Factory Porsche effort for Macau

The factory Manthey team will represent Porsche in the GT World Cup in Macau next November.

Porsche was one of the five manufacturers to sign up for the inaugural World Cup last month and has now revealed that it will step up its involvement with a full-factory presence in the first season of the new 991-shape 911 GT3-R in 2016.

"With the FIA making that event an official World Cup, it has to be something that is on your shopping list," said Frank-Steffen Walliser, boss of GT racing at Porsche. "It is getting more and more important as a race, so we are taking it more and more seriously."

Walliser explained it had yet to be determined whether Manthey would run all three of the entries Porsche will be allowed under World Cup regulations.

This year Porsche was represented by three teams each running a single 997-shape car, including one run by former Macau Cup winner LKM Racing for factory driver Earl Bamber. Manthey will be available to run the cars in an event that is set to clash with the World Endurance Championship finale in Bahrain because Porsche has opted not to field a factory team in GTE Pro next year.

Walliser also revealed that Manthey would contest the Sepang 12 Hours, a round of the new Intercontinental GT Challenge, next year. The team will also continue to compete at the Nurburgring 24 Hours, a race it has won on five occasions.

Originally on Autosport.com