Be afraid, diesel donkeys, be very afraid. Porsche, the most successful manufacturer in Le Mans history with 16 wins, is to return to La Sarthe in 2014 with an all-new works-run LMP1 sports prototype - and it could even be a hybrid.
Porsche executive board president Matthias Müller emphasised: “Motorsport has always been an essential part of the Porsche brand, so for us it was only a matter of time before we returned as a factory to the premier league of endurance racing.
More recently Porsche, achieved considerable success from 2006 to 2010 with the factory-backed Penske Racing team in the US and several customer teams worldwide, running the RS Spyder in the LMP2 class.
Board Member for research and development Wolfgang Hatz said: “With the RS Spyder we proved that our motorsport engineers at Weissach are among the industry's leaders. We were the first to run a high-revving race engine with direct fuel injection and now, with the 911 GT3 R Hybrid, we've adapted a new drive technology for endurance racing and achieved a considerable reduction in consumption - which means longer between pit stops.”
Porsche Motorsport boss Hartmut Kristen says it will be one of the most challenging development programmes in the company's history.
“We're looking forward to developing new technologies and building on the success of the RS Spyder. We'll start by researching the various concept alternatives for the new car; depending on the exact details of the 2014 regulations, one possible option would be to integrate our hybrid technology.
Hans Herrmann and Richard Attwood claimed the first outright victory for Porsche in 1970 with the legendary 917 short-tail. The 16th and most recent win was taken by Laurent Aiello, Stéphane Ortelli and Allan McNish in 1998 with a 911 GT1 - and the RS Spyder won the LMP2 class in 2008 and 2009.