Motorsport
How many times has Porsche won Le Mans? Every overall victory from 1970 to 2017
Porsche has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans outright 19 times, more than any other manufacturer: from the 917 in 1970 to the 919 Hybrid in 2017. Here is every winning car, crew and entrant.
By the My Hangar editorsPublished 7 min read
Key takeaways
- Porsche has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans outright 19 times, the most of any manufacturer, ahead of Audi with 13 and Ferrari with 12.
- The first overall win came on 14 June 1970 with Hans Herrmann and Richard Attwood in the red-and-white No. 23 Porsche 917 K.
- Porsches won seven Le Mans races in a row from 1981 to 1987; the Group C 956 and 962 C took six of them, from 1982 to 1987.
- The most recent Porsche overall win was in 2017, when the 919 Hybrid climbed from 56th place to first.
- The Porsche 963 came closest to a 20th win in 2025, finishing second, 14.084 seconds behind the winning Ferrari.
Porsche has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans outright 19 times, more than any other manufacturer (Audi has 13, Ferrari 12). The run began with the 917 K in 1970 and, for now, ends with the 919 Hybrid's third straight win in 2017. Ferrari won in 2023, 2024 and 2025, and Toyota won the 2026 race, so the count still stands at 19.
How many times has Porsche won Le Mans overall?
Nineteen. Porsche's own count, repeated in its 2025 race preview and by the race organiser, the ACO, is 19 overall wins and more than 110 class wins, which makes it the most successful manufacturer in the race's history.
Those 19 wins came in clusters. Two with the 917 (1970–71), three with the 936 (1976, 1977, 1981), one with a customer 935 K3 (1979), six straight Group C wins with the 956 and 962 C (1982–87), the Dauer 962 LM in 1994, two Porsche-engined TWR spyders run by Joest (1996–97), the 911 GT1-98 in 1998 and three 919 Hybrids (2015–17).
Porsche counts the 1996 and 1997 wins of the Joest-run TWR Porsche WSC-95 as its own: the open prototype used a Porsche turbocharged flat-six, and the winners' lists credit both races to Porsche as a manufacturer.
Which Porsches won Le Mans, and who drove them?
Every overall winner is listed below. Drivers follow Porsche's published list of its winners; entrant names follow the entry lists as recorded in the Racing Sports Cars results archive and the official winners' list.
| Year | Car | Drivers | Entrant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 917 K | Hans Herrmann, Richard Attwood | Porsche KG Salzburg |
| 1971 | 917 K | Helmut Marko, Gijs van Lennep | Martini Racing Team |
| 1976 | 936 | Jacky Ickx, Gijs van Lennep | Martini Racing Porsche System |
| 1977 | 936/77 | Jacky Ickx, Jürgen Barth, Hurley Haywood | Martini Racing Porsche System |
| 1979 | 935 K3 | Klaus Ludwig, Bill Whittington, Don Whittington | Porsche Kremer Racing |
| 1981 | 936/81 | Jacky Ickx, Derek Bell | Porsche System |
| 1982 | 956 | Jacky Ickx, Derek Bell | Porsche works team (Rothmans) |
| 1983 | 956 | Vern Schuppan, Hurley Haywood, Al Holbert | Rothmans Porsche |
| 1984 | 956 B | Henri Pescarolo, Klaus Ludwig | New-Man Joest Racing |
| 1985 | 956 B | Klaus Ludwig, Paolo Barilla, "John Winter" (Louis Krages) | New-Man Joest Racing |
| 1986 | 962 C | Derek Bell, Hans-Joachim Stuck, Al Holbert | Rothmans Porsche |
| 1987 | 962 C | Derek Bell, Hans-Joachim Stuck, Al Holbert | Porsche works team (Rothmans) |
| 1994 | Dauer 962 LM | Yannick Dalmas, Hurley Haywood, Mauro Baldi | Le Mans Porsche Team |
| 1996 | TWR Porsche WSC-95 | Davy Jones, Manuel Reuter, Alexander Wurz | Joest Racing |
| 1997 | TWR Porsche WSC-95 | Michele Alboreto, Stefan Johansson, Tom Kristensen | Joest Racing |
| 1998 | 911 GT1-98 | Laurent Aiello, Allan McNish, Stéphane Ortelli | Porsche AG |
| 2015 | 919 Hybrid | Nico Hülkenberg, Earl Bamber, Nick Tandy | Porsche Team |
| 2016 | 919 Hybrid | Romain Dumas, Neel Jani, Marc Lieb | Porsche Team |
| 2017 | 919 Hybrid | Timo Bernhard, Earl Bamber, Brendon Hartley | Porsche LMP Team |
Louis Krages raced under the pseudonym "John Winter". Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell each won four times in a Porsche, the most of any driver with the marque.
When did Porsche first win Le Mans?
On 14 June 1970, 19 years after its first appearance. Porsche first raced at Le Mans in 1951 and won its class that year, but outright victory took nearly two decades.
The winning red-and-white No. 23 917 K, entered by Porsche KG Salzburg, covered 343 laps (about 4,608 km) in wet, treacherous conditions. A year later the white Martini 917 K of Helmut Marko and Gijs van Lennep covered 397 laps and 5,335 km at an average of 222.3 km/h, a distance record that stood until 2010. The full story of that car is in our Porsche 917 history.
Why did Porsche dominate Le Mans in the 1980s?
Because the Group C 956, and its longer-wheelbase successor the 962 C, were the class of the field and were sold to private teams. Porsches won every Le Mans from 1981 to 1987, seven in a row, and six of those wins came from the 956/962 family.
The 956 swept the podium on its 1982 debut. In 1984 the works team stayed away in a dispute over fuel rules, and Reinhold Joest's privately entered 956 B won anyway; the same chassis won again in 1985. The works 962 C then won in 1986 and 1987 with Bell, Stuck and Holbert. A road-legal conversion, the Dauer 962 LM, added a seventh 956/962-family win in 1994. Read more in our guide to the Porsche 956 and 962 in Group C.
Customer teams matter
Five of Porsche's 19 wins went to private entrants: Kremer in 1979 and Joest in 1984, 1985, 1996 and 1997. The 1979 Kremer 935 K3 was the first overall win for a Porsche customer team.
When did Porsche last win Le Mans, and how close has it come since?
The most recent win was on 18 June 2017. After an hour-long repair left them 18 laps down, Timo Bernhard, Earl Bamber and Brendon Hartley climbed from 56th to first in the 919 Hybrid, its third straight win. Porsche left the top class at the end of that season.
Porsche returned in 2023 with the 963 hybrid prototype, run by Porsche Penske Motorsport. Its best result came in 2025, when the No. 6 963 of Kévin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor and Matt Campbell finished second, 14.084 seconds behind the AF Corse Ferrari 499P of Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye and Phil Hanson. Porsche ended its factory Hypercar programme in the World Endurance Championship after 2025, and no 963 was entered at Le Mans in 2026, when Toyota won.
Recent overall winners
| Year | Overall winner | Winning drivers | Best Porsche |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Ferrari 499P (AF Corse) | Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, Nicklas Nielsen | 963, 4th |
| 2025 | Ferrari 499P (AF Corse) | Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye, Phil Hanson | 963, 2nd |
| 2026 | Toyota TR010 Hybrid (Toyota Racing) | Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, Nyck de Vries | No 963 entered |
What about Porsche's Le Mans class wins?
Class wins are where Porsche's Le Mans story started. In 1951 Auguste Veuillet and Edmond Mouche won the 1.1-litre class in a light-alloy 356 SL on the brand's first visit. In 1958 the 718 RSK of Jean Behra and Hans Herrmann became the first Porsche on the overall podium, in third.
Going into the 2025 race Porsche counted 111 class wins. GT racing keeps adding to the total: Manthey's 911 GT3 R won the new LMGT3 class in 2024 (No. 91, Yasser Shahin, Morris Schuring, Richard Lietz) and again in 2025 (No. 92, Ryan Hardwick, Riccardo Pera, Richard Lietz).
You can test yourself on the cars in this table in the daily Porsche quiz, or follow the wins year by year on the Porsche timeline.
FAQ
How many times has Porsche won the 24 Hours of Le Mans?
Porsche has won Le Mans outright 19 times, the record for a manufacturer. The wins span 1970 to 2017; Audi is second with 13 and Ferrari third with 12.
What was Porsche's first Le Mans win?
The first overall win came on 14 June 1970, when Hans Herrmann and Richard Attwood drove the No. 23 Porsche 917 K entered by Porsche KG Salzburg to victory.
Which Porsche has won Le Mans the most times?
Counted as a family, the 956 and 962 won seven times: 1982 to 1987 and, as the Dauer 962 LM, in 1994. The 936 and the 919 Hybrid won three times each.
When did Porsche last win Le Mans?
In 2017, with Timo Bernhard, Earl Bamber and Brendon Hartley in the 919 Hybrid. The 963 finished second in 2025 but has not won the race.
Do the 1996 and 1997 TWR Porsche wins count?
Yes. The Joest-run TWR Porsche WSC-95 used a Porsche engine, and both Porsche and the official winners' lists include those two wins in the total of 19.
Sources
- Four Porsche 963 and three Porsche 911 GT3 R tackle the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Porsche Newsroom
- Porsche in Le Mans, Porsche Newsroom
- 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans – Porsche Penske Motorsport so close to win number 20, 24h-lemans.com
- Historic victory for Manthey EMA and Porsche in LMGT3, 24h-lemans.com
- WEC Le Mans race report 2025, Porsche Motorsport
- Le Mans 24 Hours 1970 results, Racing Sports Cars
- Porsche 963 completely absent as WEC publishes entry list for 2026, Autosport
- List of 24 Hours of Le Mans winners, Wikipedia
Every figure here was checked against at least two independent sources, listed at the end.
