Another World Endurance Title for Manthey Porsche
Manthey Porsche claimed its second WEC LMGT3 title on the trot in Bahrain wgwere its Hypercars checked out with a lackluster run.
Manthey Porsche claimed its second World LMGT3 Endurance Championship title on the trot on a day when its Hypercars checked out of the series with a lackluster performance that saw it end third on the top class chase.
While Porsche suffered in Hypercar, its LMGT3 day went far better when Ryan Hardwick, Richard Lietz and Riccardo Pera incredibly drove their Manthey 911 GT3 R from 18th on the grid to finish fourth in class and clinch a back-to-back title. Ahead of them, Jose Maria Lopez, Clemens Schmid and Razvan Umbrarescu scored Lexus’ second LMGT3 win of the season to end a fine day for Toyota.
They came out on top of an epic race-long battle with Hodenius Berry Martin Mercedes-AMG GT3 and the James Robichon Drudi Aston Martin. The champion Porsche ended fourth from the surviving Vista AF Corse Ferrari Heriau Mann Rovera Ferrari and the Keating Edga Juncadella Corvette. Porsche’s Iron Dames also produced an impressive comeback as Célia Martin, Rahel Frey, and Michelle Gatting brought their Manthey-run 911 GT3 R home twelfth.
Manthey Racing ‘s WEC Success Story is Hard to Beat
‟Manthey Racing’s success story in the LMGT3 category is hard to beat,” Porsche 911 GT3 R project manager Sebastian Golz confirmed. “Two class wins at Le Mans and the championship titles in the two years since the new LMGT3 class was established is no mean feat. Manthey from Meuspath and Porsche Motorsport in Weissach can be proud of the foundation we have built and the results they have fought for on track.”
It was however not the swansong Porsche may have expected as the factory Penske team exited the Hypercar class after three strong seasons including the 2024 driver’s title. Carrying maximum Balance of Performance mass in a system the team criticized on announcing its withdrawal, the two 963 Hypercars could only look on as Gazoo Toyota stormed to a 1-2 off pole position to steal the championship second.
It’s the second year on a row that Toyota has taken a place from Porsche at the last round as the Japanese team literally stole the title last year. Sweet revenge, perhaps, for Toyota losing a first Le Mans win to Porsche at quite literally the 25th Hour of Le Mans back in 2017. Ferrari meantime came home third fourth and fifth as it engineered its 50 car into third to ensure it stole the drivers title third from the 6 Porsche as its cars took the top three drivers championship positions. ‟Today, we simply didn’t have the pace to fight at the front,” vice president of Porsche Motorsport Thomas Laudenbach rued. ‟But looking back over the past three years fills us with pride.
Porsche Endured a Bahrain WEC Hypercar Day to Forget
“We were the first to win a FIA WEC race with an LMDh car; in 2024 we claimed the drivers’ title; and in Le Mans we came so close to overall victory with second place. My compliments go to the entire team for these outstanding performances. Our Porsche 963 has also set the benchmark for LMDh race cars in the FIA WEC. Congratulations as well to our GT3 customer team Manthey on once again securing the championship titles in the World Endurance GT Championship.”
‟I would like to sincerely thank the entire team for these three years in the WEC,” director of LMDh factory motorsport Urs Kuratle added. ‟I must especially thank Penske, Multimatic and all our partners who have supported us throughout this exciting and eventful journey. Congratulations to Ferrari on winning the title and to Toyota on today’s race victory.”
‟This was, for the foreseeable future, our final appearance in the World Endurance Championship,” Porsche Penske managing director Jonathan Diuguid concludes. ‟Unfortunately, the top result we had hoped for eluded us. Overall, however, it’s been a fantastic and successful period. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with this outstanding group of passionate people.”
Will Penske Porsche be Back in the WEC Soon?
Diuguid’s choice of words, along with the fact that Porsche has openly criticized the WEC Balance of Performance system, and the fact that Penske Porsche will continue in the US IMSA Hypercar series for 2026, lead some to suspect that Porsche has elected to be the sacrificial lamb, so to say, in the teams in general’s effort of the to see the end of BoP.
It leaves Porsche’s participation in the Le Mans 24 Hour with its IMSA machines, a plausible privateer WEC effort, and a WEC comeback under an improved system in the short term, on the table. And fans hoping that all of the above will happen sooner, rather than later.
Photos: Porsche
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