2013 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR

The development of the new Porsche 911 RSR based on the current generation 991 model is nearly complete. On the Sebring International Raceway in Florida/ÚSA the GTE race car from Weissach completed another successful test on Thursday. The successor to the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR will be run exclusively by the Porsche AG Team Manthey works squad at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and in the World Endurance Championship (WEC). The vehicle celebrates its race debut on April 14 at the WEC season-opener in Silverstone.

Sharing driving duties at Sebring were Porsche works drivers Richard Lietz (Austria) and Patrick Pilet (France). Lietz contests the WEC including Le Mans with Marc Lieb (Germany) at the wheel of the 911 RSR with the starting number 92. Patrick Pilet joins forces with Joerg Bergmeister (Germany) in the number 91 vehicle. At the first two WEC rounds in Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps as well as at Le Mans, they receive backup from their factory pilot colleagues Romain Dumas (France/No. 92) and Timo Bernhard (Germany/No.91).

'We are very pleased with how the testing has gone so far,' said Porsche's Head of Motorsport Hartmut Kristen. 'Our goal is to be well prepared for the challenges of the very strong GTE class in the WEC and at Le Mans. The circuit in Sebring is very well suited to put a new vehicle through some demanding trials. For this reason, a test in Sebring is a very good rehearsal for one of the toughest races of all, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Úntil the season kicks off in Silverstone, we will conduct some final tests on other race tracks so that our new 911 RSR is well and truly ready for the World Endurance Championship season.'

Source - Porsche

WORLD ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP, ROUND 1 IN SILVERSTONE, GREAT BRITAIN; RACE DEBUT OF THE NEW PORSCHE 911 RSR

At the six hour race on the Silverstone Circuit, which signals the start of the 2013 World Endurance Championship (WEC) season on 14th April, the Porsche 911 RSR celebrates its race debut. Running the campaign on the storied 5.981 kilometre circuit in the British Midlands is the Porsche AG Team Manthey works team with Olaf Manthey at the helm.

The Porsche drivers
Porsche works drivers Joerg Bergmeister (Germany), Patrick Pilet (France) and Timo Bernhard (Germany) take up the GTE-Pro class in the 911 RSR with starting number 91. Sharing driving duties in the cockpit of the number 92 vehicle are their factory driver colleagues Marc Lieb (Germany), Richard Lietz (Austria) and Romain Dumas (France). Two customer teams tackle the GTE-Am class with last year's Porsche 911 GT3 RSR: Driving the Proton Competition entry is Christian Ried (Germany) and his Italian teammates Paolo Ruberti and Gianluca Roda, with an all-French line-up of Raymond Narac, Christophe Bourret and Jean-Karl Vernay competing for IMSA Performance Matmut.

The Porsche 911 RSR

The schedule

The six hour race takes off on Sunday, 14 April, at midday local time (13.00 hrs CET). Eurosport 2 televises the start of the race live at 13.00 hours (30 minutes) and returns to a live broadcast at 15.00 hours (30 minutes). The final hour is aired live from 18.00 hours on Eurosport 1. The race can be viewed live on the internet under www.fiawec.com.

Comments before the race

Hartmut Kristen, Head of Porsche Motorsport: 'The whole team is ready and raring to tackle the first race with the 911 RSR. Our squad has worked extremely hard over the last months to make our new car competitive right from the start.'

Joerg Bergmeister (# 91): 'I'm looking forward to my premiere in the WEC – in the most beautiful and spectacular 911 ever.'
Patrick Pilet (# 91): 'To share the cockpit with such successful Porsche pilots like Joerg and Timo is a great and exciting challenge.'

Timo Bernhard (# 91): 'I felt great at the tests in the 911 RSR. We have a good chance to win our class with this car.'
Marc Lieb (# 92): 'The new 911 RSR is a significant step forward. I hope that the good test results can be confirmed at the first race.'

Richard Lietz (# 92): 'We face very strong opposition from the works teams from Ferrari and Aston Martin. In Silverstone we'll see where we stand.'

Romain Dumas (# 92): 'I'm looking forward to racing the new 911 RSR with Marc and Richard and I'm confident that we'll make a good start into the season.'

The World Endurance Championship

Source - Porsche