Manthey Blancpain GT Program Confirmed

Photo: Porsche

Manthey Racing will take on the Blancpain GT Series next year, with Porsche having confirmed a single works-supported 911 GT3 R for the Endurance Cup races.

Dirk Werner, Romain Dumas and Fred Makowiecki will pilot the Pro class entry in the five-round championship, which kicks off at Monza in April, marking Porsche’s long-awaited first all-pro effort in the SRO Motorsports Group-run series.

The same trio will form the lineup in Porsche’s Intercontinental GT Challenge program, which will utilize local teams for each of the four rounds next year.

As revealed by Sportscar365 last month, the German manufacturer had been closing in on an expansion to Blancpain GT, thanks to its increased focus on GT racing.

Head of Porsche Motorsport Dr. Frank-Steffen Walliser believes a factory-backed entry will help bring additional customers into the series.

Only a single Porsche, a Pro-Am entry from Herberth Motorsport, took part in the entire Endurance Cup this year, aside from Team 75 Bernhard’s one-off entry in the Total 24 Hours of Spa.

He explained they gauge their success in each series if it at least matches Porsche’s roughly 15 percent global market share in GT3 car sales.

“If we are over 15 percent, we are doing a good job, like in Pirelli World Challenge,” Walliser told Sportscar365.

“If we are under, we have to improve. With the Blancpain GT Series, we’re way under. We have to come back and be strong.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John