Actor and racer in one person – The X-Men star starts in Le Mans with a Porsche race

“I think it’s the history of this place that attracts everyone so much,” says Michael Fassbender, a 45-year-old actor with both Irish and German roots. You can know him from films such as The Shame Pancharti, he also appeared in works by legendary X-Men such as First Class, Apocalypse or Dark Phoenix, Alien fans certainly remember him from Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, but witnesses are certainly remembered by historical image 300: Battle of Thermopylae. But he also played the lead role in the films Hungry or Stud.

Fassbender will sit in the Porsche RSR with start number 93 under the baton of the Proton Competition team. He will take turns in the cockpit with Australian driver Matt Campbell and Canadian Zach Robichon

Fassbender will start in the GTE Am class. Although the Proton Competition is not a Porsche factory team, it has a direct link to it – this is where a few former drivers got to the cockpit of Porsche factory cars. So it’s no surprise what cars the team drives. Specifically, it is a racing 911 with an engine in front of (!) Rear axle.

The car meets the original specifications from 2019, but has been optimized over the years – both aerodynamically and also the volume of the flat six-cylinder has increased from 4 liters to 4.2 liters. The engine, which spins up to 9,500 rpm, gives a maximum output of 515 hp, weighs 1,245 kg, accelerates from zero to 100 in 3 seconds and, depending on the transmission, reaches speeds of up to 320 km / h.

It’s not just that starting a Porsche race at Le Mans – Fassbender has actually been preparing for his big dream for the last three years. Since 2019, he has gained experience with the circuit Porsche GT3 Cup, with which the Porsche Carrera Cup competition is run. In the cockpit of the race car, the actor drove circuits such as Hockenheim, Nürburgring GP-strecke, Sachsenring, Oschersleben or Spa-Francorchamps.

The Porsche Carrera Cup series is then driven not only in Central Europe, but also in Asia, Australia, Great Britain, Italy, Japan and Scandinavia.

All of the above tracks are a great preparation, and Fassbender has earned the spurs necessary to keep up the pressure on the famous de la Sarthe circuit, where the legendary 24-hour Le Mans runs.

Nevertheless, there will be a few unknowns for him – the 911 RSR works (partly due to a different weight distribution and higher performance) a little differently than the “cup” car, and none of its previous races also ran overnight. Factors such as fatigue, stress, impaired visibility of braking points, “wandering of the mind” and the associated pressure to stay focused – these will all be factors to deal with.

If you have a taste, we can definitely recommend the series called “Michael Fassbender: Road to Le Mans”, which you will find on the Porsche YouTube channel – it has very nice workmanship and it is remarkable to watch an actor-racing enthusiast become a racer.

In any case, we keep our fingers crossed for Michael, because not only going to Le Mans, but to any endurance race, he wants not only good hands and feet and experience, but also a good amount of courage and enthusiasm. In addition to the new rules for the Royal Mansion, this is another reason why it will be worth watching this year.