We’ve written plenty already about the extraordinary expansion plans for Proton Competition in 2023 with the full-season European Le Mans Series entry list adding a further spoke to their increasingly large wheel.
Let’s put aside for a moment the team’s Hypercar and GTP plans (more of that shortly) and the GTD Pro Mercedes AMG that the team prepare for Weathertech Racing (taking a GTD Pro win at the Rolex 24) and even the LMP2 Oreca that rounded out a double class win at Daytona for the team before it embarks on a full season in the ELMS.
That still leaves the team’s final season of competition in GTE machinery with Porsche’s 911 RSR.
With the full season in the FIA WEC showing a pair of cars entered by the team in GTE Am, and a further pair entered with help from Proton for Iron Lynx and the Iron Dames, and now the ELMS showing three more Proton entries plus another for Iron Lynx, just how many RSRs does the team have on strength?
“We have eight current spec cars,” said Christian Ried to the DSC Editor in the Dubai paddock, Christian here in support of son Jonas for his first foray in LMP racing with a season entry in the #55 Rinaldi Racing Duqueine.
Those eight are understood to be the team’s five 911 RSRs that fulfilled the 2020, 2021 and 2022 FIA WEC programmes plus the Weathertech Racing GTLM entry (with an ex Core Autosports car), plus a car from IMSA previously used in the CORE Autosports GTLM effort (and thrifter campaigned by Proton for Weathertech Racing) and, more recently, the two ex-Manthey Racing factory Porsche Team cars from the 2022 FIA WEC.
The programmes for 2023 are fairly complex and there have been some changes from original plans.
Michael Fassbender will remain in the ELMS for this coming season in one RSR with Richard Lietz returning alongside him and Martin Rump completing the 2023 trio.
Christian Ried is listed in another with his team-mates to be announced.
The third (with the Iron Lynx car being the fourth) will see Ryan Hardwick, Zach Robichon and Alessio Picariello combine as Hardwick prepared for the 2023 e ,as 24 Hours which he will enter with Proton Competition courtesy of his automatic invitation via IMSA success in 2022.
The FIA WEC meanwhile will see two more cars operated for Iron Lynx (including the Iron Dames effort in 2023) plus two cars under the Dempsey Proton Racing banner.
One will see Christian Ried double up and continue his ever-present status in the World Championship, he has raced in every WEC race held since the Series’ inception in 2012.
The other currently names just Harry Tincknell in an entry that seems primarily to fill a function as team placeholder ahead of the eventual debut of their first Hypercar class Porsche 963. Ryan Hardwick is likely to add some pre-Le Mans WEC races too in this car.
