We got some much needed good news last week on the racing front as WeatherTech Racing and Proton Competition has confirmed they will campaign a single Porsche 911 RSR for the entire 2021 IMSA season.
Cooper MacNeil will be the car’s full-time driver and the co-pilot duties will be shared with Porsche works drivers Richard Lietz, Kevin Estre, and Gianmaria Bruni.
“We have put a lot of thought into this move,” MacNeil said. “I have raced against this level of competition at Le Mans twice, most recently this year, and have felt comfortable with the added performance of the car. We are going back to running a Porsche, and I am looking forward to getting behind the wheel of the 911 RSR. It will be more pressure on me as a driver, but I am welcoming the added effort it is going to take to run GTLM in 2021.”
WeatherTech Racing has been racing in IMSA since 2012 and last year the team competed in the GTD class, notching a win at the Motul Petit Le Mans last October.
This will be the first season in IMSA for Proton Competition following their successful campaigns in the FIA World Endurance Championship and the European Le Mans Series. Proton will also be applying for entry of the Porsche 911 to race in the GTE-Pro class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
“We have been looking at entering the IMSA WeatherTech Championship for a few years,” said Christian Ried, Proton Competition owner. “We just didn’t feel like the time was right until now. With the factory effort leaving, that left a void for Porsche in GTLM. We were able to get together with David and Cooper (MacNeil) to keep the Porsche brand racing at the top level of GT competition in IMSA. I am looking forward to the challenge and am excited to add IMSA to our racing schedule in 2021.”
Porsche previously announced its departure from IMSA at the end of the 2020 season citing the economic fallout of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.
The addition of the 911 RSR will bring the count of full-season commitments for racecars in the GTLM Class to at least five with Corvette Racing and BMW each fielding two-car teams. A one-off GTLM entry from Ferrari is also expected for the Rolex 24 at Daytona later this month.
Source:
IMSA
Related:
Porsche to Pull Out of the IMSA WeatherTech Series at the End of 2020
[VIDEO] See All the Checkered Flags from Corvette Racing’s Amazing 2020 Season
Tandy Set to Join Corvette Racing in No. 4 C8.R for Full-Season Run
-
Weather Tech Racing, welcome to GTLM the Porsche Factory teams left after having a hard time winning against the Corvette Team and your RSR should be a great competitor for the C8R Covette Team under new leadership. Good Luck!
That is great news I am glad they managed to keep a car going. They certainly have enough money to give a little back to their brand lovers. The IMSA races I go to have a huge Porsche following. Unlike Ford who left Ganassi and the GT fans high and dry.
Anyone know if BMW is going to run a full schedule?
Great news, Porsche has a very big following and it’s great to have them in the GTLM series.
I thought this was CORVETTE blog??? Why am I seeing this??
Comments are closed.