Proton Huber Competition is taking another step towards the 24 Hours of Le Mans by competing in the two Michelin Le Mans Cup races in the support programme of the endurance classic with a Porsche 911 GT3 R.

The 24 Hours of Le Mans is one of the world's biggest motorsport events. Every year, around 300.000 spectators make the pilgrimage to the capital of the Départements Sarthe to watch the endurance battle on the legendary race track, which largely runs along closed-off country roads. The support programme includes two 55-minute "Road to Le Mans" races, which count towards the Michelin Le Mans Cup championship. Proton Huber Competition will field a Porsche 911 GT3 R for Jörg Dreisow and Manuel Lauck for the entire season of the series.

"Starting here in front of around 300.000 spectators is something special for the whole team," says Team Principal Christoph Huber. "The 24 Hours of Le Mans has always been a goal of mine to compete there with my own team. After winning the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland race here in 2020 with Larry ten Voorde as part of the 24-hour race programme, we are now competing here at Le Mans with our GT3. This is the next step for us before we can hopefully contest the main race at some point and be part of this incredible show!"

The two sprint races developed chaotically on the tradition-steeped circuit. Thursday's race had to be cancelled after just a few laps when an LMP3 car crashed at high speed on the approach to the Indianapolis corner and destroyed the barrier. The race had already had to be neutralised after incidents. In the evening, the race organisers decided to count the race as it stood before the mandatory pit stop, meaning that the Proton Huber Competition Porsche was classified 16th in the GT3 class.

On Saturday morning, GT3 rookie Manuel Lauck drove the Porsche 911 GT3 R in the early stages of the race. Lauck did a flawless job and stormed up from eleventh on the grid to third position. After the driver change, Jörg Dreisow was unable to keep up with the pace of the leaders and was ultimately ranked in 13th place. However, Dreisow was able to gain important experience on the 13-kilometre race track.

"We are glad that we survived the two extremely chaotic races without any major damage to our Porsche. Manuel Lauck's strong start in the second race showed our potential and proved to us that our development is heading in the right direction. In addition, our gentleman driver Jörg Dreisow was able to gain a lot of experience with the GT3 car at Le Mans, which will be very important for our future plans," concludes Huber.

Proton Huber Competition has had a difficult season so far in the Michelin Le Mans Cup. Due to the fatal accident of project manager Gerhard Freundorfer during set-up in the paddock in Barcelona, the racing team withdrew from the first race weekend. At the Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet, Dreisow and Lauck finished eighth in the GT3 category.

The Michelin Le Mans Cup participants now have a summer break ahead of them before the championship resumes on 25 August at the Ardennes rollercoaster of Spa-Francorchamps. Races in Mugello and Portimão will round off the ACO championship season.