ATLANTA – Porsche will cease its factory involvement with the 911 RSR in the GT Le Mans class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at the end of the season.
The current season will not be affected.
The decision is part of Porsche’s efforts to overcome the effects that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the sports car manufacturer.
The Porsche factory team is the reigning IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GT Le Mans champions in both the team and driver classifications and currently ranked second in the class standings. The American factory Porsche program is overseen by CORE Autosport.
The support of customer teams in the GTD class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, as well as the Michelin Pilot Challenge and the GT3 Cup Challenge USA, will continue unchanged in cooperation with Porsche Motorsport North America and Porsche Cars North America.
“The decision to halt our factory involvement in the IMSA series was not an easy one for us,” said Fritz Enzinger, Vice President Porsche Motorsport. “With a view to the current corporate situation in connection with the coronavirus pandemic, it is only logical for Porsche Motorsport to make a contribution to coping with the economic fallout. We’ve openly discussed our exit with all involved. At this point, we’d like to convey our sincere thanks to Jim France and the colleagues at IMSA for their understanding. Porsche belongs in endurance racing. We will work hard to ensure that this is only a temporary Auf Wiedersehen.”
“For us sportspeople, such endings are always painful,” said Pascal Zurlinden, Director Factory Motorsport. “For our operational team CORE Autosport and everyone involved, I’m very sorry that we were unable to make this decision with more lead time. At the same time, I’d like to thank everyone affected by this for their professional handling of this situation.”
“We hope that this season’s races will still be contested so that we don’t leave the IMSA stage soundlessly,” said Steffen Höllwarth, Head of Operations, IMSA Championship at Porsche Motorsport. “Of course, such decisions impact the mood, but we’re all professionals and we’re now focusing on the remaining races of the current season.”