Porsche is the most successful manufacturer at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with 19 outright victories to their name. Their presence at Le Mans has been constant since their first entry in 1951, with the brand taking overall wins in the 1970s, 80s, 90s - and they were expected to continue this run of form into the 2000s.

The first 16 triumphs at Le Mans came in three consecutive decades, but win number 17 didn’t come until 2015. The brand could’ve boasted five consecutive decades of Le Mans glory, but as the old advert says: nobody’s perfect. The 17-year absence from the top step of the overall podium wasn’t supposed to happen, as Porsche had built a clean-sheet prototype to take on the new LMP900 category.

However, due to internal politics and an SUV project which led to the birth of the Cayenne, the brand turned away from top-level endurance racing just as its new challenger was nearing completion. The unraced racer ultimately gave the world the Carrera GT, but that wasn’t the plan. So how did the LMP 2000 influence everything but the race that it was designed to conquer?

Prologue: GT vs LMP

To understand the story of the LMP 2000, we first need to understand the forces that shaped it. The story begins in the early 1990s when neither Porsche or sportscar racing were in rude health. Sales were in freefall and there was even talk of the Porsche family selling up to Mercedes-Benz. 

Around the same time, the World Sportscar Championship was turned on its head as changes to Group C prototype rules banned anything other than a 3.5-litre naturally aspirated engine with reciprocating pistons. Not only did this outlaw Mazda’s famous rotary-engined 787B, it led to a spike in costs that the privateer teams couldn’t afford, and caused manufacturers like Peugeot to pivot to F1 instead. The idea of having a common engine formula across the two pinnacles of circuit-based motorsport didn’t work out as planned.

The organisers of the 24 Hours of Le Mans continued to shape the rules to put purpose-built prototypes at the head of the field for their signature event - now known as Le Mans Prototypes (LMPs), they would continue to share the tarmac with production-based Grand Tourers (GTs). To capitalise on the buoyant supercar market at the time, GT1 regulations were drawn up, allowing models like the Bugatti EB110, Ferrari F40 and Venturi Atlantique to compete at Le Mans.

GT1 cars were never meant to rival LMP1 entries, but this is where Porsche comes in. An icon of the late Group C era was the Porsche 962, which was being turned into a road legal supercar by racing driver Jochen Dauer. In typical fashion, Porsche spotted a loophole in the regulations and re-engineered the road-going Dauer 962s to become racers once more. They entered the GT1 category, taking advantage of the larger fuel tanks and higher power limits than the prototypes were allowed. The gamble paid off, and the #36 Dauer 962 won the GT1 class, and finished one lap ahead of Toyota's LMP1-spec 94C-V to win the race overall.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. GT1 rules evolved to mandate that 25 road cars would be built in order for any racing variant to be legal. To enter the class, Porsche upgraded their 911 GT2 Evo to GT1 standards, but uninspiring results led them to once again reverse-engineer the rulebook like they did in 1994. Instead of turning a road car into a racing car, they flipped the process on its head by building a racer that would then be homologated for road use. The result was the 911 GT1.

Following McLaren’s famous debut win in 1995 where GT1 machinery again triumphed over the LMP1s, Porsche were confident of the 911 GT1’s chances at La Sarthe. In fact, they’d even cancelled a prototype project called the WSC-95 – the result of a Tom Walkinshaw Racing effort that converted a Jaguar XJR-14 Group C coupé into an open-top roadster, and installed a Porsche flat-six engine. The car was built for regulations that no longer existed, but Reinhold Joest – founder and principal of Team Joest – convinced Porsche to let his team enter a pair of them at Le Mans.

The deal was done, and at the 1996 24 Hours of Le Mans, Porsche would win the LMGT1 class with the new 911 GT1. Both cars finished on the overall podium just as they did in 1994, but this time a prototypes prevailed, specifically the Porsche-powered WSC-95. A year later, the #7 car would repeat its feat, once again finishing one lap ahead of the LMGT1 field to take overall victory.

The WSC-95 project went full-circle, having been started, cancelled, allowed to race with Porsche’s blessing and ultimately spoiling the factory fairytale story, before being bought by the manufacturer that gave it the green light in the first place. It was clear that the GT1s had their strengths, but the future of sportscar racing was starting to look prototype-shaped once more.

In 1998, Porsche created an entirely new GT1 challenger known as the 911 GT1-98. The car was essentially a closed-cockpit prototype with a carbon-fibre monocoque replacing the mixture of 993 road car and 962 racer parts that made up the 1996-97 model.

The GT1-98 was not the fastest car on the grid, being outpaced by the Mercedes-Benz CLK LM and the Toyota GT One, but the 911s had reliability on their side, bringing home a 1-2 finish. But these weren't the only entries from Porsche with an eye on overall honours; they hedged their bets by competing in both the top categories.

The 911 GT1-98s were joined by a pair of Porsche LMP1-98s. These were evolutions of the two WSC-95s which wore new front bodywork, and utilised the same 3.2-litre flat-six turbo engine as the 911s. Neither would make the finish, but with GT1 cars morphing into prototypes and the category collapsing at the end of the 1998 season, it became clear that the LMP was the future of sportscar racing, and Porsche got to work on their next challenger.

LMP 2000

The open-top roadster was the way to go, with BMW successfully campaigning their V12 LMR to victory at the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans. In Weissach, project 9R3 was underway led by Norbert Singer and Herbert Ampferer, with Lola Composites constructing the carbon-fibre roadster. Penned by Dutch designer Wiet Huidekoper – the same man who worked on the road legal Porsche 962 with Jochen Dauer – the car would be built to the upcoming LMP900 regulations. 

Race car design – especially for prototypes – prioritises function over form, yet to these eyes, the 9R3 a sight to behold. In a similar vein to the BMW V12 LMR and the ill-fated Mercedes-Benz CLR, the silhouette is made from gentle curves that run uninterrupted from the front splitter to the ducktail underneath the rear wing. Low sidepods allow for fantastically prominent wheel arches to rise above the body. The right-handed cockpit breaks the otherwise perfect symmetry, with a long fairing extending from the driver’s display down towards the front axle. The single rollover hoop incorporates the air intakes, and the raised engine cover is shrouded in a stretched teardrop cowling that gently falls towards the rear deck.

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Initially intended for competition in the 1999 season, the 9R3 was designed with the venerable 3.2-litre turbocharged flat-six engine in mind. However, the “Type 935” motor was showing its age, having first been used in competition in the 1970s. When recalling the development of the car, designer Huidekoper said “If looks could kill I would not be around anymore, when I mentioned the traditional Porsche flat-six engine as a major weakness!” 

With Porsche knowing that they would have to change the powertrain or risk being uncompetitive, they searched for a suitable replacement. This, combined with the prospect of going up against race-proven cars in their second year of competition at Le Mans, meant that the project was paused.

However, in 1999 development restarted with a new engine aboard. Porsche opted to use a never-raced V10 that was intended for Formula 1, and was built to the very same regulations that killed Group C prototype racing. Originally a 3.5-litre unit, the capacity was increased to 5.5-litres, the F1-mandated pneumatic valves were removed and tweaks were made for longevity.

Even with the air restrictors fitted, the naturally aspirated engine would produce over 600 bhp. The package was further refined with new suspension, and the Le Mans Prototype was on track for a debut in the year 2000 – hence the name LMP 2000 was unofficially attached to the 9R3 project.

The beginning and the end

It looked as though the car would join the long list of victorious Porsche racers at Le Mans, but it never got the chance to put its style or substance to the test in a competitive setting. In May 1999, before the first car was completed, the project was cancelled once again – and this time for good.

The exact reasoning is still disputed, but the most commonly quoted story is that Ferdinand Piëch – then chairman of Audi and Volkswagen – wanted Porsche’s expertise to engineer a new large SUV. This joint-venture would give birth to the Audi Q7, Porsche Cayenne and Volkswagen Touareg, and secure the future of Porsche's road car business.

The SUV triplets would be mechanically related, but would target different parts of the market. The same cannot be said for the LMP 2000, which would have competed directly against a new prototype from Audi.

The four rings made their Le Mans debut in 1999 with the R8R roadster and R8C coupé, scoring a third-place overall finish with the open-top racer. It is widely believed that Porsche were asked to park the 9R3 in order to give Audi a shot at Le Mans glory, and steer clear of top-class endurance racing for at least 10 years.

Although the plug had been pulled on the V10-powered roadster, Porsche allowed the car to be completed and given a brief test at the Weissach proving ground. The car that was designed to complete over 3,000 miles during the 24 Hours of Le Mans covered only 50 at the hands of Allan McNish and Bob Wolleck. Both drivers spoke positively about the car, but following their short stints in the cockpit, the car would be parked and placed into storage.

Aftermath

Following the curtailing of the LMP 2000 programme, Audi’s new R8 would win the 24 Hours of Le Mans five times outright. In 2003, the Bentley Speed 8 scored a 1-2 finish, beating Audi to overall victory. Porsche would anger their fans but delight their accountants and new customers with the success of the Cayenne, with the jointly-developed SUV platform underpinning the success of the Audi Q7 and Volkswagen Touareg.

The 9R3's V10 engine would quickly find a new home in the rear of the Carrera GT Concept which debuted at Paris Motor Show in the year 2000. In the production car that followed in 2003, it boasted an increased displacement of 5.7-litres.

Porsche continued to find success in the GT categories at Le Mans and around the world, and in 2005 they introduced a brand new Le Mans Prototype codenamed 9R6. Better known as the RS Spyder, it was built to LMP2 regulations rather LMP1, and would neither compete for overall wins at Le Mans, or directly against Audi.

Afterlife

The influence of the LMP 2000 was indirectly felt on the road and track for years, as the single completed car sat in storage in Germany for years, with no acknowledgement of its existence. A few grainy photos made their way to the media, but that was it. In 2016 more details and images emerged, and the car appeared at the 2018 Goodwood Festival of Speed.

In November 2024, a quarter of a century on from its first shakedown test, a video was posted to YouTube titled “The return of the Porsche LMP 2000.” The car had been taken out of storage, returned to racing condition, and allowed to run once more.

The team of engineers and designers who worked on the car in the late 1990s descended on the Weissach test track. The 9R3 took to the tarmac with one of its original drivers at the wheel: Allan McNish.

Only 25 years after his first drive of the car, three-time Le Mans winner McNish said “It’s like I was 25 again…The faster you go, the more confidence you get from it.” He also commented on the sound of the engine which sounds best above 7,00rpm. These ears are inclined to agree.

Porsche has teased that there is more to come from the LMP 2000. While we may learn more about the intricate details of the car, we will never know exactly how it would've fared against the formidable Audi R8 in its day. No naturally aspirated car has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans overall since the BMW V12 LMR in 1999. Was Porsche right to opt for a non-turbocharged engine as Audi brought their powerful yet efficient FSI direct injection technology to the circuit?

Perhaps the car’s racing results wouldn’t have been a forgone conclusion; it would be short sighted to assume that the LMP 2000 would have been more successful than the R8 purely because of the badge on the nose. However, it is fair to predict that it would’ve been a close rival - especially with continual development. The fact is, we’ll never know.

Porsche’s RS Spyder won its class at Le Mans twice, and repeatedly triumphed over LMP1 competition in the American Le Mans Series. It famously won the 12 Hours of Sebring overall in 2008, beating Audi to the chequered flag. Porsche would finally return to the LMP1 category in 2014, taking win number 17 the following year with the 919 Hybrid. The legacy continues with the 963 which won almost every championship that it contested in 2024, but there will always be a missing link in the story of Porsche’s sportscar racing prowess - the racer that never raced, the LMP 2000.

Image credits: Porsche Newsroom, screenshots via Porsche YouTube channel; Audi MediaCenter; Martin Lee via Wikimedia Commons.