The GT racing lineage of the 911 developed out of the rules environment that emerged when the ACO created a GT class below the Group GT1 and GT2 categories from 1998. This class was advertised by the FIA from 2000 as N-GT and, following alignment of GT rules between the FIA and ACO in 2005, was renamed GT2. When the FIA GT2 European Championship failed and participation in the top GT1 class at Le Mans dwindled, the ACO renamed the GT2 class GTE in 2011, dividing it into GTE-Pro for professionals and GTE-Am for amateurs. Porsche maintained a continuous presence in this class across multiple generations of the 911.
The 996 GT3 R debuted at the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans, where the Manthey-Racing entry of Uwe Alzen, Patrick Huisman, and Luca Riccitelli won the GT class ahead of a Champion Racing entry. The car competed extensively in the American Le Mans Series, claiming nearly all class wins in its category from 1999 to 2001. In the 2000 FIA GT Championship, the 996 GT3 R dominated the N-GT class, winning every round, and the factory-supported Phoenix Racing team won the Nurburgring 24-hour race that year.
The modified 996 GT3 RS succeeded it in 2001 and proved capable of overall victories against more powerful prototypes. In 2003, Jorg Bergmeister and Timo Bernhard took an outright win at the Daytona 24 Hours, while Stephane Ortelli, Marc Lieb, and Romain Dumas won the Spa-Francorchamps 24-hour race, the first time an NGT-class car had done so in FIA GT Championship history.
The 996 GT3 RSR, identifiable by its teardrop-shaped headlights, debuted in 2004 with engine output increased to 455 hp and a sequential six-speed gearbox. By 2006, racing versions of the 996 GT3 had achieved seven class wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and five class wins with one overall victory at the Spa 24 Hours. Nearly 200 racing cars of this generation were produced.
The 997 GT3 RSR debuted at the 2006 Spa-Francorchamps 24-hour race with a displacement of 3.8 litres and 465 hp. From 2007 it was offered to customers, with 35 units produced over that winter. Manthey Racing won the Nurburgring 24-hour race in 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2011 with this car. For the 2009 season, the car received major revisions including a new front aerodynamic treatment with large cooling openings, improved aerodynamics, and a displacement increase to four litres. A final revision of the 997 GT3 RSR was presented in November 2011 and delivered to customers from January 2012 at a price of 498,000 euros. This model competed in the 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship and ALMS.
The 991 RSR debuted in 2013, based on the Carrera 4S rather than the GT3 model as the street GT3 was introduced too late for GTE homologation. It used the well-established 4.0-litre naturally aspirated M97/82 engine. A focus of development was improved weight distribution: given the 911's rear-engine layout, the fuel tank was located at the front to shift weight forward, and extensive carbon fibre was used for bodywork components. The car benefited from FIA regulation waivers compensating for the conceptual disadvantage of the rear-engine configuration.
The Manthey Racing team, promoted to Porsche works status from 2013, continued to campaign the car in the WEC. For 2016 new GTE regulations came into force, and while Porsche initially adapted the existing 991 RSR, it could not fully exploit the new freedoms, proving inferior to the Ford GT and Ferrari 488 that season.
For 2017 Porsche introduced a comprehensively redesigned 911 RSR. The chassis, body structure, aerodynamics, engine and transmission were all new. The engine-gearbox unit was reversed so the engine sat in front of the rear axle — a layout Porsche described as mid-engined — improving weight distribution and allowing a larger rear diffuser permitted by the updated GTE regulations. The 4.0-litre naturally aspirated flat-six with direct injection produced around 510 hp. Double wishbones replaced MacPherson struts at the front axle.
Manthey Racing achieved a GTE Pro class double victory at the 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans with this car, and also won the FIA World Endurance Championship in the 2018-19 season.
In 2019 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, Porsche revealed a further evolved RSR based on the 991.2 shell. With 95 percent of components redesigned, it featured revised exhaust routing to side-exit pipes ahead of the rear wheels — replacing an earlier arrangement that could gather debris — an enlarged 4.2-litre flat-six engine for improved torque, and aerodynamic revisions focused on improving mechanical grip in medium-fast corners. The 991.2 RSR debuted in WEC competition at the start of the 2019-20 season.