If you woke up this morning and felt there aren’t enough Porsche 911s on sale, there may be some good news coming.
Currently the Porsche 911 lineup ranges from the entry-level Carrera to the flagship performance GT3, the latter of which is the basis of the model’s racing lineup.
However, it could soon be joined by a less-capable but still track-derived variant, with European publications including the UK’s evo magazine reporting there is a 911 GT4 Challenge on the way.
Seen testing at the Nürburgring with ‘Manthey Racing’ banners – signalling links to Porsche’s racing operations – the GT4 Challenge car will reportedly be a replacement for the Cayman GT4 Clubsport, previously its contender in the global racing series.
GT4 cars are closer to their road-going counterparts than GT3 machines, with more production-like aerodynamics and lower outputs, leading to slower lap times, making them a good stepping stone for young drivers and amateur racers on the GT pathway.
The Cayman GT4 Clubsport (and later GT4 Clubsport RS) have continued to serve as the cars in the series, though with the future of the 718 (Cayman and Boxster) twins still set to be electric, there is no next-generation successor planned.
In terms of the ‘Challenge’ name, it’ll be the first time it has been used on a Porsche, as the majority of racing-specific versions have adopted the Clubsport nameplate in the past.
Images of the car – not able to be published here – show the ‘Challenge’ script on its rear wing endplates.
It’s not yet known whether there will be a road-going version of the Porsche 911 GT4, as it isn’t required to make a specific variant upon which the GT4 racer is based.
Other competitors in its category are either only raced in GT4 competition (Toyota GR Supra, McLaren Artura) or some which are across it and GT3 (Ford Mustang, BMW M4, Mercedes-AMG GT, Audi R8).
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