Due to the absence of the official Porsche team in the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans, only privateers with the nearly obsolete air-cooled 993 GT2 Turbo were expected to represent the marque, with few chances to beat the Chrysler Viper for GTS class honors. Two new race versions of the water-cooled 996 GT3-R were entered in the GT class by private teams. The car entered by the German Manthey Racing team finished 13th overall.