With the addition of Kévin Estre within its ranks, Porsche now has 16 official drivers, 15 of which will race with official teams at Le Mans if the two invitation requests for the LM GTE Pro class are approved by the Selection Committee.

Indeed, two more cars will be driven for the German manufacturer at the 24 Hours, though only one Porsche 911 will compete in the full 2016 World Endurance Championship (WEC) season in the LM GTE Pro class, for Proton Dempsey Racing and driven by Richard Lietz - who won the Cup for best GT driver this year and who has won three class victories at Le Mans - and Michael Christensen. The duo will be joined by Wolf Henzler who shared a class win with Lietz in 2010.

Six drivers will be called in as reinforcements at the 24 Hours. Patrick Pilet, a title-winner in GTLM in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship this year, will join Nick Tandy, the overall winner at Le Mans, with whom he won this year at Petit Le Mans, and Kévin Estre, the recent winner of the Porsche Carrera Cup France and the Porsche Supercup. The sister car will be entrusted to Jörg Bergmeister, who has one class win at the 24 Hours, Frédéric Makowiecki and Earl Bamber, winner this year at Le Mans with Nick Tandy and Nico Hülkenberg.

The latter will therefore not defend his Le Mans crown since Porsche and Audi have agreed to enter only two cars in the LM P1 class at Le Mans in 2016 instead of three like this year. Only the six drivers present in the WEC will be at the start, but with a significant change: the two 919 Hybrids, unlike this year, will carry the numbers 1 and 2, because of the World Endurance Champion Constructors title.

World Endurance Champion drivers, Timo Bernhard, Brendon Hartley and Mark Webber will sport the number 1, while Romain Dumas, Neel Jani, who clinched the pole at the 24 Hours this year and set a new lap record for the circuit's current configuration, and Marc Lieb.

Beyond the 15 drivers mentioned above, one must not forget Patrick Long who supports Patrick Dempsey in the LM GTE Am class in the WEC for Proton Dempsey Racing.

Dr. Oliver Blume, Porsche CEO: "On the racetrack we have experienced one of the most successful years in our company’s history. For 2016, we are placing emphasis on consistency and will again shift up a gear. We will be the only manufacturer to tackle three of the four classes at Le Mans."

The 24 Hours of Le Mans will not be the only playing field for Porsche who will also be represented at the 24 Hours of Nürburgring with two 911 GT3 Rs entered by Manthey Racing, which has raced Porsche 911s in the WEC, and in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship - new monikor of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship - two 911 RSRs.

Patrick Pilet will defend his title with Nick Tandy, supported by Kévin Estre for the four endurance races (Rolex 24 at Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring, 6 Hours of Watkins Glen and Petit Le Mans). Frédéric Makowiecki and Earl Bamber will share the wheel of the No. 912 car with Michael Christensen for the same four races.

The latter comes from the young driver development program put in place by Porsche. It will be extended in 2016 as revealed in November (see article), with the same coach, Sascha Maassen, former official driver.

Though Ryan Dalziel didn't go through the Junior program, he did win the Porsche Cup, the trophy set up in 1970 on an idea from Ferdinand Porsche (non-official drivers who race a Porsche on any continent mark points and the top three are rewarded every year). The Scottish driver, winner of the American Pirelli World Challenge, will take back to Florida, where he lives, a Porsche 911 Carrera 4S cabriolet which he will be able to take to the Circuit of the Americas when he competes in the Texan round of the WEC for Extreme Speed Motorsports in LM P2. His first underling, Klaus Bachler, and his second, Marco Seefried, second in LM GTE Am at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Patrick Dempsey and Patrick Long, left with a check.

Porsche's 2016 season will begin on the other side of the Atlantic with the Rolex 24 at Daytona, opening round of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, on January 30th and 31st.

Cécile Bonardel / ACO (quotation from Porsche press release) - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO

PHOTO: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, SATURDAY JUNE 13 2015, RACE. Porsche entered two cars in the LM GTE Pro class at the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans.