BX24049 - Porsche 911 GTE Le Mans 2018

The 86th 24 Hours of Le Mans was held in 2018. While Japanese fans remember the race as the event where Toyota finally secured its long-awaited first overall victory, there was another major story that captured attention at Le Mans that year. Porsche, a Le Mans stalwart and one of the race's most successful manufacturers, shifted its focus to the GT categories from 2018 onward. The year also marked the 70th anniversary of the company's founding. The car chosen to take on the 24 Hours of Le Mans in this milestone year was the Porsche 911 RSR. Although it retained the familiar appearance of the production 911, the 911 RSR was a purpose-built, single-seat racing machine developed specifically for competition in the LM-GTE class of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in the United States. Its powertrain layout also differed significantly from that of the road-going 911. Instead of the production car's traditional rear-engine configuration, it was powered by a 4.0-liter water-cooled flat-six engine mounted ahead of the rear axle in a mid-engine layout.

Porsche entered four 911 RSRs in pursuit of victory in the GTE class. Cars No. 93 and No. 94 wore the team's standard factory livery of white with black and red accents, while the remaining two cars featured special heritage liveries. Car No. 91 carried the familiar white-and-blue design, while car No. 92 appeared in the iconic Pink Pig livery. Faithfully revived from legendary Porsche race cars of the past, these historic colour schemes attracted considerable attention from fans who remembered Porsche's earlier successes.

In qualifying, car No. 91 (Gianmaria Bruni/Frédéric Makowiecki/Richard Lietz) secured pole position, with car No. 92 (Kévin Estre/Michael Christensen/Laurens Vanthoor) taking second place. Car No. 93 (Patrick Pilet/Nick Tandy/Earl Bamber) qualified sixth, while car No. 94 (Romain Dumas/Timo Bernhard/Sven Müller) qualified eighth, giving Porsche four 911 RSRs among the leading positions on the grid.

When the race got underway on June 16, Porsche's 911 RSR armada battled fiercely against class rivals from Ford, Ferrari, and Aston Martin. As the race progressed, the fight for GTE-Pro honours gradually came down to two retro-liveried Porsche entries, cars No. 91 and No. 92. Then, at 3:00 p.m. on June 17, exactly 24 hours after the start, the No. 92 car, which had started second in the GTE-Pro class, crossed the finish line after a near-flawless performance, having led much of the race and securing Porsche's 106th class victory at Le Mans. Finishing second was the pole-sitting No. 91 car. The result gave Porsche a commanding 1-2 finish in the GTE-Pro class with the 911 RSR. Combined with its retro graphics, it once again impressed upon the audience the tradition and strength of Porsche at Le Mans.