This year's 24 Hours of Le Mans, Porsche is making a special statement: the two Porsche 911 GT3 Rs entered by the Manthey customer team will compete in a special silver livery that evokes the brand's first Le Mans appearance in 1951. The traditional endurance race will take place on June 13 and 14 at the Circuit des 24 Heures in France.
The design of the vehicles honors the „75 Years of Porsche Motorsport“ anniversary and is visually inspired by the Porsche 356 SL Coupé, with which the brand first competed in Le Mans 75 years ago. At that time, French drivers Auguste Veuillet and Edmond Mouche achieved a class victory right from the start.
Since its debut, Porsche has built an impressive track record. In total, there have been 19 overall victories and 112 class victories at Le Mans to date. Furthermore, in 2026, at least one Porsche will start in the famous endurance classic for the 76th consecutive time.
Thomas Laudenbach, Head of Porsche Motorsport, emphasizes the significance of racing for the company's technical development. Numerous innovations, including internally ventilated brake discs, the PDK dual-clutch transmission, and the current 800-volt technology, were initially tested in motorsport before being adopted for series production.
The brand's first appearance at Le Mans in 1951 marked an important milestone. The Porsche 356 SL used featured an air-cooled four-cylinder boxer engine with 46 hp and 1,086 cubic centimeters of displacement. Despite difficult circumstances – two of the originally intended vehicles had already crashed before the race began – the remaining vehicle reached the finish line. After 24 hours, Veuillet and Mouche secured the class victory and 20th place overall. They covered more than 2,840 kilometers at an average speed of over 118 km/h.
Customer racing continues to play a central role for Porsche Motorsport today. In the LMGT3 class at Le Mans, two Porsche 911 GT3 Rs from Manthey will be competing. The car with starting number 91 will be piloted by, among others, Turkish Porsche works driver Ayhancan Güven. In the sister car, number 92, experienced Austrian works driver Richard Lietz will be at the wheel, among others.