The 993 GT2 EVO

The Porsche GT2 comes from a long line of 911 Porsche racing cars that have competed in international motorsports since Porsche's inception in 1931. The Turbo-charged 911's wouldn't come out until the 1974 911 Carrera turbo for Group5 racing, followed by the 934 (a racing version of the 930) for Group4 racing, then the infamous Porsche 935 which dominated Group5 and IMSA racing through 1984. In 1986 the Porsche would take its 959 and develop the 961 that had little racing success but featured a leap forward in technology via its AWD system, 4 valves per cylinder and water-cooled heads. In 1993, Porsche began experimenting with the extensively modified turbo 964, named the Turbo S LM-GT and saw tremendous potential for the package to deliver amazing power and performance. Seeing the car's performance potential as well as surging customer demand for a car to replace the 964 Carrera RSRs, Porsche chose to go ahead and develop the turbocharged 993 for customer use.

The 993 GT2 race car featured a stripped interior, integrated rollcage for safety, major aero improvements to increase downforce and cooling efficiency and wider fenders to handle racing slicks. The suspension was modified to improve racing performance, while the engine was slightly tweaked to allow for it to be reliable for endurance racing. Twin KKK turbochargers, fitted with required air restrictors gave the 993 GT2 450hp.

Meanwhile, Porsche was also developing its GT2 Evo that would race in the GT1 category. The Evo saw a 150hp increase in power to 600 hp by bolting on larger turbo-chargers. Other modifications for the GT1 category included a new, higher-mounted rear wing, larger fenders to house the wider tires allowed in the GT1 class, and an even further reduction in weight to 2,425lbs. 

The GT2 and GT2 Evos were extremely successful right out of the gate, earning 7 wins in their class out of 11 rounds during their first full BPR season in 1996 and went on to a class victory in the 1996 and 1997 24 Hours of Le Mans.