Herberth to Make Rolex 24 Debut with NGT

Photo: Porsche

Herberth Motorsport will make its Rolex 24 at Daytona debut in January, entering a 2019-spec Porsche 911 GT3 R in partnership with NGT Motorsport.

The team will field a Porsche for Juergen Haering, Edward Lewis Brauner, team principal Alfred Renauer and two additional drivers, including a Porsche factory driver.

“It’s the first time for us to do it with our own team. It’s not the first time for NGT, and we’ll share the crew so there will be a few guys from Herberth Motorsport,” Renauer told Sportscar365.

“Most of the equipment is from NGT, and there are also some of the Manthey guys because they know the new car. They did all the tests.

“I’ve been there only as a visitor, I’ve never driven there in a race before.”

Porsche’s Head of Motorsport Dr. Frank-Steffen Walliser told Sportscar365 recently that the manufacturer expects between five and seven of its new GT3 cars for Daytona.

Herberth will receive its first of three new Porsche GT3s soon and will send the car directly to Daytona in time for the race.

It will use a further two cars for the full 24H GT Series, including the Hankook 24 Hours of Dubai, which takes place two weeks prior to the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season-opener.

While Daytona will mark Herberth’s IMSA debut, Alfred’s twin brother, Robert, was part of Wright Motorsports’ lineup in the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup races this year.

Blancpain GT, Kyalami 9H Entries Planned

Alfred Renauer said Herberth is also planning at least one car for the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup, and is particularly keen to participate in the inaugural Kyalami 9 Hours in November.

“We want to go to Kyalami, and for sure Spa,” Renauer said regarding the team’s Intercontinental GT Challenge plans.

“Laguna is too close to the season openers. If you have a new car you have to go testing and figure out everything, so it’s not the right moment for us as a team to make Laguna.

“All of our customers are big fans of Kyalami, so I think it’s nearly fixed. Ninety percent there. Maybe two cars.

“It depends a little bit about what we do in Blancpain. One car is for sure a Pro-Am car, but the other car, I don’t know what it will be in the end.”

Porsche has put an increased focus on using local teams for IGTC races, instead of using the same team all season, for all races apart from Kyalami, owing to the lack of teams in the region.

Jake Kilshaw

Jake Kilshaw is a UK-based journalist. He is a graduate of Politics and International Relations.