LMGT3 benchmark team Manthey has presented the pair of Porsches with which it will aim to secure the spoils for a third consecutive season in the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2026.
Since the inception of the LMGT3 division in 2024, Manthey has taken a clean sweep of the Drivers’ and Teams’ trophies, with Aliaksandr Malykhin, Klaus Bachler and Joel Sturm prevailing in the category’s inaugural campaign and the crew of Richard Lietz, Riccardo Pera and Ryan Hardwick repeating the feat 12 months later.
Along the way, the decorated Eifel-based outfit has triumphed six times from 16 races – including back-to-back successes in the 24 Hours of Le Mans – and the squad has no intention of taking its foot off the gas as it targets the fulfilment of a title hat-trick this year.
Lietz and Pera remain on-board in search of a second Drivers’ crown in as many seasons at the international pinnacle of the long-distance discipline. The Austrian – a former world champion in LMGTE Pro and six times a class-winner at Le Mans – and rising Italian star Pera will be joined by Manthey returnee Yasser Shahin, who partnered Lietz to victory at La Sarthe in 2024.
The trio will compete under ‘The Bend Manthey’ moniker behind the wheel of the #92 Porsche 911 LMGT3 R, with the sister #91 ‘Manthey DK Engineering’ car entrusted to ex-McLaren racer James Cottingham, 2023 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup champion Timur Boguslavskiy and Porsche factory driver Ayhancan Güven, who lifted the laurels with Manthey in Germany’s DTM touring car series last year.
Following the official postponement of the Qatar 1812km due to the ongoing geopolitical situation in the Middle East, the action will now get underway with the 6 Hours of Imola in Italy on 17-19 April.
