Porsche 2013 Annual Report Download - page 103

At Le Mans, Porsche impressed with its reli-
able performance, but also had luck on its
side. While many other teams dropped out
or at least lost time due to accidents and
technical faults, the two factory Porsches
remained among the leaders the entire time.
For the drivers, it was anything but simple.
Heavy downpours meant repeated tire
changes. In the final phase, Richard Lietz
in the No. 92 Porsche, which he drove
along with Marc Lieb and Romain Dumas,
gained the upper hand in a duel for the lead
by staying on the track after another rain
shower rather than heading to the pits for
a tire change. That enabled the Austrian to
drive the Porsche over the finish line as the
class winner. “Luck was on our side today
with the rain, but we needed it given these
difficult conditions,” commented Lietz after
the finish.
The No. 91 Porsche driven by Jörg Berg-
meister, Patrick Pilet and Timo Bernhard
came in second, giving Porsche a double
victory at Le Mans. After the race, Patrick
Pilet, who drove the car over the finish
line, reflected on the Danish driver Allan
Simonsen, who had died in a crash shortly
after the start: “Today is a proud and happy
day, but a tragic one as well.” After the 24
Hours of Le Mans as the season highlight,
the Porsche teams achieved additional po-
dium finishes in the other WEC races. The
season finale in Bahrain saw the debut of
the overhauled race version of the Porsche
911 RSR, ideally preparing Porsche for the
2014 race season.
From an organizational perspective, the
foundation was also laid for Porsche’s
future presence in the GT race realm.
After the end-of-season celebration in De-
cember in Weissach, it was announced that
Porsche AG had secured a majority stake
in Manthey Racing. The deal has meant that
Olaf Manthey, who has had innumerable
successes as a Porsche driver and then as
team manager, has come full circle: “We’ve
been an official partner of Porsche AG for
years – with this investment, Porsche is
securing the future of our company and
our team.” Porsche and Manthey share
a passion and the pursuit for perfection,
factors that lead to success in the high-per-
formance street car segment as well as in
the racing world. Porsche’s stake will allow
both parties to jointly share the highest
quality standards and personnel resources.
“We’ve been an ofcial partner
of Porsche AG for years – with
this investment, Porsche is
securing the future of our
company and our team.”
OLAF MANTHEY
In the 2014 season, two Porsche 911 RSRs
from Manthey’s Porsche team will once
again head to the starting line in the GT
class of the FIA World Endurance Champion-
ship, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
What’s more, Porsche fans worldwide are
happy to see the brand back at the highest
levels of endurance racing, namely in the
prototype class of the Endurance World
Championship, where Porsche entered two
newly developed 919 Hybrid sports cars.
With trendsetting hybrid technology, Porsche
wants to take advantage of the new rules
taking effect in 2014: from now on, teams
in the prototype class must finish the entire
distance with a predetermined quantity of
fuel. This applies both to the 24 Hours of
Le Mans and other World Championship
races lasting for more than six hours.
CLASS VICTORIES // 101