Hartog, Christensen in Manthey GTD Pro Call-Up for Watkins Glen

Photo: Porsche

Loek Hartog will make his IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship debut, subbing in Manthey Racing’s GTD Pro class Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo along with Michael Christensen, due to two of the German squad’s drivers competing in the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.

The ex-Porsche Motorsport North America Selected driver and current Porsche works driver Christensen will join Klaus Bachler at the wheel of the No. 911 ‘Grello’ entry for the third leg of the Michelin Endurance Cup.

It comes as both Thomas Preining and Ricardo Feller will be on 24 Hours of Spa duty next weekend aboard a Lionspeed GP Porsche, in what has come as a significant clash for GT3 teams and manufacturers.

Hartog, the 2024 Porsche Carrera Cup North America champion, told Sportscar365 that he knew of the opportunity for “quite some time” because of the conflicting weekend.

It will mark the 23-year-old Dutchman’s highest profile drive to date in sports car racing, although he holds previous experience with the team in Europe, including at last year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.

“I think for me, personally, this is the biggest reward and it feels even bigger than being acknowledged by an OEM,” the 2025 Porsche Cup winner told Sportscar365.

“Especially for my position, it’s stepping into a big role and I’m taking it quite seriously.

“The approach of course will not change but definitely the environment will be new as it will be my first IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race.

“Then doing GTD Pro in a car that’s capable and already shown it’s capable of winning in the championship…

“I know the guys, of course, and for me it’s a big honor to drive a legendary car in that sense.

“I’m just going to enjoy it. It will be cool to see my name, at the end of this month, on a car which I’ve been a fan of as a kid, and hopefully the first of many more times in the future.”

Christensen, who was dropped from Porsche Penske Motorsport’s LMDh lineup at the end of last year, will be making his second start in Porsche GT3 machinery this year, after contesting last month’s Nürburgring 24.

The No. 911 Porsche claimed GTD Pro class victory in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, Manthey’s last WeatherTech Championship outing.

The team’s No. 912 Porsche in GTD will also see a lineup change in Richard Lietz sub for Morris Schuring, who is also Spa-bound.

Lietz will team up with Ryan Hardwick and Riccardo Pera, who are committed for the full five-round Endurance Cup.

Manthey director of racing Patrick Arkenau downplayed the Watkins Glen/Spa clash, as the German squad is not entering a car under its own banner in the Belgian endurance classic.

“For us as a team this year, it’s not such a big thing because we will not be participating as Manthey itself in the 24 Hours of Spa,” he told Sportscar365.

“We do support some other Porsche teams with engineering support so they just rent engineers from us and we’re running their cars but as a team we will not be participating there, which makes it a bit easier for us.

“On the driver’s side, it’s always difficult when two big series with such big interest for the manufacturers are clashing. There’s always a compromise.

“I think we’ve found a very good solution and feel we have a very strong lineup for Watkins Glen and can also keep the momentum from IMSA going in the same direction.”

Stephen Lickorish contributed to this report

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