Neuhofer Rennsport feels confident it can establish itself as a frontrunner at the inaugural Michelin 992 Endurance Cup powered by Porsche Motorsport in September, the German team having registered endurance specialists Alfred and Robert Renauer and Martin Ragginger for the event alongside team staple Felix Neuhofer.

Neuhofer Rennsport, the racing arm of the Gröbenzell-based, family-operated car dealership, has confirmed two Porsche 992 GT3 Cups for the first 992 Endurance Cup on 6/7 September, marking the team’s latest endurance racing adventure not just with CREVENTIC but with Porsche as well. The team has competed sporadically in the endurance-focused 24H SERIES since early 2023 – all with the latest generation Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – and remains an unapologetic aficionado of the German brand. Indeed, much of Neuhofer’s 20-plus year heritage to-date has been built on ‘Porsche Passion.’

Reinforcing its intent, Herberth Motorsport’s Alfred and Robert Renauer – both multi-time endurance race winners, former outright 24H SERIES champions, and, in Robert’s case, an overall ADAC GT Masters title winner – will compete alongside Felix in the first of its two Porsche 992s at Spa-Francorchamps. Martin Ragginger meanwhile, an overall winner of the Spa 24 Hours in 2010, is set to lead the team’s sister ‘Pro/Am’ car.

Tellingly, Neuhofer’s team manager for the event will be multi-time World and European Touring Car Championship race winner, and former American Le Mans Series champion, Jorg Müller. Who, coincidentally, finished 2nd overall at Le Mans in 1998 with Porsche AG.

With a proven driver line-up behind it, as well as the team’s own Porsche pedigree, Felix is confident that Neuhofer Rennsport could be a contender at the sharp end on 6/7 September. 

“With Alfred and Robert Renauer, we have two very fast and experienced drivers competing in our PRO car who we feel can go for the overall win,” Felix explains to CREVENTIC. “We also have a second car competing in the class with Martin [Ragginger], so it’s a good line-up so far.

“[The 992 Endurance Cup] will be a fast race with a lot of competition, and will have an interesting field with a lot of good teams and drivers. It’s a type of race that hasn’t really been done before, and this interested us. Also, it will be nice to drive on Michelin tyres once again!”

Though this event will mark the longest continuous race in a one-make series for Felix, the Neuhofer managing director is certainly no stranger to Porsche Cup competition. His racing career started in the P9 Challenge – specifically tailored for Porsche club racers – in 2017, and since then, the young German has contested Porsche’s Carrera Cup in both the ‘Benelux’ and ‘Deutschland’ series, and most recently the Porsche Sports Cup. He even ended 2023 as a class champion in the Porsche Sprint Challenge.

Ironically, given his Porsche Cup experience, Felix was first introduced to 24H SERIES fans in the GT3 category at CREVENTIC’s first 24-hour race at SEBRING in 2021 (he finished 2nd overall for the Renauer twins and Herberth Motorsport). Just over a year later, Felix and his father Markus – the Neuhofer dealership founder, and a P9 Challenge / Porsche Sports Cup alumnus in his own right – were competing at the 24H SERIES’ six-hour event in Abu Dhabi, again aboard Herberth Motorsport’s Porsche 911 GT3 R. Impressively, the pair finished just seven seconds shy of outright victory.

Since then, Neuhofer Rennsport has competed exclusively in CREVENTIC’s ‘992’ class, the belief being that mastering the Cup class will pay greater dividends in the future.  

“We wanted to experience how GT3 runs in comparison to 992,” Felix continues, “but we found that the GT3 class is quite different from 992, and needs a lot of practice. If you are competing in two different categories and you don’t have enough time to gain that experience, you end up slower in both disciplines. So we chose the 992 class. 

“We’ve competed a lot in the Porsche Sports Cup, which is much more like ‘992,’ and do a lot of track days there with our customers. So we’re very comfortable with it. We’re happy we’ve made the right decision.”

Neuhofer Rennsport is one of several teams thus far to have entered multiple cars for the 992 Endurance Cup in September, a list that includes Black Falcon, KKrämer Racing, Mühlner Motorsport, MRS GT-Racing, and Estonia’s EST1. 

-       Images – Nico Mombaerts / Neuhofer Rennsport / P5