Hans-Joachim Stuck

Porsche has recruited two-time Le Mans winner Hans-Joachim Stuck as one of the Porsche works drivers for the 1997 Le Mans. Now in the 29th year of his motorsports career, Hans Stuck has written racing history with Porsche.

Last year, Stuck piloted one of the then-new Porsche 911 GT1 racing cars at Le Mans with Thierry Boutsen and Bob Wollek. The trio won the GT1 class and finished second overall behind the victorious TWR-Porsche World Sports Car.

His first overall Le Mans win for Porsche came in 1986, when he and co-drivers Al Holbert and Derek Bell drove their Porsche 962 to victory. In 1987, Stuck, Holbert and Bell successfully defended their championship, again in a 962. The successful collaboration between Hans Stuck and Porsche also includes the 1985 World Endurance Championship, where he drove a 962C with teammate Derek Bell.

Born in 1951, in Garmish-Partenkirschen, Germany, Stuck started racing touring cars in 1969 and has collected victories in almost every type of racing car. He quickly moved up through racing classes to Formula One in 1974. In five years on the F1 circuit, Stuck had 74 starts. In 1990, Stuck also became German Touring Car Champion, the highlight of a great many victories in sedan-class racing.

Throughout his career, and regardless of the machinery or circuit, Stuck's genius has been driving in the wet. Should rain be a factor at this year's Le Mans, Stuck's wet-weather skill and experience could play a key role in the success of Porsche's factory effort.

Thierry Boutsen

A member of the Porsche family for years, Thierry Boutsen belongs to the crew that drove the Porsche 911 GT1 to a clear class victory last year.

Before piloting the 911 GT1, the Brussels native collected experience and success in a number of Porsche cars. In 1994 he claimed third in Le Mans with Hans Stuck and Danny Sullivan. The following year Boutsen drove to sixth with Christophe Bouchut and Stuck. In the mid-eighties, the Belgian was one of the quickest men in the famous Porsche 962C, and in 1986 he clinched the World Sports Prototype Championship for the Brun Team.

Born in 1957, Boutsen was trained as an engineer, then spent 11 years as a Formula One driver. Between 1983 and 1993, he started 163 F1 contests, collecting 132 points, 15 podium finishes and three F1 wins.

Fast in any type of automobile, it is not only his speed that teams seek out. As an engineer, he brings his comprehensive technical feeling and numerous assignments as a developmental test driver to the task of endurance racing. Should the 24 Hours of Le Mans poise mechanical challenges to the Porsche team, who better to have behind the wheel than Thierry Boutsen?

Emmanuel Collard

Joining the Porsche factory team at Le Mans this June is Frenchman Emmanuel Collard. After winning the international Porsche Pirelli Supercup in 1996, he has established himself among the new generation of Porsche drivers. Collard is 26 years old.

No stranger to Le Mans, Collard drove a Courage Porsche to seventh overall at last year's running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Frenchman has been driving a Porsche 911 GT1 in this year's GT Championship as part of the French JB Team.

Yannick Dalmas

The 36-year old Dalmas has built an impressive record at Le Mans, with wins in 1992, 1994 and 1995. The 1994 win came at the wheel of a Dauer-Porsche. And last year, he was co-driver of the factory's then-new Porsche 911 GT1.

Yannick started his career in motorcycles. After breaking virtually every bone in his body in enduro and motorcross contests, he switched to Formula cars. He won the French Formula 3 series plus the prestigious Formula 3 Grand Prix of Monaco. In 1987, he began an F1 career that saw him make 20 Grands Prix finishes through the 1990 F1 season. Yannick joined the World Sportscar fold in 1991, winning at Magny-Cours and Mexico.

Ralf Kelleners

1996 was a good year for Ralf Kelleners and Porsche.

In June, Kelleners won the GT2 class at Le Mans in a Porsche, finishing twelfth overall after winning the pole for the GT2 class.

Later in the year, he drove a Porsche 911 GT1 with Emmanuel Collard in China, where they captured the overall win.

He competed in the 1996 Porsche Supercup series, winning at the Nurburgring and Hungaroring. He also won a 1996 German Porsche Cup race at the Nurburgring. In 1992, Dalmas captured the crown of World Sports Car Champion.

1997 has looked just as good. At the Daytona Rolex 24 Hours, he was part of the driver crew that drove the Porsche 911 Turbo of Roock Racing to a GTS-2 class win.

Bob Wollek

Though he has won just just about everything imaginable in his long career, there is one race victory that has eluded Bob Wollek: Le Mans. He's walked away with second place finishes three times: in 1978, in 1995 (driving a Courage Porsche) and in 1996 (driving a factory entered 911 GT1).

After an early career as a member of the French national ski team, the Strassbourg native discovered sports cars and began a long, amicable liaison with Porsche. He won the German Racing Championship (DRM) in 1982 and 1983, plus the European Sportscar series in 1983. Wollek also became a constant top performer in the US IMSA series and has won the Daytona 24 Hours no fewer than four times.


Allan McNish

Allan McNish, a native of Scotland, finished third at Laguna Seca with co-driver Ralf Kelleners in the FIA GT season finale at Laguna Seca. He also raced 3 times in 1997 for the Rohr Motorsport team in a Porsche 911 GT1, finishing first in all three races with co-driver Andy Pilgrim.