For the first time in team history, Project 1 Motorsport ventures into the FIA World Endurance Championship. In close cooperation with Porsche, the team from Lohne will be using a Porsche 911 RSR in 2018. A trio of international drivers, consisting of Jörg Bergmeister, Patrick Lindsey and Egidio Perfetti, will be driving the car.
Both the Project 1 Motorsport programme and the driver line-up were revealed during the ceremonial presentation of the FIA WEC entry list in Paris. All three pilots have a special connection to the Porsche brand and have already achieved international success with the sports cars from Stuttgart.
“Racing the Porsche 911 RSR marks the peak of our in-house motorsport programme. In time for our company anniversary, we are entering the World Endurance Championship for the first time,” says project manager Axel Funke. “We know it will be hard work, but we feel good enough to face the challenge and have a clear goal in mind: to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans in our class.”
Introducing the Project 1 drivers
Porsche works driver Jörg Bergmeister has been participating in motorsport since 1987 and knows the Porsche 911 RSR like the back of his hand. The German native achieved numerous podium finishes in the US at the wheel of the RSR and gathered a great deal of experience in Le Mans and the FIA WEC, from which the Project 1 team can benefit. “I’m very much looking forward to working together with Project 1,” says Bergmeister. “The team is highly motivated and it will be a pleasure to contribute my know-how to the project.”
Patrick Lindsey from California joins the group as second driver. Together with Park Place Motorsports, he compete in the IMSA SportsCar Championship since 2013 and has also proved to be an expert in handling Porsche cars. In addition to the 911 GT3 Cup and a 911 GT America, he was most recently on the road in a 911 GT3 R. “Starting in the RSR for the first time in 2018 is a dream come true. I already know my team mate Jörg Bergmeister very well, as we have been driving in US races together since 2016 and I’m sure he will be a big help during my new challenge,” states Lindsey.
Egidio Perfetti completes the strong trio. He too is a Porsche specialist and has been part of European racing since 2010. Thanks to his countless races in the French Porsche Carrera Cup, the Norwegian has collected a lot of experience at a national level, but has also been driving successfully in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup and Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup. Starting in the Porsche 911 RSR will be a new challenge, as he explains: “Endurance racing has its own rules. We’ve got to work hard to get to know the car and assert ourselves.”
In the next few weeks, the Project 1 team will have to complete several private tests before the prologue on 6th April. This official test will provide the first opportunity to measure up against the competitors before the start of the season at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on the 5th May.
