At the end of 2013, Porsche acquired a majority stake in Manthey-Racing GmbH to strengthen its relationship with the racing team specializing in the development of racing cars. In addition to the plethora of optional OEM items offered by the Zuffenhausen brand, customers can order upgrades designed by Manthey. For example, the latest generation 911 GT3 can be obtained with a performance kit via Porsche Tequipment.
When the package was introduced in June 2022, the Porsche 911 GT3 managed to shave around four seconds off the Nürburgring lap time compared to the standard car. He completed the difficult Nordschleife course in 6 minutes and 55 seconds with Porsche works driver Kévin Estre at the wheel. Fast forward to 2023, Motorsport test pilot decided to give it a whirl, and even though it wasn’t quite as fast, he still managed to cross the finish line in less than seven minutes.
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With a lap time of 6 minutes and 59.42 seconds, Christian Gebhardt nearly matched the official Porsche lap time for the standard 911 GT3 achieved by Porsche test driver Lars Kern. At the same time, Motorsport journalist was able to shave precious seconds off his lap time of 7:04.74 recorded with the usual sports car.
Needless to say, the GT3 RS remains much quicker after posting a lap time of 6:49.32 with Porsche brand ambassador Jörg Bergmeister behind the wheel of the track-focused machine. The old 911 GT2 RS with a Manthey Performance Kit (also a Porsche Tequipment accessory) continues to reign supreme among 911s with a breathtaking 6:43 lap achieved by Lars Kern.
If there were to be a new GT2 RS, it would probably arrive towards the end of the 992 generation. Porsche and Manthey have the know-how to develop an even faster 911, but it seems unlikely that the Mercedes- AMG One (6:35.18) is in danger. A better tool to battle the F1-powered beast and the Aston Martin Valkire would be a new hypercar. However, a successor to the 918 Spyder is unfortunately not in sight anytime soon.
