New Porsche GT3 to Debut at Nürburgring This Weekend

Porsche has confirmed that its new GT3 car will make its race debut in this weekend’s NLS round at the Nürburgring, ahead of its global rollout to customer teams next year.

Manthey Racing will run a single 992-generation Porsche 911 GT3 R in the four-hour ADAC Barbarossapreis race on Saturday.

Factory drivers Julien Andlauer and Frederic Makowiecki will share the wheel for the new car’s first outing in a competitive event, which forms part of its testing and development program to get ready for customer usage next season.

It is expected to run in the SP-X class for special and non-homologated vehicles, outside of the main SP9 category which is reserved for FIA-homologated GT3 machinery.

Porsche 911 GT3 R project manager Sebastian Golz told Sportscar365 earlier this year that the manufacturer was likely to give its new car a test in race conditions ahead of its official introduction in 2023, identifying the NLS and 24H Series as potential arenas.

The German marque’s outgoing 991.2-generation Porsche 911 GT3 R was given a pre-homologation race debut in a 2018 round of the 24H Series, ahead of its 2019 debut.

Manthey also ran the car on that occasion while Robert Renauer, Alfred Renauer and Ralf Bohn from privateer Herberth Motorsport shared driving duties with Mathieu Jaminet.

Porsche revealed technical details of the new Type-992 model in July, including a 4.2-liter flat-six boxer engine that has a slightly larger displacement than its 991.2 predecessor.