Niederhauser Moves to Porsche; Joins Rutronik

Patric Niederhauser has become a Porsche-contracted driver and will contest the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS with Rutronik Racing.

The Swiss driver is the latest to leave the Audi factory stable as the Ingolstadt marque winds down its factory GT3 program, announcing his move to Porsche via social media on Thursday.

That was followed on Friday by an announcement from Rutronik that Niederhauser will be part of its lineup for both the Sprint Cup and Endurance Cup legs of GT World Challenge Europe with a Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Niederhauser previously raced with the team in ADAC GT Masters in Audi machinery, winning the 2019 title alongside Kelvin van der Linde.

For the Sprint Cup races, Niederhauser will share driving duties with fellow Porsche-contracted driver Sven Mueller, while Julien Andlauer joins the pair for the five races that make up the Endurance Cup schedule.

“I’m really looking forward to competing in the GTWC together with Rutronik Racing,” said Niederhauser.

“This year I’m facing many new challenges and I’m even more pleased to be able to drive in a team with which I share many great memories and successes and with whom I feel at home.

“Together with Julien we were already able to celebrate a podium at the NLS and I always had exciting duels with Sven on the track for many years. They are two really fast teammates and I can’t wait to fight for victories together in the GTWC.”

Rutronik boss Klaus Graf added: “We are entering our second season with our Porsche 911 GT3 R with a very strong driver line-up for the Fanatec GT World Europe Challenge.

“All three drivers have already successfully competed in races with Rutronik Racing in the past. With the return of Patric Niederhauser, we would like to build on the successes of the past together.

“With Patric and Sven we have two very fast and experienced GT drivers in both the Sprint and Endurance classifications. They are the constant, which is reinforced by the support of Julien in the endurance races, who also knows the team very well.

“I am very confident that we will fight for race wins and championship titles.”