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Estre completes Porsche's works WEC GT line-up

Frenchman Kevin Estre has joined Porsche's works WEC GT line-up for the coming 2017 campaign, the manufacturer has announced.

Kevin Estre, Walkinshaw GT3

Kevin Estre, Walkinshaw GT3

Porsche Motorsport

#77 Dempsey Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR: Richard Lietz, Michael Christensen, #88 Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR: Khaled Al Qubaisi, David Heinemeier Hansson, Kevin Estre
#912 Porsche Team North America Porsche 911 RSR: Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor, Richard Lietz
Kevin Estre, Porsche Team North America
#912 Porsche Team North America Porsche 911 RSR: Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor, Richard Lietz

Estre, 28, will partner Michael Christensen in the #92 Porsche 911 RSR, with Richard Lietz and Fred Makowiecki paired up in the #91 car.

"In the fight for the maiden GT World Championship title in the FIA WEC we’ve put together two strong driver pairings," said Porsche's motorsport chief Frank-Steffen Walliser.

"And all four pilots come from the world’s best GT hotbed of talent, Porsche’s one-make race series,"

A former champion in German and French Porsche Carrera Cup championships, Estre was a McLaren GT regular for two seasons, before joining Porsche as a factory driver in 2016.

Prior to linking up full-time with the Weissach marque, he'd already run a one-off with Porsche Manthey in the WEC GTE Pro class in 2015, finishing on the class podium in a 911 RSR shared with Sven Muller at Spa-Francorchamps.

Estre had previously been confirmed for the full IMSA 2017 schedule, named as teammate to Audi convert Laurens Vanthoor.

His WEC role leaves uncertain the plans of junior driver Muller and reigning WEC LMP1 champion Romain Dumas, who were considered the leading candidates for the GTE Pro spot alongside the earlier-announced Christensen, Lietz and Makowiecki.

Muller, however, does have a Super GT drive for the coming campaign, as he was named Tomonobu Fujii's teammate in D'Station Racing's Porsche 911 GT3-R.

The WEC drive taken by Estre is believed to have been originally reserved for Gianmaria Bruni, who will end his Ferrari contract early to join the Porsche GT stable - but the terms of the Italian's departure from the Prancing Horse have left Bruni precluded from running in the WEC this season.

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