24h Le Mans
Among the cars involved in the ACO's 110th anniversary at Retromobile, at the gangway between Hall 1 and Hall 2.2 of the Paris Expo at the Porte de Versailles, can be found the No. 76 Porsche, winner in the LM GTE Am class in 2013 at the 90th anniversary edition of the 24 Hours. That year, this 911 was at the center of a highlight moment of the German manufacturer's history at Le Mans.
First appearing in 1963, the Porsche 911 achieved a fantastic one-two at the 2013 24 Hours. The No. 76 911 GT3 RSR of Raymond Narac, Christophe Bourret and Jean-Karl Vernay had experienced a difficult start to the week however, following an incident caused by a prototype at the end of Thursday's qualifying. But the Imsa Performance Matmut team repaired the car on Friday. After a cautious start to the race, the No. 76 Porsche reached the top 3 after the fourth hour. During the night, it moved into the class leader spot and stayed there through the checkered flag.
The 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans also marked Porsche's official return in the LM GTE Pro class, with a factory team of two 911 RSRs. The car driven by Romain Dumas-Marc Lieb-Richard Lietz (No. 92) carried out a striking duel with the Aston Martin driven by Peter Dumbreck-Darren Turner-Stefan Mücke on Sunday morning. At the very end of the race, victory finally settled in Porsche's camp thanks to a weather-related ace in the hole: when the rain started up again, the Aston Martin made a pit stop to change tyres while the two factory Porsches remained on the track. They scored a superb one-two, with winners Dumas-Lieb-Lietz and second, Jörg Bergmeister-Patrick Pilet-Timo Bernhard.
This double-win opened a new chapter at Le Mans for Porsche, winner of...100 victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, all classes considered since its first appearance in 1951.
Jean-Philippe Doret / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO
Photo: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, SUNDAY JUNE 23 2013, RACE. The win for the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR in the LM GTE Am class amounted to 25th place overall.
