American Le Mans Series

Patrick Pilet confirmed as Porsche factory driver

Patrick Pilet, from France, joins the ranks of Porsche factory drivers for the 2008 season. With Pilet, the number of pilots driving for the Stuttgart sports car manufacturer increases to eleven.

The other ten factory drivers for 2008 include American Patrick Long; Germans Sascha Maassen, Marc Lieb, Wolf Henzler, Joerg Bergmeister and Timo Bernhard; Frenchmen Emmanuel Collard and Romain Dumas; Austrian Richard Lietz, and British driver Richard Westbrook.

The 26-year-old Pilet, from Le Chesnay, France, close to Paris, will contest the American Le Mans Series for the Flying Lizard Motorsports team and drive a 2008 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. Pilet is the reigning champion of the Porsche Carrera Cup France which he won in his inaugural season of 2007, and recently drove a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car for Alegra Motorsports in the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona.

“Patrick Pilet is a great talent and fits Porsche perfectly. I got my first positive impression of him in the Porsche Carrera Cup France. While testing the GT3 RSR he immediately convinced me with his fast times and quick learning,” says head of Porsche Motorsport Hartmut Kristen.

Pilet’s career began in karting. In 1999 he took home the French vice-championship and secured third place in the European championship. In 2001 Pilet won the feeder French Formula France and was 2004 champion of the Formula Renault France. In 2005 and 2006 Pilet contested the Formula Renault 3.5.

(Porsche Motorsport)