Atlanta. The Porsche 911 GT3 R set the benchmark in the world’s most distinguished endurance racing series during the 2024 season. Fielded by the experienced customer teams Manthey and AO Racing, the 911 secured titles in the FIA World Endurance Championship WEC (LMGT3 class) and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (GTD Pro category). The current 911 GT3 R celebrated its world premiere on July 30, 2022 at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium and has been campaigned in international competition since the 2023 season.
The new LMGT3 class made its World Endurance Championship debut in the 2024 season, where 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. Austrian Klaus Bachler, Joel Sturm from Germany and Alex Malykhin from Great Britain scored class victories in Qatar and São Paulo. In the other six races of the season, the trio in Manthey PureRxcing’s No. 92 car finished on the LMGT3 podium four times and took home an early title at the penultimate event of the year.
In Manthey EMA’s 911 GT3 R, Richard Lietz from Austria, Morris Schuring from the Netherlands and Australian Yasser Shahin celebrated class victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 6-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps. The No. 91 crew wrapped up the debut season of the new LMGT3 class in the FIA WEC in second place.
“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.”
North America: ‘Rexy’ rocks the USA
In the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the Porsche 911 GT3 R fielded by customer team AO Racing took center 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 during the 24-hour race. This was followed by three GTD Pro victories at Laguna Seca, Detroit and Indianapolis plus another podium finish at Mosport in Canada – enough for AO Racing to win all three titles in the GTD Pro category, outperforming numerous works teams.
“This is the greatest success of my career to date,” said a grinning 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 911 dubbed ‘Rexy’ was another fan favorite. 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.
Winning the “unofficial GT3 World Championship”
In the GTD class of the IMSA championship, the Wright Motorsports team earned a victory at Indianapolis and podium finishes at Sebring and Laguna Seca. However, the team from Batavia, Ohio, outside of Cincinnati, also raised the bar at the finale of the Intercontinental GT Challenge in the “Racing Capital of the World” in Indianapolis. The victory secured by the No. 120 Porsche 911 GT3 R earned Porsche the manufacturers’ title in the “unofficial GT3 World Championship.”
In SRO GT World Challenge America, Wright Motorsports earned the title 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 911 GT3 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.
Impressive results in the “Green Hell”
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” 911 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.
Overall account for 2024: The 911 GT3 R is a reliable force
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. “These numbers speak for themselves: The Porsche 911 GT3 R is a dependable force to be reckoned with in tough GT3 competitions worldwide,” comments Michael Dreiser, Director Sales Porsche Motorsport. “Our 911 is an exemplary product that experienced customer teams are choosing more and more. We’re already very excited for the 2025 season.”
