Welter Racing is a French sports car maker that mainly enters in the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...

, since 1990 under the name of

Rachel and Gérard Welter Rachel () was a Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban. Her older sister was Leah, Jacob's first wife. Her aunt ...

, Peugeot's late head of design or Rachel Welter (his wife).

History

was well versed in endurance circuits, especially the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 1993, Welter Racing claimed the Le Mans C3 class victory with its Peugeot 1.9 L turbocharged I4 powerplant entry that was driven by Patrick Gonin, Alain Lamouille and Bernard Santal. Aside from the 1993 class win, Welter Racing's career at La Sarthe also includes four second-place finishes and one third-place run as well as a sensational front row start in 1995 which led to a change of regulations for the following year. The notable speed record was set in

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

under the auspices of "Project 400". With that project, Welter set out to build the first car to do during the 24 Hours of Le Mans. That year, Welter's low-drag configuration WM Peugeot P88, including moving the radiators and intercoolers; combined with novel ducting, driven by Roger Dorchy, achieved on the

Mulsanne Straight The Mulsanne Straight (''Ligne Droite des Hunaudières'' in French) is the name used in English for a formerly long straight of the Circuit de la Sarthe around which the 24 Hours of Le Mans auto race takes place. Since 1990, the straight is int ...

. Having struggled with reliability for the entire event, problems with the car for the whole weekend (turbocharger, cooling and electrical) finally ended their race. The record was later protected with the addition of chicanes, which were built into the straight in 1990, which would prevent the ability of a car to easily reach again on the much shorter straights. In 2008, WR unveiled a new LMP2 fitted with a Zytek engine, known as the WR2008. Gérard Welter died on January 31, 2018, aged 75.Obituary: Gerard Welter, 1942-2018
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References

External links

Welter Racing
French auto racing teams 24 Hours of Le Mans teams European Le Mans Series teams {{Motorsport-stub World Sportscar Championship teams American Le Mans Series teams French racecar constructors