Porsche 911 GT3R Hybrid to Race at Petit Le Mans

Porsche announced today that its 911 GT3R Hybrid racecar will race for the first time in North America at the Series signature event – Petit Le Mans on October 2 at Road Atlanta.

After debuting in April at Germany’s Nürburgring race circuit in a six-hour event, the Porsche Hybrid challenged the 24 Hours of Nürburgring in May.

It earned worldwide acclaim with its performance that had it leading many hours of the race – at times by a significant margin – until the closing two hours when a combustion engine issue forced the car to retire.

The race at Road Atlanta runs over a distance of 1,000 miles or a maximum of ten hours. The Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid will not be eligible for points, as hybrid technology is not yet included in the GT regulations.

For November 7, Porsche then plans to race the 911 GT3 R Hybrid at the season final of the new Le Mans International Cup, the six hour race in Zhuhai, China. Again here, the vehicle is not competing for points.

The Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid, featuring two electric motors at the front axle each developing 60 kilowatts to supplement the 480 horsepower normally-aspirated rear-engine, expressly typifies the philosophy of "Porsche Intelligent Performance": Under braking, the 911 GT3 RHybrid converts kinetic energy into electrical energy and stores it in a flywheel. During acceleration, this energy is automatically delivered to the front wheels, supporting the combustion engine. This leads to a reduction in fuel consumption and increases the cruising range. Moreover, drivers can manually utilize the stored energy with a boost-paddle on the steering wheel for overtaking.