 1963, and winning theRally Monte Carlo, thePorsche 911 classic (built until 1989) established its reputation in production-based road racing mainly in the 1970s.
Due to regulation restraints, the 911 was not used very much in the 1980s but returned in the 1990s as thePorsche 993, like the GT2 turbo model. The water-cooledPorsche 996 series became a success in racing after the GT3 variant was introduced in 1999.
ThePorsche 917 is considered one of the most iconic racing cars of all time and gave Porsche their first24 Hours of Le Mans wins, while open-top versions of it dominatedCan-Am racing. After dominating Group 4, 5, and 6 racing in the 1970s with the 911-based934 and935 customers cars and the factory-only prototype936, Porsche moved on to dominateGroup C andIMSAGTP in the 1980s with thePorsche 956/962C, one of the most prolific and successful sports prototype racers ever produced - and sold in large numbers, too.
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Although the car was never intended to win outright at Le Mans the Porsche924/944 platforms were still able to secure class wins throughout their relatively short time tenure at Le Mans. The year 1980 saw the ultimate iteration of the 924 battle it out against opponents with larger engine displacements, ultimately it was able to secure a 6th place overall finish with a 2nd in its under 3-litre GTP class. The following year, 1981 saw once again multiple entries of the 924, with one car utilising a prototype version of the upcoming 944's 2.5-litre engine. This 924 GTP (sometimes called 944 LM) was piloted byJürgen Barth andWalter Röhrl to a class win for the new GTP+3.0 class and 7th overall, 31 laps behind the overall Porsche 936/81 winner. Its stablemate, a 924 Carrera GTR piloted by Andy Rouse and Manfred Schurti, was then driven to another class victory for theIMSA GTO class and an 11th overall position.[4][5]
While there was no longer a factory team running the 924 GTR in 1982, the car would still be fielded to another class win in the IMSA GTO class by BF Goodrich Brornos team with drivers Doc Bundy and Marcel Mignot.[4]
Porsche scored a couple of unexpected Le Mans wins in 1996 and 1997. A return to prototype racing in the US was planned for 1995 with aTom Walkinshaw Racing chassis formerly used as theJaguar XJR-14 and theMazda MXR-01 fitted with a Porsche engine. IMSA rule changes struck this car out of the running and the privateJoest Racing team raced the cars in Europe for two years, winning back-to-back Le Mans with the same chassis, termed thePorsche WSC-95. This is a feat Joest had also achieved in the 1980s with 956 chassis 117, contrasting with the works habit of the 1960s and later where most factory race cars ran only one or two races for the works team before being sold on to finance newer cars.
Between 1998 (when Porsche won overall with thePorsche 911 GT1-98) and 2014, Porsche did not attempt to score overall wins at Le Mans and similar sports car races, focusing on smaller classes and developing the water-cooled 996 GT3. Nevertheless, the GT3 and the LMP2RS Spyder won major races overall during the period. Hybrid technology was tested in endirance races with thePorsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid in 2010 and 2011.
When Le Mans adopted Hybrid rules as a new challenge and stopped giving advantage to Diesel, Porsche returned to top-tier Le Mans racing in 2014 with thePorsche 919 Hybrid, but both cars experienced unknown engine issues with an hour and a half left to go and retired just as the #20 car was chasing down the #1 Audi in first place.
In 2015, aPorsche 919 Hybrid hybrid car driven byNick Tandy,Earl Bamber andNico Hülkenberg won the83rd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Porsche LMP1 program went on to win the overall victory in the2015 FIA World Endurance Championship. The 919 program has also gone on to win the 84th running of Le Mans (2016) in a 919 driven byNeel Jani,Romain Dumas, andMarc Lieb, taking the lead with just over 3 minutes left. Porsche completed ahat trick by winning the2017 24 Hours of Le Mans with driversTimo Bernhard,Earl Bamber, andBrendon Hartley. After the 919 had scored the 19th overall Porsche win, it was retired.
About half a year after Audi left, in mid-2017, Porsche announced that they would close their LMP1 program at the end of the year.[6] At the time, the Porsche museum guides put emphasis on the all-electric and hybrid cars developed by Ferdinand Porsche in the early 1900s, and Porsche focussed on thePorsche Mission E andFormula E racing.
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In May 2021 Porsche announced its return toFIA World Endurance Championship new categoryLMDh withPenske running their factory team.[7][8] They announced their return to both WEC and IMSA for2023 season running two newPorsche 963 in each competition.[9] To prepare their return to WEC, Penske took part in WEC2022 season with oneOreca 07-Gibson in LMP2 class.[10][11] Former Team Penske lubricant partner and supplierMobil 1 rejoined as official team's lubricant partner and supplier from 2023 season onwards due to thePorsche partnership. The 963 made itsFIA World Endurance Championship debut at the 2023 1000 Miles of Sebring, where it finished 5th and 6th. Porsche would end the2023 season 3rd in the Hypercar World Endurance Manufacturers' Championship behind theToyota GR010 Hybrid andFerrari 499P, and 1-2 in the FIA World Cup for Hypercar Teams withHertz Team Jota andProton Competition as Porsche is the only team to supply customer teams
Due to supply-chain constraints,Porsche Penske Motorsport, the factory team, was the only team that could field the 963 at its debut at the2023 24 Hours of Daytona.[12] The 963 made its first appearance alongside the other newGTP cars., theBMW M Hybrid V8, theAcura ARX-06, and theCadillac V-LMDh. The 963 was often right behind the ARX-06s ofMeyer Shank Racing andWayne Taylor Racing, with the former leading all five practice sessions, bar the last one.[13][14] During the race, both Porsches were beset by reliability issues, with significant time spent in the garages: No. 7 was the first to come in, losing 35 laps to replace a faultybattery,[15] and Tandy – in No. 6 – had been running in contention for overall victory in the morning until a gearbox failure ended his race.[16] The Porsche 963 took its first victory in IMSA competition on theStreets of Long Beach withMathieu Jaminet andNick Tandy driving.[17] In the season's fourth round, theMotul Course de Monterey,Matt Campbell took the car's first pole position while Tandy's No. 6 started second and van der Helm's No. 5JDC–Miller Motorsports car qualified ninth.[18] The No. 6 car recovered to second after a slow start. Campbell hit the No. 94Andretti AutosportAston Martin Vantage AMR GT3, losing time as he served a drive-through penalty. A crash at turn 10 after Nasr relieved Campbell relegated the No. 7 car to ninth.Tijmen van der Helm andMike Rockenfeller finished seventh inJDC–Miller Motorsports first race with the car.[19][20][21] At Watkins Glen, Tandy and Jaminet started from pole position after qualifying was cancelled.[22]Porsche Penske Motorsport's No. 6 car battled for the win. Through a better pit-stop strategy, the No. 6 Porsche overtook the No. 31 Cadillac and the No. 60 Acura and rejoined in second with 40 minutes remaining.[23][24] Jaminet overtookConnor De Phillippi in the final minutes before the race ended behind the safety car.[25] The No. 7 car was in contention until Nasr sustained an issue with the hybrid system and spent 2 hours replacing the battery, gearbox and rear axle.[26] It later emerged onto the track and finished 52nd overall. Later, the No. 6 Porsche was disqualified for illegalskid block wear.[27]
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In 2024, Porsche finished2024 24 Hours of Le Mans 4th and 6th under the factory team, 8th and 9th underHertz Team Jota, and 45th and 46th (16th and 17th in the Hypercar Class) underProton Competition. That same year, they won theIMSA SportsCar Manufacturers' Championship, theIMSA SportsCar Grand Touring Prototype Teams' Championship, theIMSA SportsCar Grand Touring Prototype Drivers' Championship, theFIA World Endurance Hypercar World Endurance Drivers' Championship, theFIA World Endurance Championship World Cup for Hypercar Teams withHertz Team Jota and finished 2nd in theFIA World Endurance Hypercar World Endurance Manufacturers' Championship behindToyota'sToyota GR010 Hybrid.
For the 2025 Season,Hertz Team Jota announced they will be switching to running theCadillac V-Series.R, meaning they will run as a factory entry for the first time and no longer be aPorsche customer team.[28]
Porsche saw a dominant start to their 2025 IMSA campaign with the 963, winning the first four races of the season atDaytona,Sebring,Long Beach, andLaguna Seca.[29] Their start at WEC was not as fruitful, struggling to keep up with the front runners with a best finish of 8th in its first three races of the season. At the2025 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 963 saw its best result in the endurance race, the #6 car finishing 2nd overall, 14 seconds behind the race winning #83Ferrari 499P fromAF Corse. The #6 had started the race from the back of the grid in its class, after suffering a disqualification due to a weight infraction. Had it won, it would have been the lowest starting position before a race win in the history of the event.[30][31]
On 7 October, Porsche announced that they would end their factory programme in theFIA World Endurance Championship after 2026 following financial losses.[32]
The various versions of thePorsche 911 proved to be a serious competitor inrallies. The Porsche works team was occasionally present in rallying from the 1960s to the late 1970s. In 1967 the Polish driverSobiesław Zasada drove a 912 to capture the European Rally Championship for Group 1 series touring cars.[33] Porsche took three double wins in a row in theMonte Carlo Rally; in 1968 withVic Elford andPauli Toivonen, and in 1969 and 1970 withBjörn Waldegård andGérard Larrousse. In 1970, Porsche also edgedAlpine-Renault to win theInternational Championship for Manufacturers (IMC), the predecessor to theWorld Rally Championship (WRC). Porsche's first podium finish in the WRC wasLeo Kinnunen's third place at the1973 1000 Lakes Rally.
Although the Porsche factory team withdrew from the WRC with no wins to their name, the best private 911s were often close to other brands' works cars. Jack Tordoff was the first privateer to win an International Rally using a 911 2.7 Carrera RS Sport (Lightweight) on the Circuit of Ireland in 1973 (a round of the European Rally Championship). This success was followed by Cathal Curley who won the 1973 Donegal International Rally in a 911 2.7 RS Touring. Cathal Curley followed this with the greatest run of International Rally wins ever recorded in a Porsche Carrera RS when in 1974 he won the Circuit of Ireland, Donegal and Manx International Rallies in AUI 1500, the last Rhd 911 2.7 Carrera RS Sport produced by Porsche. In 1975 Cathal Curley upgraded to the new 3.0 Carrera RS in 1975 and won the Cork 20 which became an International Rally in 1977. Cathal Curley won four International Rallies in a 2.7 Carrera RS, multiple wins in mechanically standard cars straight off the showroom floor. These wins were all the more impressive as Ireland was the hotbed of International Rallying for the Porsche 911 RS in the 1970s. Jack Tordoff's victory was steady and deserved as he stalked the leading works backed Escort that failed on the penultimate stage beating this car and two other entered 911s but by 1974 Cathal Curley's wins came against no less than fourteen other 911 RSs beating the great Roger Clark in a works backed Escort in the 1974 Manx International Rally too. Over half of the UK allocation of 17 2.7 RS Sport (Lightweights) were rallied at any one time in Ireland in the 1970s.
Jean-Pierre Nicolas managed to win the 1978 Monte Carlo Rally with a private 911 SC, and Porsche's second, and so far last, WRC win came at the 1980Tour de Corse in the hands ofJean-Luc Thérier. In theEuropean Rally Championship, the 911 was driven to five titles, and as late as 1984,Henri Toivonen took hisProdrive-built andRothmans-sponsored 911 SC RS to second place behindCarlo Capone and theLancia Rally 037. In 1984 and 1986, the Porsche factory team won theParis Dakar Rally, also using the 911 derivedPorsche 959Group B supercar.
Porsche won theSpanish Rally Championship five times between 2009 and 2015 with Sergio Vallejo and Miguel Ángel Fuster with aPorsche 911 GT3. The manufacturer also won the 2015 and 2017FIA R-GT Cup withFrançois Delecour andRomain Dumas respectively, also with a 911 GT3.
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Despite Ferdinand Porsche having designed Grand Prix cars in the 1920s and 1930s for Mercedes and Auto Union, the Porsche AG never felt at home in single-seater series.
In the late 1950s thePorsche 718 RSK, a two-seater sports car, was entered inFormula Two races, as rules permitted this, and lap times were promising. The 718 was first modified by moving the seat into the center of the car, and subsequently proper open wheelers were built. These 1500 cc cars enjoyed some success. The former F2 cars were moved up toFormula One in 1961, where Porsche's outdated design was not competitive. For1962, a newly developed flat-eight powered and sleekPorsche 804 produced Porsche's only win as aconstructor in a championship race, claimed byDan Gurney at the1962 French Grand Prix. One week later, he repeated the success in front of Porsche's home crowd onStuttgart'sSolitude in a non-championship race. At the end of the season, Porsche withdrew from F1 due to the high costs,[citation needed] just having acquired the Reutter factory. Volkswagen and German branches of suppliers had no interest in an F1 commitment as this series was too far away from road cars. Privateers continued to enter the outdated Porsche 718 in F1 until 1964.
Having been very successful with turbocharged cars in the 1970s, Porsche returned to Formula One in1983 after nearly two decades away, supplying water-cooled V6 turbo engines badged asTAG units for theMcLaren team, as the partner electronics firm was paying for the whole engine program, with the deal they would be badged as TAG units. For aerodynamic reasons, the Porsche-typical flat engine was out of the question for being too wide. With turbo power being the way to go in F1 at the time a 90° V6 turbo engine was produced. The TAG engine was designed to very tight requirements issued by McLaren's chief designerJohn Barnard. He specified the physical layout of the engine to match the design of his proposed car. The engine was funded by TAG who retained the naming rights to it, although the engines bore "made by Porsche" identification. Initially, Porsche was reluctant to have their name on the engines, fearing bad publicity if they failed. However, within a few races of the1984 season when it became evident that the engines were the ones to have, the "Made by Porsche" badges began to appear. TAG-Porsche-powered cars took two constructor championships in 1984 and1985, and three driver crowns in 1984, 1985 and1986. The engines powered McLaren to 25 victories between 1984 and1987, with 19 for 1985 and 1986 World ChampionAlain Prost, and 6 for 1984 ChampionNiki Lauda.
Despite its overwhelming success, the TAG-Porsche engines were never the most powerful in Formula One as they did not have the ability to hold higher turbo boost like the rivalBMW,Renault,Ferrari andHonda engines. The McLaren drivers who regularly raced with the engine (Lauda, Prost,Keke Rosberg andStefan Johansson) continually asked Porsche to develop a special qualifying engine like their rivals. However, both Porsche and TAG ownerMansour Ojjeh balked at the requests due to the extra costs involved, reasoning that the proven race engines already had equal power and better fuel economy than all bar the Hondas, thus qualifying engines were never built. Though the lack of horsepower did not stop McLaren from claiming 7 pole positions (6 for Prost, 1 for Rosberg) and 21 front-row starts.
Porsche returned to F1 again in1991 as an engine supplier, however, this time with disastrous results: TheFootwork Arrows cars powered with the overweightPorsche 3512 double-V6 which weighed 400 pounds (180 kg), (according to various reports, including from McLaren designer Alan Jenkins, the engine was in fact 2 combined TAG V6 engines used by McLaren from 1983 to 1987 minus the turbochargers)[34] failed to score a single point, and failed even to qualify for over half the races that year. After the Porsche engines were sacked by Footwork in favor of Cosworth DFRs, Porsche has not participated in Formula One since. According to reports from Arrows, the 3512's major problem, other than a lack of horsepower, was severe oil starvation problems which often led to engine failure.
During the 2010 Paris Motor Show, Porsche chairman Matthias Mueller made a statement hinting at a possible Porsche return to Formula 1. Specifically, Mueller stated that either Porsche or Audi would compete in Le Mans while the other would turn to Formula 1. Previously, Audi's motorsport boss Wolfgang Ulrich had already stated that Audi and Formula 1 "do not fit".[35]
On 2 May 2022,Volkswagen Group's CEOHerbert Diess announced that Porsche would make their return to the sport alongside VW brandAudi. This will be Audi's first entry into the sport.[36] On 27 July in Morocco, official information was published on the approval of an application submitted jointly byPorsche andRed Bull GmbH in which Porsche acquired 50% of the shares of the Red Bull program in Formula 1. This application had to be filed with the antitrust authorities of up to 20 countries, including outside theEuropean Union. The press release was due to go out for theAustrian GP. However, theFIA did not approve the regulations for the 2026 engines before 29 June as planned, delaying official confirmation of Porsche's entry into Formula One.[37] On 15 August, Porsche registered the "F1nally" trademark with the German Patent Office, which covers the development of different activities such as cultural and sports activities, technological and scientific services, industrial development, analysis and design, as well as the development and design of computer hardware and software, marketing and office functions, telecommunications and administration.[38]
After months of speculation, Porsche AG confirmed in September that talks with Red Bull GmbH would not continue. The intention was to reach an engine and team partnership, based on equal footing but the negotiations never came to fruition.[39] In March 2023, Porsche announced that they will not be joining Formula 1 in 2026.[40]
Porsche first attempted to compete in the1980 Indianapolis 500 with an engine initially based on the 935 sports car flat 6 withInterscope Racing as the entrant andDanny Ongais as driver. The engine would be fitted to Interscopes's newInterscope IR01, which featured a tubular rear subframe, as the Porsche motor could not be used as a stressed member as the Cosworth engines were.USAC had more favorable rules for stock-block engines at the Indy 500 than CART allowed at their races. Porsche applied to and received approval from USAC for their engine to be allowed the stock block boost pressure of 55 inches. After setting an unofficial lap record in private testing at the now-defunct Ontario Motor Speedway, a clone of the Indiana track, rumors circulated regarding the performance of the engine and top-level teams pressured officials to alter their initial ruling and now categorize the Porsche a race motor, dropping boost pressure to 48" thus losing its boost and horsepower advantage. Porsche withdrew and Interscope entered aParnelli VPJ6C-Cosworth DFX at Indianapolis that year. The Indianapolis engine became the basis of the highly-successful 956/962 motor.
Porsche returned to CART in its1987 season fieldingAl Unser in the #6Quaker State Porsche, with the chassis and engine both being Porsche only competing at theChampion Spark Plug 300K atLaguna Seca Raceway. Unser would qualify 21st out of 24 cars and would retire in 24th place after only seven laps due to a water pump failure. For1988Teo Fabi would drive the #8Quaker StateMarch 88C-Porsche getting a best finish of 4th at theBosch Spark Plugs Grand Prix atPennsylvania International Raceway, Fabi would finish tenth in points. For1989 Fabi would drive the #8Quaker StateMarch 89P-Porsche qualifying on the pole position at both theBudweiser / G.I. Joe's 200 atPortland International Raceway and theRed Roof Inns 200 atMid-Ohio Sports Car Course getting the win at the latter. Fabi would also give Porsche their best finish on an IndyCar oval by finishing 2nd at theMarlboro 500 atMichigan International Speedway.
In1990 Porsche attempted to race a new car with carbon-fiber chassis, but CART banned it.[41] The team expanded to two cars, fielding Fabi in the #4Foster's/Quaker StateMarch 90P-Porsche andJohn Andretti in the #41Foster'sMarch 90P-Porsche. Fabi would qualify on the pole position at theTexaco/Havoline Grand Prix of Denver at theStreets of Denver and would finish 3rd at theMarlboro Grand Prix at the Meadowlands at theMeadowlands Sports Complex but would drop to 14th in points. While Andretti would get a best finish of 5th at theBudweiser Grand Prix of Cleveland atBurke Lakefront Airport and at theMolson Indy Vancouver at theStreets of Vancouver and would finish tenth in points.
Porsche withdrew from IndyCar at the end of the 1990 season. Team directorDerrick Walker bought the assets to become the owner ofWalker Racing.
In July 2017,Porsche confirmed that they would leave theFIA World Endurance Championship at the end of the season in order to focus on theirFormula E campaign, which was set to begin with the2019–20 season.[42] This meant that Porsche would be entering the series at the same time as theMercedes-Benz EQ Formula E Team, though the latter already competed in the2018–19 season through the affiliatedHWA Racelab team.
Entering FE and achieving success in this category are the logical outcomes of our Mission E road car programme. The growing freedom for in-house technology developments makes FE attractive to us. For us, FE is the ultimate competitive environment for driving forward the development of high performance vehicles in areas such as environmental friendliness, efficiency and sustainability.
— Michael Steiner, "Porsche quits WEC LMP1 class for Formula E programme,Autosport.com (28 July 2017)[42]
In December 2018,Neel Jani was announced as the first driver to drive for the new team.[43]Brendon Hartley was also involved in the development of the new car.[44] Porsche were then evaluating whether to sign the inexperienced Hartley or not.[45] In July 2019, Porsche announced the formerTecheetah driverAndré Lotterer would be joining the Porsche team.[46] In September, Porsche announcedSimona de Silvestro who drove forVenturi Racing at the December 2018Ad Diriyah test, where she placed tenth overall, fastest of the nine women that took part[47] andPorsche Carrera Cup Germany driverThomas Preining as their new development drivers after Hartley got signed to theGEOX Dragon team.[48]André Lotterer qualified Porsche's first in Formula E pole position at the2020 Mexico City ePrix, but during the race Lotterer clipped a wall on the exit of turn 3, which stuck an advertising banner into the bodywork of his car, which created a cloud of smoke behind him. The bodywork eventually fell off, but the car was already damaged, which forced Lotterer to pit and subsequently retire from the race.[49] On 1 March 2020, Preining andFrédéric Makowiecki were brought to theMarrakesh rookie test, with Preining posting the fifteenth best lap and Makowiecki ending up the slowest of all drivers who partook the test.[50]
In August 2020, it was confirmed that formerMahindra Racing driverPascal Wehrlein would be joining the Porsche team, replacing Neel Jani.[51] At the2021 Puebla ePrix,Pascal Wehrlein qualified his first pole position withPorsche and crossed the finish line first, before being disqualified after his team failed to declare his tyre set.[52] At the2022 Mexico City ePrix, Pascal Wehrlein claimed his and the team's maiden victory after taking pole position. The team also claimed their first 1-2 finish as Lotterer finished 2nd.
In the2022–23 Formula E World Championship, formerDS Techeetah driverAntónio Félix da Costa replacedAndré Lotterer who moved toPorsche's customer teamAvalanche Andretti Formula E and Porsche's newFIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar Project to partner with Wehrlein. Along customer teamAvalanche Andretti Formula E, the Porsche powertrain dominated the early season, with Wehrlein winning bothDiriyah rounds and leading both drivers' and teams' championships. The team scored two more victories with Félix da Costa winning the2023 Cape Town ePrix and Wehrlein the2023 Jakarta ePrix. However, the team eventually finished 4th in the Teams' Championship,Pascal Wehrlein finishing 4th andAntónio Félix da Costa finishing 9th in the Drivers' Championship.
In the2023–24 Formula E World Championship, Porsche has retained their driver lineup of Wehrlein and Félix da Costa. The team also signedAndré Lotterer as a reserve driver. Porsche began strongly once again, scoring pole for the season-opener and securing the first win of the season at theMexico City ePrix.[53] The maidenMisano ePrix proved to be a double-edged sword for Porsche, with Wehrlein after crashing intoJean-Éric Vergne in race 1 profited from an energy miscalculation byOliver Rowland and theNissan team to inherit victory on the last lap.[54][55][56] Following a scrappyBerlin weekend, one in which Wehrlein came to blows multiple times with reigning champion Jake Dennis, the German finished second atShanghai, losing the lead on the final lap toMitch Evans but keeping second againstNick Cassidy with an aggressive defense that led to contact between the two cars.[57][58][59] Wehrlein gained points against championship leader Cassidy with two top ten finishes atPortland, going into the final 2 round atLondon with a 12-point deficit to the Kiwi.[60] On Race 1, Wehrlein battled Evans to win the race, thus gaining the championship lead.[61] On Race 2, Wehrlein kept himself between the two Jaguars of Evans and Cassidy for the majority of the race. When Cassidy retired following a puncture and Evans missed his second attack mode activation, Wehrlein finished second, clinching the title six points ahead of Evans.[62] The team finished both Teams' Championship and Manufacturers' Trophy in second place with 7 races wins, with 3 for Wehrlein and 4 for Félix da Costa.
Both drivers are retained forSeason 11, whith Wehrlein entered the season as the defending champion. This season saw Porsche winning 1 race, finishing on the podium 10 times and retiring 4 times.[63] Wehrlein scored Porsche's only race win was atHomestead–Miami.[64] Porsche secure both the teams' and manufacturers' championship, with Jaguar second in both followed by Nissan.[65] Wehrlein finish 3rd in the Drivers' Championship while Félix da Costa only managed 5th.[66]
Porsche is currently supplying their Gen-3 Evo Porsche 99X Electric toCupra Kiro Formula E team andAndretti Formula E team.
For more information about the team's results, seePorsche Carrera Cup.
Porsche Carrera Cup (sometimes abbreviated PCC) is a number ofone-make racing byPorsche premier series competed with, initiallyPorsche 911 Carrera Cup, then laterPorsche 911 GT3 Cup cars. The cars are specifically built by Porsche for one-make racing, but are visually and mechanically quite similar to road-registrable 911s of the same generation.[67]
There are three distinct tiers of racing, the top tier is thePorsche Supercup. Today the Supercup races as part of the support program of the FIAFormula 1 World Championship on most, if not all, of the Grands Prix held in Europe, and occasionally Grands Prix in Asia and North America. Established in 1993, it is the most prestigious one-make series for GT cars.
The second tier are the national Carrera Cups, held in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom as well as International Carrera Cups held across multiple nations in eastern Asia and in the Scandinavian nations of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. The longest running is thePorsche Carrera Cup Germany, which was also the original series, first held in 1986 using thePorsche 964 Cup racing car. Now in its 39th year it has been one of the world's best known Pro-Am GT series and helped to progress many future World Endurance Champions, Le Mans winners and today is the primary feeder for the Porsche Supercup with many racing teams contesting both series. ThePorsche Carrera Cup France began just a year later in 1987. The early 2000s saw a proliferation of Carrera Cups with Great Britain, Australia, Asia and Scandinavia all starting in a four-year burst with Italy following in 2007.
The third tier is the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge or Porsche GT3 Cup Trophy, recently renamed in some markets as the Porsche Sprint Challenge. This is a mixture of smaller series in Europe, Switzerland based series, Benelux series held across Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, a Central European series, a Middle East series in the Gulf States, as well as larger series in the Americas; United States, Brazil and Argentina. As well as New Zealand and some which act as a second tier series within Carrera Cup nations. Some GT3 Cup Challenge series will use older Carrera Cup cars from previous generations of the Porsche 911. New Zealand and Australian GT3 Cup Challenges use second hand cars from Carrera Cup Australia series as an example, although largers series, particularly United States and Brazil are effectively Carrera Cups. GT3 Cup Trophies are essentially second tier GT3 Cup Challenges. Superseded Carrera Cup and GT3 Cup Cars have also become popular cars to race in domestic GT series on five continents.
Dutch racerPatrick Huisman is the most successful Carrera Cup racer having won four Supercups consecutively between 1997 and 2000. German driverRené Rast won three Supercups (2010–12) and two German Carrera Cups (2008 & 2012).Dominique Dupuy won the French Carrera Cup five times between 1992 and 1999 and New ZealanderCraig Baird won the Australian Carrera Cup five times between 2006 and 2013.Christophe Bouchut won the French Carrera Cup four times around Dupuy's five titles, the two dominating the French series for a decade. Dutch driverLarry ten Voorde is currently the defending champion of thePorsche Supercup.
The one-make GT series model has also been used for other Porsche models, usually the entry level Porsche of the time,924,944,968 andBoxster and has proliferated to other manufacturers as well;Ferrari Challenge,Lamborghini Super Trofeo,Trofeo Maserati,Audi R8 LMS Cup,Lotus Cup,MGF Trophy and a multitude of series based on theMazda MX-5.
Porsche dropped its factorymotorsports program after winning the1998 24 Hours of Le Mans with thePorsche 911 GT1 for financial reasons, facing factory competition from Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, and others. An LMP1 prototype with a V10 engine, intended to be entered in 2000, was abandoned unraced due to an agreement with Audi, a related company led by Porsche co-ownerFerdinand Piech. The V10 was used in thePorsche Carrera GT instead, while Audi dominated Le Mans after BMW, Mercedes and Toyota moved to F1.
Porsche made a comeback in the LMP2 category in 2005 with the newRS Spyder prototype, although this was run by closely associated customer teams rather than by the works. This was not welcomed very much, as rule-makers intended the LMP1 category for factory entries, with the LMP2 reserved for privateers. Based on LMP2 regulations, the RS Spyder made its debut forRoger Penske's team atMazda Raceway Laguna Seca during the final race of the2005American Le Mans Series season, and immediately garnered a class win in the LMP2 class finishing 5th overall. The nimble albeit less powerful (due to the regulations) RS Spyder clearly possessed the pace to challengeAudi andLola LMP1 cars in the ALMS.Penske Racing won the LMP2 championship on its first full season in2006 and againstAcura in2007 and2008. 2007 was the most successful year for the RS Spyder, winning 8 overall races and 11 class wins while theAudi R10 from the larger LMP1 class won only 4 overall victories. The car debuted on European circuits in 2008 and dominated theLe Mans Series;Van Merksteijn Motorsport, Team Essex, and Horag Racing taking the first three places in the LMP2 championship.Van Merksteijn Motorsport took a class victory at the2008 24 Hours of Le Mans and Team Essex won the LMP2 class at the2009 24 Hours of Le Mans.
TheDaytona Prototype Action Express Racing Riley-Porsche won the2010 24 Hours of Daytona. This was unusual since the Riley-Porsche was powered by aPorsche Cayenne SUV-based 5.0-litre V8. Porsche refused to develop the V8 for the Grand-Am competition and was, instead, built by the Texas-based Lozano Brothers. Since it was not officially sanctioned by Porsche, the company did not technically claim the win.[69]
Al Holbert
Andy Rouse
Ben Pon
Björn Waldegård[73]
Bob Wollek[74]Brian Redman
Brendon HartleyCarel Godin de BeaufortClaude Ballot-LénaColin DavisDerek Bell[75]
Dieter GlemserDirk WernerEarl BamberEdgar Barth[76]Gerhard Mitter[77]Gérard LarrousseGünter KlassHans HerrmannHans-Joachim Stuck[78]
Heinz Schiller
Helmut Marko[79]Henri PescaroloHerbert Linge[80]Herbert Müller[81]Hurley Haywood[82]
Hélio Castroneves
Jacky Ickx[83]Jean BehraJo BonnierJo Siffert[84]Jochen MassJochen NeerpaschJochen Rindt Joe BuzzettaJohn AndrettiJörg BergmeisterJörg MüllerJürgen Barth[85]Kees NieropKurt Ahrens Jr.Lucas Luhr
Manfred SchurtiMarc LiebMarco HolzerMark Donohue[86]Mario Andretti
Mark WebberMichael AndrettiPatrick PiletPeter Gregg[87]Reinhold Joest[88]Richard von Frankenberg[89]Rolf Stommelen Rudi LinsRyan BriscoeStefan Bellof[90] Steve LuvenderSven MüllerThierry BoutsenTimo BernhardTony Dron
Tony MaggsUdo Schütz
Umberto MaglioliUwe AlzenVern Schuppan[91]Vic ElfordWalter RöhrlWilli KauhsenWolf HenzlerWolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips[92]Patrick Long[93]Gianmaria BruniDane CameronSimona de SilvestroAndré LottererFrédéric Makowiecki
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