Welter Racing

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Please improve this article if you can. (July 2006)

A Welter Racing prototypes at the 2006 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Welter Racing is a French sports car maker that mainly enters in the 24 Hours of Le Mans since, 1990 under the name of Gérard Welter or Rachel Welter.

Gerard Welter is well versed in endurance circuits, especially the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 1993, Welter Racing claimed the Le Mans C3 class victory with its Peugeot 1.9L turbocharged I4 powerplant entry that was driven by Patrick Gonin, Alain Lamouille and Bernard Santal. Aside from the 1993 class win, Welter Racing's career at La Sarthe also includes four second-place finishes and one third-place run as well as a sensational front row start in 1995 which led to a change of regulations for the following year.

The notable speed record was set in 1988 under the auspices of "Project 400." With that project, Welter set out to build the first car to do 400 km/h (248.54 mph) during the 24 Hours of Le Mans. That year, Welter's low-drag designed WM Peugeot P88, driven by Roger Dorchy, with special narrow tires supplied by Michelin to help assist in the drag reduction, eclipsed 251 mph on the famed Mulsanne Straight. The record was later protected with the addition of chicanes, which were built into the straight in 1990, which would prevent the ability of a car to easily reach 400km/h again on the much shorter straights.