Porsche Announces Return to LMP1 Class at Le Mans in 2014 [Video]

Colum Wood
by Colum Wood

Porsche has more overall wins than any other automaker at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the German automaker plans to add one more victory to its list in 2014. That’s the year Porsche has announced it will re-enter the series in the top-tier LMP1 class, with a new factory-backed prototype race car.

“Motorsport was always an essential part of the Porsche brand” said Matthias Müller, President of the Executive Board at Porsche AG. “So for us it was only a matter of time before we returned as a factory to the top league of racing. Porsche’s successes in Le Mans are unrivalled. We want to follow up on this with the 17th outright victory.”

Porsche’s last success in the LMP1 class at Le Mans came in 1998 with the 911 GT1. Since then the team has had a successful LMP2 Class run in the American Le Mans Series and even raced those cars at Le Mans. Recently Porsche has had success with its 911s in the GT Class category and has been testing a new GT3 R Hybrid. That hybrid technology could become the backbone of the LMP1 program with Hartmut Kristen, Head of Porsche Motorsport, commenting that, “the integration of our hybrid technology in the vehicle concept is one possible option.”

The automaker has released the below video on its YouTube channel, highlighting its success at what is likely the world’s most famous racing event. Watch the video after the jump:

Colum Wood
Colum Wood

With AutoGuide from its launch, Colum previously acted as Editor-in-Chief of Modified Luxury & Exotics magazine where he became a certifiable car snob driving supercars like the Koenigsegg CCX and racing down the autobahn in anything over 500 hp. He has won numerous automotive journalism awards including the Best Video Journalism Award in 2014 and 2015 from the Automotive Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC). Colum founded Geared Content Studios, VerticalScope's in-house branded content division and works to find ways to integrate brands organically into content.

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