1. They play in a different league. Porsche is not only the king of iconic street vehicles, but also the supreme sports car racing brand. No other brand, let alone the track, can compete with them in the record books with over 30,000 race victories.
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Porsche had six legendary cars and 19 victories in the Le Mans 24 hours.
Porsche holds the record for the most victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with 19 courtesy to six of their most illustrious race cars.
Porsche currently competes in LMGTE Pro for the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the FIA WEC and is looking to make a name in the new Hypercar class.
Porsche has had the most success at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with 19 overall and 108 class victories. Here is a look back at six of the manufacturer’s most recognizable racing vehicles in honor of its return to competitive racing at the highest level.
Race cars from Porsche
No doubt about it, this is our Porsche month. Prior to taking on the most difficult topic, the greatest 911s in history, we wrote about all the beautiful 911s you can get now, followed by the best non-911 Porsches. Porsche race vehicles are now in play, and oh, was this one challenging. Nobody does it better than Porsche, despite the fact that many automakers prefer to boast about how their “racing legacy” influences their production cars. They have an unmatched history in motorsports, and their creations have taken home thousands of victories throughout the years. Porsche has excelled in several sports, including Formula 1, Le Mans, Daytona, Nurburgring, GT Racing, and Rally.
Porsche began competing with lightweight variants of the 356 but the “giant killer” 550 Spyder was when things really took off. Through the middle of the 1960s, Porsche’s race program was centered on purpose-built race cars like the 550, 718, RS, and RSK models.
Porsche first increased the size of their 8-cylinder flat engine to 2.2 liters in the 907 before creating the 908 in 1968 with a full three liters. In 1969, the 4.5 liter flat 12 917, based on an 8 cylinder flat engine, was released. The Porsche 917, which delivered Porsche their maiden victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, is regarded as one of the most iconic racing vehicles of all time. The 917 went on to decimate the rivals in the fierce Can-Am racing circuit.
Since the beginning of that model’s history, Porsche has enjoyed success with 911 racing variations, taking first place in the Monte Carlo rally. With the Porsche 911 Carrera RSR, Porsche won the Targa Florio, Daytona, and Sebring in the 1970s. In the Porsche 935, the 911 went on to win Le Mans in 1979. Since then, the 911 has enjoyed tremendous success in thousands of motorsports series, both by Porsche and by privateers. In addition to its official race programs it competes in, Porsche still produces specialized racing versions that eager purchasers can buy and drive in international races. Porsche’s recent success in LMP1 with its Le Mans-winning 919 Hybrid demonstrates that it is still competitive.
In honor of this legacy, we’ve chosen the best racing vehicles Porsche has ever built and told you all about them. But first, a little introduction to Porsche racing.
Porsche in racing
The majority of Porsche’s victories in the various motorsport disciplines have come in long-distance competitions.
Porsche’s early involvement in motorsports was limited to providing relatively small engines to underdog competitors until the late 1960s, but by the mid-1950s the company had already experienced some measure of success in the world of sports car racing, most notably in the Carrera Panamericana and Targa Florio, two historic races that later served as the inspiration for the names of modern street cars. They became a force to be reckoned with thanks to the Porsche 917 of 1969, winning the first of more than a dozen 24 Hours of Le Mans, more than any other business, in 1970. Porsche dominated the 1970s with the 911 Carrera RS and Porsche 935 Turbo, and even defeated sports prototypes, a category into which Porsche entered the successful 936, 956, and 962 models.
The largest manufacturer of race cars nowadays is Porsche. Porsche constructed 195 race cars in 2006 for various international motorsports competitions, and in 2007 Porsche is anticipated to build at least 275 race cars specifically.
It was historically extremely rare for factory-entered Porsche racing cars to participate at consecutive races in the same specification because Porsche views racing as a crucial component of ongoing engineering development. Almost always, some part of the car was being developed, either for the upcoming race programs or as a proof of concept for upcoming road vehicles.
The Ultimate Guide to Every Year & Every Result for Porsche at Le Mans
The Circuit de la Sarthe is located in the county of Sarthe, 130 miles/207 kilometers west of Paris, next to the city of Le Mans. The course is primarily made up of rural roads that are closed for the event and portions of the permanent Bugatti circuit. With 16 outright victories, one as a Dauer, and two with a Porsche engine in a TWR chassis, Porsche is the most successful automaker at Le Mans. There have been 14 course variants up to this point, and Porsche has participated on the last 12. Between 1951 and 2019, 814 Porsches have begun the twice-around-the-clock race.
The track was 17262 meters long when the inaugural 24-hour event was held in 1923. The first track modification took place in 1929, and the new track’s length was 16340 m. The track’s length was reduced in 1932 to 13492 meters (-2848 meters), where it has remained for the most part ever since. The fast turn sequence known as the Esses going into the Tertre Rouge right-hander just before the long Hunaudieres straight was new for the third iteration of the Circuit de la Sarthe.
In a thrilling Daytona 24 hour race, Porsche triumphs in both GT classes.
Porsche has won more than 100 class victories at the 24 Hours of Daytona, and this past weekend, in the 60th edition of the twice-daily endurance race, our favorite German sports car manufacturer added two more to that total. Let’s talk about what occurred, how it happened, and how the GTD Pro victory was nearly forfeited on the final lap now that I’ve back home after celebrating the triumph with the teams and supporters at Daytona!
Thankfully for everyone involved, both Saturday and Sunday were dry and sunny despite the unusually cold Daytona 24. More than half of the field of 61 vehicles were GT cars, therefore there was traffic almost everywhere on the circuit throughout the duration of the race. I’m very happy I was able to go down there and watch the race in person because it was simply insane to witness. Before we go any further, let’s all raise a glass to Pfaff Motorsports and Wright Motorsports for flying the P-car flag and winning the GTD Pro and GTD, respectively!
How many competitions did the Porsche 917 win?
Seven out of the ten races that the 917K participated in were victories. The 4.5 liter flat-12 was bored out to 4.9 liters and then 5 liters later in the 1970 season.
How many competitions have Porsche cars won to date?
Porsche continues to be a steadfastly and financially independent manufacturer of high-performance sportscars in an era where the majority of its rivals have been absorbed into larger manufacturers. Because it is what business founders Ferdinand Porsche and his son Ferdinand (“Ferry”) set out to build when they first opened shop with 200 employees in 1948, the Porsche name has come to be synonymous with sports vehicles and racecars.
The Volkswagen Beetle was created in 1931 by the senior Porsche, a mechanical engineer with expertise at Daimler-Benz who founded his own independent design and engineering company. He brought a half-century of expertise with innovation, from the practically unbeatable Auto Union Grand Prix automobiles of the 1930s to a four-wheel drive gasoline/electric hybrid car from the turn of the century.
The younger Porsche contributed significantly to the design of the 356—the first Porsche sportscar—and helped the fledgling business flourish. Even though it only had 40 horsepower from a rear-mounted, mildly modified Beetle engine, the first Porsche immediately gained notoriety for its nimble handling and characteristics that were nearly unheard of for sportscars at the time: comfort and reliability.
In the middle of the 1950s, Porsche debuted its own engines alongside more potent versions of the 356. A modern automotive legend, the Porsche 911, followed the 356. The rear-engine 911 evolved over three decades after being introduced in 1964, three years before Porsche unveiled a brand-new 911 Carrera. The 911 S (1967), the 911 Turbo (1974; 1976 in the United States), the first 911 Cabriolet (1983), and the first 911 Carrera 4 with all-wheel drive are all part of the lineage.
Starting with the four-cylinder 924 (1976) and the unrelated 928 (1978) equipped with the company’s first V-8 engine, Porsche developed a number of front-engine vehicles in the 1970s. From the 924, the more potent and sophisticated 944 and 944 Turbo, and then, in the early 1990s, the 968, emerged. Porsche abandoned the 968 and 928 in 1995 in order to concentrate on the development of the mid-engine Boxster and rear-engine 911.
Porsche is also a racing brand, and Porsche vehicles entered competitions practically right away. A rough estimate of 24,000 auto races have been won by Porsche vehicles to date, including more than 50 class victories at Le Mans.
How many championships has Porsche won?
This race car has competed in 72 races since its debut in 2013 and has won 21 victories and eight championship titles in the WEC Sports Car World Endurance Championship, the IMSA SportsCar Championship in the United States and Canada, and the European Le Mans Series.
How many Le Mans victories did the Porsche 919 claim?
Porsche currently has a total of 19 victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 2015, 2016 and 2017, the German automaker’s Porsche 919 Hybrid added three more triumphs to its resume. Here is a look at the amazing history of the automobile.
After winning the Manufacturers and Drivers championships this season in the World Endurance Championship, Porsche has made the decision to leave the LMP1 field. The German manufacturer won three world championships during its four years of competition, along with 17 victories in 34 races, seven one-two finishes, 20 pole positions, and 13 best in-race laps.
Three victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans stand out among these victories:
Relive the high points of the Porsche 919 Hybrid’s career in this movie, from its conception to its last race, via its victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Porsche will continue to compete in the LMGTE Pro class, as was announced during the “Night of Champions” last Saturday. In fact, four authorized Porsche 911 RSRs will compete in the 86th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Photo: The Porsche 919 Hybrid’s second victory at the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Which automaker won the most competitions?
The winner of the NASCAR Manufacturers’ Championship is chosen by the organization based on a points system that takes race results into account. In 1952, Hudson received the Manufacturers’ Championship for the first time.
For the purposes of the Championship, various car make/engine combinations are regarded as different manufacturers. The Manufacturer’s Championship points were up until the 2013 season determined by aggregating the points earned in each race by the driver who finished first or second for that manufacturer. The winning manufacturer receives nine points, while the manufacturer who placed second receives six points. Manufacturers who rank third and fourth respectively receive four and three points. From the 2014 season forward, NASCAR will follow the Owner’s Championships’ points system. According to this method, the top-finishing driver for each manufacturer receives all of the points their team earned during the race, plus extra points for victories and laps led.
Only nine different manufacturers have taken home the trophy in the 60 seasons that the championship has been given out. With 40 titles, Chevrolet has had the most success. Ford is the second-most prosperous, with 17 titles.