Four-time class winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Gianmaria Bruni, is leaving the Porsche factory driver team after eight years.
The 43-year-old Italian was absent from the German marque's schedule because it officially launched its 2025 motorsport programs on Saturday evening.
The departure comes after two seasons during which Bruni had no seat within the works Porsche and was placed within the 963 LMDh customer Proton Competition team within the World Endurance Championship after which the IMSA Sportscar Championship.
Bruni was employed at Ferrari before 2017, and from the 2018–2019 season he became a pillar of the Porsche WEC GTE Pro team.
He claimed his fourth Le Mans class victory aboard Manthey's works Porsche 911 RSR in 2022, although he was never in a position to replicate the WEC championship successes he enjoyed with Ferrari, where he won the LMGTE Pro crown in 2013 and 2014.
Gianmaria Bruni, Toni Vilander, AF Corse Ferrari F458 Italia
Photo: JEP / Motorsport Images
Bruni can still race a Porsche next 12 months. The former Minardi Formula 1 driver joined customer JDC-Miller MotorSports' Porsche 963 team in the course of the official IMSA test at Daytona last month.
Among the drivers who tested the automobile at Daytona was Tijmen van der Helm, whose partner on this 12 months's JDC 963 was the now retired Richard Westbrook.
Proton is not going to proceed its involvement within the IMSA GTP class with considered one of its 963s, in accordance with a press release from Porsche issued during Saturday's Night of Champions event at its Weissach R&D facility.
It said the “one-customer team” would join Porsche Penske Motorsport's factory lineup within the North American series, naming JDC-Miller while referencing Proton's WEC solo 963 follow-up.
During the event, Porsche announced a discount in its factory pilot lineup.
Bruni left the 16-strong squad in 2024 together with Andre Lotterer, Dan Cameron and Frederic Makowiecki, who left the PPM squad after the tip of their WEC and IMSA campaigns.
#33 Falken Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (992): Julian Andlauer, Klaus Bachler, Sven Müller, Alessio Picariello
Photo: Group C GmbH
Julien Andlauer, after moving from Proton to the PPM WEC squad for 2025, has been promoted to the status of a completely factory team, having previously been a so-called Porsche contract driver.
The second latest addition is Nico Muller, whose recruitment by Porsche was announced in August. The Swiss has been included in Andretti's Formula E squad for the upcoming season, which uses a Porsche powertrain.
This signifies that there are currently 14 drivers on the Porsche factory.
Porsche has a second list of contract drivers on its books who haven’t been granted official company status.
Ricardo Feller joins this list from Audi. The Swiss, who won the Nürburgring 24 Hours this 12 months, was a part of a small group of drivers hired by Audi Sport because it scaled back its customer racing division.
Feller, 24, will race a Porsche 911 GT3-R within the DTM for the Allied Racing team, which advances from the Porsche Carrera Cup in Germany.
His teammate within the two-car lineup will probably be Bastian Buus, one other driver with a contract with Porsche.
Ricardo Feller, ABT Sportsline Audi R8 LMS GT3 team
Photo: Alexander Trienitz
Michelle Gatting also signed with Porsche to change into a contract pilot. She will race with Manthey within the LMGT3 WEC class in 2025, in addition to with Proton within the European and Asian Le Mans series as a part of the all-female Iron Dames program.
Klaus Bachler will move from the WEC, where he was a part of the winning LMGT3 squad, to hitch AO Racing to defend his IMSA GT Daytona Pro crown.
The Austrian will team up with two other Porsche contractors, reigning champion Laurin Heinrich throughout the season and Alessio Picariello within the Daytona and Sebring endurance rounds.
The young German Theo Oeverhaus became a junior Porsche driver. The 19-year-old, who finished third on this 12 months's Carrera German Cup, joins a program that has produced drivers comparable to Le Mans winners Timo Bernhard and Marc Lieb.
Italian driver Alessandro Ghiretti continues his profession as a Porsche junior for the second season.
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