Photo: Porsche
It was a fun weekend for motorsport enthusiasts, as the 24 Hours of Le Mans finally took place after being pushed to September from June. As usual in such cases, there were a lot of safety measures in place, fueled by the ongoing health crisis, including empty stands and regular tests for those taking part.
As a result of the testing conducted over the weekend, Porsche reported that three of its staff (no names were given, nor their position within the teams) returned positive, and that caused drastic measures to be taken.
As per a statement released earlier on Tuesday, Porsche said nine racing drivers who were to drive during next weekend’s 24-hour race at the Nürburgring would no longer do so. The drivers belong to no less than four customer teams, and six 911 GT3 R cars, including the one known to the fans as the Grello and fielded by Manthey-Racing, are now in limbo.
“People’s health comes first for us. Given the current situation, it’s very clear to us that we put the needs of many ahead of our sporting goals,” said in a statement Fritz Enzinger, Porsche Vice president for motorsport.
“We’ll do everything we can to give our customer teams the best possible support in the upcoming race by providing operational personnel and available works drivers.”
Porsche says more details and possible solutions for the customer teams will be provided shortly.
The German carmaker fielded an army of 911 RSRs in Le Mans’ GTE-Pro class. The factory team (with drivers Gianmaria Bruni, Richard Lietz, Michael Christensen and Kévin Estre) was accompanied on the track be eight others belonging to customer teams.
Porsche’s own team faced a list of problems during the race, and was no match for Aston Martin and Ferrari. Aston Martin eventually took the win, with the Porsche cars coming in fifth and sixth, respectively.
As per a statement released earlier on Tuesday, Porsche said nine racing drivers who were to drive during next weekend’s 24-hour race at the Nürburgring would no longer do so. The drivers belong to no less than four customer teams, and six 911 GT3 R cars, including the one known to the fans as the Grello and fielded by Manthey-Racing, are now in limbo.
“People’s health comes first for us. Given the current situation, it’s very clear to us that we put the needs of many ahead of our sporting goals,” said in a statement Fritz Enzinger, Porsche Vice president for motorsport.
“We’ll do everything we can to give our customer teams the best possible support in the upcoming race by providing operational personnel and available works drivers.”
Porsche says more details and possible solutions for the customer teams will be provided shortly.
The German carmaker fielded an army of 911 RSRs in Le Mans’ GTE-Pro class. The factory team (with drivers Gianmaria Bruni, Richard Lietz, Michael Christensen and Kévin Estre) was accompanied on the track be eight others belonging to customer teams.
Porsche’s own team faced a list of problems during the race, and was no match for Aston Martin and Ferrari. Aston Martin eventually took the win, with the Porsche cars coming in fifth and sixth, respectively.
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