Marvin Dienst will be one of the new names on the FIA World Endurance Championship entry list for 2017. The 20-year-old German has joined Dempsey-Proton Racing for this season and will race in the GTE Am category alongside team boss Christian Ried and Porsche junior driver Matteo Cairoli in a Porsche 911 RSR.
It’s always been an ambition of Marvin Dienst to race at Le Mans, and now he has been given the opportunity more quickly than he ever imagined. Le Mans and sportscar racing was already on Dienst’s radar back in 2015, when the then-18-year-old took the ADAC Formel 4 title by a commanding 48 points. Dienst quickly made the step up to ADAC GT Masters, where he competed in a Porsche 911 GT3 R for Schütz Motorsport.
The next step up to the FIA WEC is another milestone in the young German’s career, but Dienst is looking forward to rising to the challenge: “Switching from sprint races to endurance will be something I need to get used to,” he told WEC-Magazin in an interview. “You have to manage the tyres, overtake slower cars and be wary of the quicker prototypes, all at the same time.
Nevertheless, the new Porsche WEC driver is confident and has already set himself some ambitious targets for the 2017 season: “I would like to show people how I can perform and gather experiencing racing at night at Le Mans,” he said. “Racing at the 24 hours at such a young age is just indescribable to me – and in a Porsche RSR to boot. That’s not an opportunity you get every day; you always hear about it and now I have the chance to experience Le Mans myself. I can’t wait!
Dienst’s first taste of WEC action will come at the WEC Prologue at Monza in early April. The 20-year-old has already been on track testing the Porsche 911 RSR and will be looking to optimise his performance in the car at the official test.
Image sources: Marvin Dienst / WEC-Magazin