Welter Racing
Encyclopedia
Sports car
A sports car is a small, usually two seat, two door automobile designed for high speed driving and maneuverability....
maker that mainly enters in the 24 Hours of Le Mans
24 Hours of Le Mans
The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since near the town of Le Mans, France. Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency, race teams have to balance speed against the cars' ability to run for 24 hours without sustaining...
, since 1990 under the name of Gérard Welter or Rachel Welter.
Gerard Welter is well versed in endurance circuits, especially the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 1993, Welter Racing claimed the Le Mans C3 class victory with its Peugeot 1.9 L turbocharged I4 powerplant entry that was driven by Patrick Gonin, Alain Lamouille and Bernard Santal. Aside from the 1993 class win, Welter Racing's career at La Sarthe also includes four second-place finishes and one third-place run as well as a sensational front row start in 1995 which led to a change of regulations for the following year.
The notable speed record was set in 1988 under the auspices of "Project 400". With that project, Welter set out to build the first car to do 400 km/h (248.54 mph) during the 24 Hours of Le Mans. That year, Welter's low-drag configuration WM Peugeot P88, including last-minute radiator placement changes and taping over all cooling ducts, driven by Roger Dorchy, eclipsed 251 mi/h on the Mulsanne Straight. The record was later protected with the addition of chicanes, which were built into the straight in 1990, which would prevent the ability of a car to easily reach 400 kilometre per hour again on the much shorter straights.
In 2008, WR unveiled a new LMP2 fitted with a Zytek
Zytek
Zytek Group Ltd is an automotive and motorsport company founded in 1981 and based in Fradley and Repton, United Kingdom. Zytek Group has two main division: Zytek Automotive, which is based at Fradley, Staffordshire; and Zytek Engineering, which is based at Repton, Derbyshire.-Zytek Automotive:Zytek...
engine, known as the WR2008.