Proton Competition

History

The team was founded in 1996 by Gerold Ried, who entered two GT2-spec Porsche 911 GT2 in the BPR Global GT Series. Cars #51 and #69 each earned six points in the Teams Championship. In 1997, Proton competed in the inaugural FIA GT Championship season with a single 911 GT2, scoring only one point, and also finished 27th overall at the Daytona 24 Hours. Between 1998 and 2002, the team achieved little success, racing the same 911 GT2 mostly with the father-son pairing of Gerold and Christian Ried.

2004–2006

For the first few races of 2003, the team continued with that car before moving from the GT class to N-GT after purchasing a Porsche 996 GT3-RS; they scored one point at the final round in Monza. In 2004, the team finished fourth in the Teams Championship, with a best race result of third at the opening round in Monza. The following year, Proton placed second in the Teams Championship in a GT2 class dominated by Gruppe M Racing, which won every race; Proton earned 45 points, 135 behind Gruppe M. For the 2006 season, the team changed its name to Team Felbermayr-Proton after Horst Felbermayr Sr. became part of the team, and adopted a light blue livery. That year, the team finished fifth in the Teams Championship, and the driver pairing of Christian Ried and Horst Felbermayr Jr. placed eleventh in the Drivers Championship.

2007

In 2007, Proton progressed into the Le Mans Series, fielding three cars in the GT2 class: No. 77, a Porsche 997 GT3-RSR driven by Marc Lieb and Xavier Pompidou; No. 79, a 996 GT3-RSR driven by Gerold Ried, Horst Felbermayr Sr., and Philip Collin; and No. 88, a 997 GT3-RSR driven by Christian Ried and Horst Felbermayr Jr., with a third driver in some races including Thomas Grüber, Marc Basseng, and Johannes Stuck. Car No. 77 took second place in the Teams Championship, only three points behind winners Virgo Motorsport, and the driver pairing of Lieb and Pompidou also took second in the Drivers Championship, 9 points behind Rob Bell. Car 77 won three of the six races in the season. Car No. 88 managed only seven points, finishing eleventh in the Teams Championship level on points with JMB Racing.

Car No. 79 did not pick up any points. The team also contested selected rounds in the FIA GT Championship that year, finishing with only one points-scoring race: eight points at the Bucharest 2 Hours with cars No. 66 and 69 finishing second and seventh respectively. 2007 was also the year the team made their debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, partnering Seikel Motorsport. The father-son pairing of Horst Felbermayr Jr. and Sr. alongside Philip Collin drove car No. 71.

2008

Qualifying went poorly, with the car in 52nd position out of 54 cars, and the race ended after 68 laps due to an electrical problem. In 2008, Team Felbermayr-Proton competed in every round of the Le Mans Series, selected rounds in the FIA GT Championship, and the Le Mans 24 Hours. The team raced two cars in the LMS: Marc Lieb joined by Alex Davison in car No. 77, while car No. 88 was piloted by the two Horst Felbermayrs and Christian Ried. Despite not winning any races, car 77 finished second in the Teams Championship, once again behind Virgo Motorsport, this time by 5 points.

Car 88 finished eighth with ten points, level with Farnbacher Racing. The team only competed one round in FIA GT, the Bucharest 2 Hours, scoring no points. At Le Mans, the team made its full debut without Seikel Motorsport. The lineup for car 77 was Horst Felbermayr Sr., Alex Davison, and Wolf Henzler.

Qualifying went well, with car 77 in second place in the GT2 class behind IMSA Performance Matmut. They finished fifth in class and 27th overall. 2009 was Felbermayr-Proton's most successful season to date.

Marc Lieb remained in car 77 with Richard Lietz replacing Alex Davison. Horst Felbermayr Jr. and Christian Ried remained in car 88, with Felbermayr Sr. replaced by Francisco Cruz Martins. Car 77 earned all the success, winning three of five races and winning the Teams Championship by just one point ahead of JMW Motorsport. Car 88 finished tenth in the standings with five points.

2009

Lieb and Lietz also won the Drivers Championship, beating JMW drivers Rob Bell and Gianmaria Bruni by a point. At the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans, the team entered essentially two cars: No. 77 with Lieb, Lietz, and Wolf Henzler, and they partnered IMSA Performance Matmut with car No. 70 driven by the two Felbermayrs alongside Michel Lecourt. Qualifying saw car 77 repeat their 2008 second-place position in GT2, missing pole by only 0.030 seconds behind Flying Lizard Motorsports. The race ended early for car 77 after just 24 laps when it ran out of fuel.

Car 70 retired on the 102nd lap. The team wrapped up the season by contesting the inaugural round of the Asian Le Mans Series at Okayama, Japan, with both cars. Marc Lieb was joined by Wolf Henzler in No. 77, and Christian Ried was joined by Marco Holzer in No. 88. Both cars finished second and fourth in class respectively.

In 2010, the team retained their No. 77 championship-winning lineup of Lieb and Lietz, with Christian Ried retaining his No. 88 seat alongside Martin Ragginger for the season. Porsche factory drivers Patrick Long and Romain Dumas also joined car 88 for a few LMS events. Car 77 won three of five races and once again won the Teams Championship, finishing 21 points ahead of second-place AF Corse. Car 88 was more competitive, finishing fourth in the standings.

Lieb and Lietz retained their Drivers Championship titles, beating the AF Corse trio of Jean Alesi, Giancarlo Fisichella, and Toni Vilander by 21 points. The team also took part in the inaugural Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, competing in the European and Asian rounds at Silverstone and Zhuhai. The team won the championship with 72 points, 15 points ahead of AF Corse. At the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans, car 77's trio of Lieb, Lietz, and Henzler remained, while car 88 saw the father-son duo of the Felbermayrs return, joined by Slovakian racer Miro Konopka.

Qualifying went reasonably well for No. 77, starting fourth in class, while No. 88 started second last. The race saw car 77 take the GT2 class victory at Le Mans, beating Ferrari, Corvette, and fellow Porsche factory teams. It was Marc Lieb's second class victory, Richard Lietz's second class victory, and Wolf Henzler's first class victory. Car 88 finished eighth in a highly competitive GT2 class.

Did You Know?

• Proton's first Le Mans entry in 2007 ended after just 68 laps due to an electrical problem, having qualified 52nd out of 54 cars.
• Car 77 won the GT2 class at the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans, beating Ferrari, Corvette, and fellow Porsche factory teams.