Porsche Launches “Racing for Charity” Project for Le Mans

Photo: Porsche

Porsche has launched a “Racing for Charity” project for next month’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, which could see the German manufacturer donate upwards of €900,000 ($982,000 USD) to charities for seriously ill children based on the number of laps its three factory Porsche 963s complete in the race.

Coming on the 75th anniversary of Porsche sports cars, Porsche has pledged to donate €750 ($820 USD) per lap completed by the Porsche Penske Motorsport operation.

Donated funds will be distributed between three organizations: Kinderherzen retten e.V., Interplast Germany e.V. and the Ferry Porsche Foundation.

With the Hypercar class winner likely to complete around 380 laps, it could result in a total of 1,140 laps should all three specially-liveried Porsche 963s finish without issues.

“The 24 Hours of Le Mans is one of the biggest sporting events in the world and the greatest challenge in endurance racing. For Porsche, Le Mans is one of the most demanding testing grounds for new technologies that will eventually flow into series production,” said Michael Steiner, Member of the Executive Board, Research and Development at Porsche AG.

“On the occasion of the 100th anniversary at Le Mans, we want to convey a message and call attention to selected organizations that are particularly committed to social issues.”

The Kinderherzen retten e.V. is based in Freiburg, Germany. This association works closely with the local university clinic there. Kinderherzen retten e.V. helps children suffering from heart conditions in medically less developed countries to lead a healthy life with a one-off operation.

For this operation, the children are brought to the Freiburg clinic in Germany. The highly specialized team of doctors has already assisted 260 children since the association was founded 21 years ago.

The medical professionals from Interplast Germany e.V. carry out plastic surgery on a voluntary basis and treat, among other things, injuries and burns in children from crisis regions and developing countries.

The operations team members are experts who step in when highly specialized help is urgently needed but not yet available.

With one mission, up to 100 children and young people can undergo operations in their respective countries. Interplast France, based in Le Mans, will also receive support for one mission through the “Racing for Charity” initiative.

The Ferry Porsche Foundation, meanwhile, was established in 2018 to mark the 70th anniversary of the Porsche brand.

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