Porsche Returning to LeMans in 2014

This must be the year for comeback announcements for Motorsport
First there was Mini and its return to the WRC  and then VW and its return also to the WRC in 2013
Now Porsche has announced that they will be going back to Le Mans in 2014
Porsche first won at Lemans with the 917 in 1970

From there Porsche went on to win another 15 times, with their 16th and final victory coming in 1998 with the GT1
With Porsche recently creating the 911 GT3R Hybrid and the 918 RSR race cars, it was only a matter of time before they entered a major form of Motorsport.
Bring on 2014 as what ever car they create it will be awesome to watch

Cool launch video from Porsche about their LeMans come back as well as press release after the jump

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhOsDzSJ0bk]
Porsche returns toLe Mans in 2014

• Development programme confirmed for works-run sports prototype in LMP1 category
• First race planned for the year 2014
• Porsche is the most successful marque at Le Manswith 16 overall victories

 
Porsche today announces its return toLe Manswith a works-run sports prototype race car in the top LMP1 category. The first outing of the completely newly-developed car is planned for the year 2014.
“Motorsport was always an essential part of the Porsche brand,” emphasises Matthias Müller, President of the Executive Board at Porsche AG. “So for us it was only a matter of time before we returned as a factory to the top league of racing. The success of Porsche atLe Mans is unrivalled.
We want to follow up on this with the 17th outright victory.”
With the RS Spyder sports prototype that was run with great success from 2006 to 2008 by the factory-backed Penske Racing team in theUSA, and to 2010 by several customer teams worldwide, Porsche has set the benchmark recently in the LMP2 category.
“With the RS Spyder we proved that our motorsport engineers in Weissach are at the forefront,” says Wolfgang Hatz, Board Member for Research and Development at Porsche AG. “For instance, we were the first to run a high-revving race engine with direct fuel injection, DFI, setting new standards in performance and efficiency. Recently, with the 911 GT3 R Hybrid, we adopted a completely new drive technology for racing purposes and achieved a considerable reduction in consumption.”
Hartmut Kristen, Head of Porsche Motorsport, is already prepared for one of the most challenging development programmes in the company’s history. “We’re looking forward to the task of developing new technologies and to continue on with the success of the Porsche RS Spyder. After the conclusion of our works-supported sports prototype programme in the American Le Mans Series we have kept up with the latest technological advances. Now we will begin with detailed research in order to evaluate the various concept alternatives for our new car. These obviously depend on how the regulations for the year 2014 look in detail. In principle, these regulations are interesting for us because the integration of our hybrid technology in the vehicle concept is one possible option.”
With 16 overall victories, Porsche is the most successful manufacturer in Le Mans. Hans Herrmann and Richard Attwood claimed the first overall victory for Porsche in 1970 with the legendary 917 short-tail. The 16th and by now last overall win was secured by Laurent Aiello, Stéphane Ortelli and Allan McNish in 1998 with the 911 GT1. In the years 2008 and 2009, the Porsche RS Spyder sports prototype won the title in the LMP2 category.