24h Le Mans
Like every year, Porsche has organized a training camp for all official drivers recruited to take the wheel of a 911, which in 2017 will boast a new look. As of yesterday, many previous class winners, and even overall winners, at the 24 Hours of Le Mans have begun preparations for the 2017 season at Tenerife, one of the islands within the Canaries.
Frank-Steffen Walliser, Vice-President of Motorsport at Porsche, is closely watching the three drivers currently confirmed for the two Porsche 911s entered in the 24 Hours: Richard Lietz, three-time class winner at Le Mans in 2007, 2010 and 2013 and winner of the 2015 FIA Endurance GT Drivers Cup in the World Endurance Championship (WEC); Michael Christensen; and Frédéric Makowiecki with his two class podium finishes at the 24 Hours. The first two have worked together since 2015, but will separated moving forward.
Also taking part in the training camp are official Porsche drivers in the U.S. by way of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, such as Patrick Pilet (who tweeted a photo), winner in the GTLM class (the equivalent of the LM GTE Pro class), as was his employer in 2015, and Kévin Estre, and those who will represent the German manufacturer in private teams like Wolf Henzler, victorious at Le Mans in LM GTE Pro in 2010 along with Richard Lietz.
Lastly, two drivers whose program has not yet been announced for the upcoming season are also testing under the leadership of Professor Frank Mayer, in charge of the medical aspects of driver preparation: Jörg Bergmeister, with one victory and two class podium finishes at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (who celebrated his birthday yesterday), and Romain Dumas, two-time overall winner at the 24 Hours, in 2010 with Audi and in 2016 with Porsche.
Photo (Copyright - Porsche): Porsche group photo at the 2017 training camp in the Canaries.
