Porsche Confirms Increased IGTC, Blancpain GT Involvement

Photo: Porsche

Porsche has confirmed a continued presence in Intercontinental GT Challenge while increasing its commitment to the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup, with two factory-crewed entries in both championships next year.

Announced Saturday during its annual “Night of Champions” awards dinner in Weissach, the German manufacturer will support two full-season driver lineups with yet-to-be-named teams.

Romain Dumas, Sven Mueller and Mathieu Jaminet will form one of the lineups, with Dirk Werner, Dennis Olsen and Matt Campbell in a second 2019-spec Porsche 911 GT3 R.

It marks an increase over this year’s commitment, which featured only a single full-season car run by Manthey Racing in both championships.

Head of Porsche Motorsport Dr. Frank-Steffen Walliser indicated to Sportscar365 last month that Manthey Racing was unlikely to contest the entire IGTC season next year, with the manufacturer set to rely more on locally-based teams for its 2019 program.

Manthey to Defend Nürburgring 24 Crown

Manthey, meanwhile, will defend its overall victory in the Nürburgring 24 with a two-car factory effort featuring a largely unchanged driver lineup.

Nick Tandy, Patrick Pilet, Fred Makowiecki and Richard Lietz will seek their second consecutive win as a quartet, while Earl Bamber, Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor will all return to the sister entry but joined by Michael Christensen.

The Dane replaces Romain Dumas in the lineup. 

In addition, Porsche will again support a number of customer teams in the race. 

A total of 45 of the new-for-2019 Porsche 911 GT3 Rs have already been sold since its public debut at the Nürburgring last year.

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