Manthey Racing and Richard Lietz took a second consecutive LMGT3 class win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, defeating Vista AF Corse and TF Sport after a commanding run for the German squad.
The No. 92 Porsche 911 GT3 R, driven by Lietz, Ryan Hardwick and Riccardo Pera, finished 33.259 seconds clear of the No. 21 Ferrari 296 GT3 of Francois Heriau, Simon Mann and Alessio Rovera.
After starting the race in fifth, the blue-liveried Porsche initially dropped outside the top ten in class as Bronze driver Hardwick took the start amidst higher-rated drivers.
However, the car became a firm fixture in the top three in class as Sunday evening dawned, at which point it became locked in battle with the No. 46 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 EVO.
Dramatically, the BMW was then eliminated from the race approaching the halfway point when electrical issues initially left Kelvin van der Linde stranded in the gravel at Porsche Curves due to a loss of power steering.
This would eventually led to retirement for the car co-driven by Ahmad Al Harthy and Valentino Rossi, with WRT’s LMGT3 effort subsequently going on to record a double DNF when the sister No. 31 BMW was also parked after it suffered damage from a collision with a rabbit.
With WRT out of the picture, the No. 92 Porsche took command at the head of the LMGT3 field and remained in that position for the rest of the race to record a second consecutive class for Manthey.
Lietz, for his part, picked up a sixth class win at the French endurance classic, adding to previous triumphs in 2007, 2010, 2013, 2022 and 2024.
Hardwick and Pera both picked up their maiden Le Mans victories, with the latter having finished second in 2020 and third in 2023.
TF Sport completed the class podium with its No. 81 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R driven by Tom van Rompuy, Rui Andrade and Charlie Eastwood.
Mattia Drudi, Ian James and Zach Robichon finished fourth in class in the No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, ahead of the No. 87 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus RC F GT3 of Razvan Umbrarescu, Clemens Schmid and Jose Maria Lopez.
The No. 90 Manthey Porsche and No. 33 TF Sport Corvette came home in sixth and seventh respectively, with Kessel Racing eighth with its No. 57 Ferrari driven by Takeshi Kimura, Casper Stevenson and Daniel Serra.
Ninth went to the No. 77 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3,
with AWA recording a top ten finish on debut with its No. 13 Corvette piloted by Orey Fidani, Lars Kern and Matt Bell.
While two of the Manthey-run cars finished in the top ten in class, the No. 85 Iron Dames Porsche lost multiple laps with a gear shift issue and came home in 16th.
Other LMGT3 runners to run into notable problems included the No. 54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari, which retired with a torque sensor failure, and both United Autosports McLaren 720S GT3 Evos, which fell victim to drivetrain and alternator problems, respectively.
The No. 10 Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, which was an early frontrunner with Valentin Hasse-Clot at the wheel, lost multiple laps with engine issues.
Meanwhile, the No. 88 Proton Competition Ford and No. 78 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus had accidents at Tertre Rouge and the Porsche Curves which eliminated them.