Porsche’s Head of Factory Motorsport, Pascal Zurlinden, has reaffirmed Porsche’s commitment to GT racing amidst uncertainty about the discipline’s future regulations.
With manufacturer interest in the GTE formula dwindling in recent years, the future for GT-based motorsport has become a hot topic of discussion, as some argue that time has come to move away drom the ACO-based GTE ruleset and more towards the global FIA GT3 ruleset.
IMSA became the first major international series to make that decision, abandoning its ACO-based GTLM category at the end of the year in favor of its new, GT3-based GTD Pro category.
Additionally, as manufacturer interest moves towards the imminent arrival of the LMDh category, which has already seen the likes of Porsche, Audi and BMW committed, there is a degree of uncertainty over what the next step in global GT regulations will be.
Speaking ahead of the Eight Hours of Portimao, Zurlinden expressed the opinion that, no matter the regulations and even as manufacturer interest moves towards prototypes, Porsche will continue to race the 911, either in customer or works form.
“For Porsche, it is really important that the 911 is racing, we see it worldwide,” Zurlinden said.
“And even without a Pro category, as you can see in IMSA, sometimes our customers we are supporting and who are racing, like the WeatherTech [Racing] programme. With the 911, they beat the factory teams at Sebring a few months ago.
“So I see it always as an option. If it’s a works entry, or a customer entry, but the 911, we will always continue racing. Whatever happens.”
Porsche is one of only two manufacturers currently remaining in the FIA World Endurance Championship’s GTE Pro category, but is no longer involved in the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship with a factory effort, as it ended its GTLM programme at the conclusion of the 2020 season.
It does actively support the WeatherTech Racing GTLM effort, which took a surprise victory in the Twelve Hours of Sebring earlier this year. It also offers factory support to a number of teams in the championship’s GTD category.
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