Porsche to return to Le Mans?

Psirus

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I've just seen this:
source
I've already thought a while ago: "Porsche needs to return, or they'll someday lose the title of most successful manufacturer".
And maybe the regulations change till then?I'll bet they'll be a lot more petrol-friendly when such a big player steps up to the ACO. We'll see.
 
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The news of the day! Finally the oil burners will get some serious petrol powered competition!
 
No, the GTE Porsches are here to stay and be a thorn in everyone's side at some point, so deal with it.

Oh I'm well aware of that, but I imagine that the privateer teams will start getting less support over time considering there's now a works Porsche team in another class. If I were Porsche I'd be trying to quietly roll back support for the GT cars as soon as possible because frankly, it's an embarrasment to the company, especially to the eurosnobs whom usually buy them.

EDIT: not saying anyone here whom buys one is a eurosnob, rather many of the people who DO buy Porsches are. See the GT-R / 911 Nuburgdickwaving competition for evidence of this.
 
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Oh I'm well aware of that, but I imagine that the privateer teams will start getting less support over time considering there's now a works Porsche team in another class. If I were Porsche I'd be trying to quietly roll back support for the GT cars as soon as possible because frankly, it's an embarrasment to the company, especially to the eurosnobs whom usually buy them.

EDIT: not saying anyone here whom buys one is a eurosnob, rather many of the people who DO buy Porsches are. See the GT-R / 911 Nuburgdickwaving competition for evidence of this.

The 911 is THE thing for Porsche still and I highly doubt they'd start cutting back on that. Most likely they'll keep the people working on the GT program doing their job and the same people responsible for the RS Spyder will focus on the new LMP1 effort. If Audi pulls out with Porsche coming in, it's more than likely that Porsche will get together with Joest again and they'd handle a lot of the work.
 
Which, judging from Audi Sport's current response to this announcement, is rather unlikely.

Yeah, I read about the decision being Porsche's independent decision but I'm still not sure if they'll both be around in 2014. Audi obviously won't yet confirm if they'll compete in 2014. Wouldn't make much sense for Audi to withdraw after their years of dominance but it'd still be strange if they'd compete against each other. Hopefully Audi will stay so we'll see more factory entries. It'd be an interesting situation seeing Porsche compete against Joest.
 
Oh alright. Good to see that they'll be staying in the sport and welcoming the new competition, although I am a bit surprised that VW Group executives allowed such a move.

It'll probably be Audi = Diesel LMP, Porsche = Petrol LMP.
 
It'll probably be Audi = Diesel LMP, Porsche = Petrol LMP.

With the differences being so minimal these days I'm a bit doubtful if they can ever come up with rules where petrols and diesels can fight on even ground. I'm sure they'll both use engines best suited to the rules.
 
Great news. Sportscars really is going from strength to strength with rumours about lots of different manufacturers coming in. Not surprising seeing as it offers much better value for money than Formula One does. I'd be over the moon if Ferrari confirmed an LMP1 car.
 
Yeah, I read about the decision being Porsche's independent decision but I'm still not sure if they'll both be around in 2014. Audi obviously won't yet confirm if they'll compete in 2014. Wouldn't make much sense for Audi to withdraw after their years of dominance but it'd still be strange if they'd compete against each other. Hopefully Audi will stay so we'll see more factory entries. It'd be an interesting situation seeing Porsche compete against Joest.

There is no reason Audi and Porsche couldn't compete completely independent of each other. While the street production has them intertwined, the racing outfits are largely independent from the actual manufacturer.
 
There is no reason Audi and Porsche couldn't compete completely independent of each other. While the street production has them intertwined, the racing outfits are largely independent from the actual manufacturer.

I know there's no reason why they absolutely couldn't compete at the same time but it's a completely different thing how smart it is so I'll believe it when I see it. What goes to the racing sections, despite working somewhat separate from the rest of the companies, they sure can't make decisions of this caliber on their own.
 
inb4 Kia prototype.

No really, this is cool. But it's gonna be a long wait.
 
this is awesome, but like everyone else, I'm interested to see what happens with Audi with Porsche coming into the LMP fray. I will, however, be very dissapointed if they don't get either Gulf or Martini & Rossi as their sponsor.
 
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