Porsche has announced its new driver lineup for the 2017 season.
Porsche Motorsport LMP will return in 2017 as the defending champions to tackle the nine rounds of the FIA World Endurance Championship WEC. The two Porsche 919 Hybrids will again compete with the starting numbers one and two.
The third recent addition, André Lotterer, has climbed to the top step of the Le Mans podium three times and was crowned champion of the WEC in 2012 as an Audi works driver. Lotterer and Tandy will share driving duties in the No.1 Porsche 919 Hybrid with the reigning World Endurance Champion Neel Jani.
Joining Earl Bamber and Brendon Hartley in the cockpit of the No.2 vehicle is Timo Bernhard.
Thanks to continuing development, next year's 919 represents another step in its technological evolution, featuring a completely new color design, an optimized aerokit, and the complete overhaul of almost all components. The vehicle will be officially unveiled in March at the WEC prologue, which is held for the first time in Monza, Italy.
Porsche also announced three new GT works drivers. With Earl Bamber and Nick Tandy moving to the LMP division and the return of a factory squad to the FIA WEC, new drivers have been signed on. Dirk Werner climbs back into the cockpit of a 911. Werner competed in Porsches from 2004 to 2009, during which time he secured the title of the 2006 Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland, won the GT title of the Grand Am Series in 2007 and 2009, and was awarded the Porsche Cup in 2009 as the best private driver. From 2010 to 2016 he competed for BMW as a works driver in various championships including the DTM and the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship.
Sven Müller has earned his promotion from Porsche junior to works driver. The German spent three years being trained by Porsche as a professional race driver and in 2016 took home the titles in the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland and in the international Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup.
In addition to its LMP1 commitments, Porsche will also send a factory squad to the 2017 FIA WEC rounds to tackle the GT world championship titles for the best driver and the most successful manufacturer, which will be awarded for the first time.
"This is a significant boost for our motorsport involvement and underlines that we have chosen the right platform with the WEC," said Michael Steiner, Member of the Executive Board for Research and Development at Porsche AG.
The Porsche Motorsport GT team will campaign a pair of new 911 RSR in the GTE-Pro class. The drivers confirmed so far for these seats are Michael Christensen, Frédéric Makowiecki and Richard Lietz.
For the fourth season, Porsche will take on the competition with a factory entry in the IMSA Weathertech SportsCar Championship. As in the FIA WEC, Porsche Motorsport GT fields two brand-new 911 RSR. Sharing the cockpit of the No.911 vehicle are Patrick Pilet and Dirk Werner. At the particularly long events such as the Daytona 24 Hours, the 12 Hours of Sebring, Watkins Glen and Petit Le Mans, the duo will receive support from Frédéric Makowiecki.
The regular drivers in the No.912 vehicle are Kévin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor, with Richard Lietz joining them for the four long-distance classics. The season-opening race is the 24 Hours of Daytona in January.
2017 Porsche driver lineup
LMP1 - 919 Hybrid No.1
Neel Jani
André Lotterer
Nick Tandy
LMP1 – 919 Hybrid No.2
Earl Bamber
Timo Bernhard
Brendon Hartley
GT works drivers
Jörg Bergmeister
Michael Christensen
Romain Dumas
Kévin Estre
Wolf Henzler
Richard Lietz
Frédéric Makowiecki
Sven Müller
Patrick Pilet
Patrick Long
Laurens Vanthoor
Dirk Werner
12/04/16
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