Christian Ried has been one of the constants of the LMGTE era, winning the very first Le Mans Series LMGTE AM winner’s trophy in 2011 at Paul Ricard and taking part in every WEC race from 2012 until the last event for the category in Bahrain last weekend.
As Team Principal Christian Ried has led Proton Competition to five LMS/ELMS titles in the LMGTE era, including two as part of the driver line up in 2020 and 2022. It’s also fitting that Proton Competition won the first and last team titles when the no16 Porsche won the 2023 titles in Portugal.
As a driver Christian Ried has also won 11 ELMS races since 2011, which is more than any other driver apart from 2013 ELMS Champion Matt Griffin, who also has 11 ELMS wins to his credit. The final win came in Portimão, when the no77 Porsche 911 RSR-19 took the chequered flag in the penultimate race of the ELMS season, the 4 Hours of Algarve.
After the 2023 8 Hours of Bahrain Christian Ried announced he will step down from driving duties to concentrate on his team manager role as Proton Competition move into running Hypercar and LMP2 programmes.
So how did it all start for Proton Competition and Christian Ried? “We started Proton Competition in 1996 with the Porsche 993 GT2 and we did all 996, 997 RSRs and then the 911,” Ried said. “If you compare the 997 to the 911, the development, of the car is amazing. There is so much electronics in the car but also the behaviour of the car and how fast we are now with these cars. At the beginning, I remember the only guy I know who was doing Eau Rouge flat in a 996 was Marc Lieb, all the others had a big lift. Now, today, it’s flat for everybody.
“So, there was a big development of the cars and the performance. To see those cars is great and to be part of this long story it's just great and for sure I will miss it. It's a real shame to be losing these cars.”
Do you think the decision to move from LMGTE to LMGT3 is the correct one? “The GT3 is easier concerning the running of the cars, with ABS braking making things easier for drivers. The good thing is to see more manufacturers in the series; it's great for the spectators and it's better for the competition.”
Proton Competition has a lot of history winning championships with the LMGTE Porsche. “Yes, we won at the start back in 2011. The next one was in 2018 with Gianluca and Giorgio Roda and then again in 2020 and ‘22. So great history and great fun in the ELMS. We had good battles in the old days with JMW. When we went out with Marc Lieb, probably to in our first Le Mans Series season in 2007, against JMW with Gimmi Bruni and Rob Bell; now Gimmi is with us. It was really great days, and I will miss it for sure.”
