A dream pro line-up for Schumacher CLRT Racing Team!

Schumacher CLRT Racing Team is the name chosen to embody the alliance between the Autosport GP LS Group Performance, IMSA LS Group Performance and CLRT teams, forged during the winter of 2023/2024. Today, the new structure is unveiling the most ambitious of its 2024 programmes: the entry of a Porsche 911 GT3 R for the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup driven by a pro line-up. Dorian Boccolacci and Porsche official drivers Ayhancan Güven and Laurin Heinrich will participate in the five events on the calendar which includes the Centenary of the 24 Hours of Spa!

Schumacher CLRT Racing Team's 2024 schedule comprises several single-make cups, the Porsche Sprint Challenge France and Southern Europe, the Porsche Carrera Cup France, Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, the Alpine Elf Europa Cup and the Lamborghini Super Trofeo as well as some of the most renowned and challenging multi-make championships: the GT4 European Series, the French FFSA GT Championship and the GT World Challenge are on the menu of a season which promises to be an action-packed mouthwatering one. No fewer than 15 cars are being prepared in the workshops!

Schumacher CLRT Racing Team’s Côme Ledogar has extensive experience in GT racing. As a driver, he took the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup Pro, the GT World Challenge, the Intercontinental GT Challenge, the Porsche Carrera Cup France and Italy titles. He also scored an outright victory in the 24 Hours of Spa and a GTE-Pro win in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. His CLRT team made its debut in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup in 2023 with a Porsche 911 GT3 R and a line-up consisting of a pro, a semi-pro and an amateur.

It was therefore a car entered in the Bronze category. By combining the talent, ardour and youth of Dorian Boccolacci, Ayhancan Güven and Laurin Heinrich, the Schumacher CLRT Racing Team Porsche, which is aiming for glory this year will, of course, be entered in the Pro category! What these three drivers have in common is that they have won at least one national Porsche Cup and boast an eloquent set of results at the wheel of different cars from the Stuttgart brand.

Frenchman Dorian Boccolacci (25 y/o) climbed up the rungs of the single-seater ladder to the doors of Formula 1. He then turned to Porsche and he knows the Schumacher CLRT Racing Team squad well, having won last year’s Porsche Carrera Cup France with the team managed by Côme Ledogar.

Aged 26, Porsche official driver Ayhancan Güven clinched two titles in the Porsche Carrera Cup France. The Turk finished three times in the top 3 in the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup and once in the top 3 in the ADAC GT Masters; he also distinguished himself in the DTM as well as the GT World Challenge. Driving an LMP2 prototype, he won the Asian Le Mans Series title a year ago. Breaking News: he added the Bathurst 12 Hours to his laurels earlier this month!

22-year-old German driver Laurin Heinrich is the youngest of the trio. He made his name by winning the 2022 Porsche Carrera Cup Germany and finishing third in the Supercup. He was inducted into the club of official Porsche drivers and last year he raced in the DTM and GT World Challenge. At the start of the 2024 season, he came home second in GTD Pro in the 24 Hours of Daytona!

Edouard Schumacher, Car Lovers CEO, is the driving force behind the alliance of several racing teams under the Schumacher CLRT Racing Team banner: “we’ve had this idea in mind for some time. Gilles Zaffini, who managed Autosport GP, introduced me to Côme Ledogar and I was able to meet his partner in the creation of CLRT, Tugdual Rabreau. At that moment, my goal was to demonstrate that Autosport GP and IMSA Performance were capable of reaching the highest level. The results were, a French championship title and the European runner-up spot in GT4 for the former, overall victory in the 24 Hours of Barcelona with the Porsche 911 GT3 R for the latter. During this same season, CLRT won the Porsche Carrera Cup France. But we want to aim for the top in 2024; we cannot adopt a piecemeal approach. The human, financial and technical resources needed to go further in racing far exceed what independent teams can achieve, however well organised they may be. So, everything happened very quickly: we knew each other well, we had a relationship based on trust and we high-fived one another! By combining energies and skills and creating a base in Lyon, we’ll be able to develop the in-depth experience and the human and material resources needed to tackle ambitious challenges like the GT World Challenge Europe.”

Gilles Zaffini, sporting director of Car Lovers: “Côme Ledogar and I have known each other for a long time. He’s still a benchmark in motorsport because of his track record as a driver and team manager. The alliance with Edouard Schumacher and Car Lovers has created an exciting alchemy. Our goal is excellence as proved by this GT3 Pro driver line-up. We’re going to do everything we can to make our mark! The GT World Challenge is magical; we’re in the top league. This gives credibility to the group with a view to setting up a path to the elite for young athletes.”

Côme Ledogar, team manager in charge of the Porsche programmes at Schumacher CLRT Racing Team: “We took advantage of the experience gained in 2023 in the GT World Challenge. We really put our nose to the grindstone; we have fantastic staff and we had the good fortune to work with top-class drivers. Moving from the Bronze Cup to the premier category shouldn’t pose any problems. We just have to do the job properly in the pit stops, the setups and the strategy, because in the end it’s the same championship that requires the same commitment. Today, you have to be in GT3 and the GT World Challenge, because it’s the top-tier category in GT in the greatest championship in the world reserved for Grand Touring cars. There is a large number of manufacturers involved, and it has created a great deal of competition with regard to teams and drivers. As for our 2024 drivers, they’re among the best I’ve competed against as a team manager; they’re fighters and winners. And what's more, they get along well! Having been a Porsche driver myself, I know the importance of being able to count on official drivers because of proximity to the manufacturer. I think our results in the Porsche Carrera Cup France and the Supercup weighed in the balance. The goal will be to continue to excel in order to continue to deserve this confidence.”

The GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup will begin at home at Paul Ricard on 5-7 April for Schumacher CLRT Racing Team. The Centenary of the 24 Hours of Spa should be marked on your calendars for the week of 26 - 30 June before the meetings at the Nürburgring, Monza and Jeddah on the Saudi Arabian F1 Grand Prix circuit.