Porsche debuted the 911 GT1 in 1995, announcing that it would compete at the 1996 24 Hours of Le Mans. In spite of its name, the car actually has very little in common with the 911, its floorpan was taken from the 956/962 Group C car. In addition, the GT1 featured a water-cooled, twin-turbocharged and intercooled, four valve per cylinder flat-six in a mid-mounted position and making about 600 hp (450 kW).



The new vehicle was an outright success at Le Mans, winning the GT1 class at its debut race, although it lost the overall victory to Joest Racing's Porsche WSC-95 prototype, still a success in that this vehicle used a Porsche powerplant.


The 911 GT1 made its debut in the BPR Global GT Series (the FIA championship's predecessor) at the Brands Hatch 4 hours, where Hans-Joachim Stuck and Thierry Boutsen won comfortably. They followed up by winning at Spa and Ralph Kelleners and Emmanuel Collard triumphed for the factory team at Zhuhai.
The '96 GT1 had around 600 hp (450 kW) and was clocked at a top speed of exactly 330 km/h (205 mph) on the legendary Mulsanne Straight in the practice sessions of the 1996 Le Mans 24 Hours Race (presumably on a low downforce setup).


Regulations for the GT1 category stipulated that to be eligible, a total of 25 cars must be built for road use. Porsche developed a fully road-legal version, dubbed "911 GT1 Strassenversion," and delivered one in early 1996 to the German government for compliance testing, which it passed. The engine had to be slightly de-tuned to meet European emissions laws, although its 700&bhp;PS (400 kW) and dry weight of 1100 kg (2425 lb) proved to be more than adequate; the vehicle could accelerate to 100 km/h (62 mph) from a standstill in 3.3 seconds on its way to a top speed of 378 km/h (235 mph).



 

Source  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_911_GT1




Barnaby@themotorcarsociety.com