Project 1 Motorsport Files for Bankruptcy

Team Project 1 Motorsport, best known for its exploits in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Porsche machinery, has announced it has filed for bankruptcy.

The German outfit issued a statement on Monday evening ahead of the new WEC season that both the 2018-19 GTE Am title-winning team, along with sister track day experience company Project 1 Drivetime, have been forced to close their doors after 30 years.

The statement read: “After numerous discussions with investors, manufacturers, partners and friends, we were unable to achieve a positive result for the continuation of our companies Project 1 Motorsport and Project 1 Drivetime.

“The generally difficult economic situation, which also affects motorsport, has also contributed to this. For these reasons, we unfortunately have to file for insolvency for both Project 1 GmbHs.

“It pains us all the more to have to do this in our 30th anniversary year.”

Project 1 secured the GTE Am title in the 2018-19 season, its first in the WEC, with Jorg Bergmeister, Patrick Lindsey and Egidio Perfetti sharing a Porsche 911 RSR.

The same trio also won their class in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2019, before the team expanded to a second car for the 2019-20, ’21 and ’22 seasons.

Its final win came at Bahrain in 2022 before it slimmed down to a single car for 2023 run in partnership with AO Racing.

Outside of the WEC, Project 1 enjoyed success in Porsche Supercup and domestic Carrera Cup competition, while it also expanded into the DTM last year, fielding BMW M4 GT3s for two-time series champion Marco Wittmann and Sandro Holzem.

It also ran BMWs in the recently-concluded Asian Le Mans Series.

Project 1’s statement concluded: “We would like to thank everyone involved and our fans from the bottom of our hearts. The expertise of our employees will remain part of motorsport in 2024.”