Alongside the two that will regularly race in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), the team will also compete with a hybrid prototype in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
On the occasion of the centenary of the classic endurance test, the official Porsche team will include personnel from both contests. Customer team Hertz Team JOTA has entered a fourth Porsche 963 for the race on June 10-11.
Stuttgart. Porsche is determined to maximize its chances of claiming its 20th overall victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. To do this, the Porsche Penske Motorsport team has entered a third Porsche 963 in the classic endurance test, which will take place on June 10 and 11.
Today, the ACO, organizer of Le Mans, has given the green light to the additional hybrid prototype of about 680 horsepower (500 kW). The vehicle will take the exit number 75.
The year 2023 marks the 75th anniversary of the sports car manufacturer, while the 24 Hours of Le Mans celebrates its centenary in this edition. The Hertz Team JOTA customer team will participate with a fourth Porsche 963.
“Le Mans is the highlight of every endurance season, especially this year for the centenary of the race,” sums up Thomas Laudenbach.
The Vice President of Porsche Motorsport adds: “For us, it is about maximizing our chances of achieving the 20th overall Le Mans victory on the 75th anniversary of the Porsche brand.
That’s why we’re going to alienate a third car. The history of this competition has shown that additional units are often decisive. We don’t have to look very far back in the history of Porsche Motorsport to see proof of this: in 2015, the third Porsche 919 Hybrid gave us victory at Le Mans.”
“While choosing to go to Le Mans with three cars increases our chances, it also presents us with enormous challenges,” explains Urs Kuratle, LMDh Official Team Competition Director. “We have to put together an additional team, send one of the IMSA cars to France and bring it back.
In addition, due to continuous supply bottlenecks for certain items, the stock of spare parts may not be perfect. We want to do our best and shine in the 75th year of the Porsche brand and the 100th anniversary of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.”
“Since the first day of Porsche Penske Motorsport, the 24 Hours of Le Mans has been our goal. The privilege of fielding a third Porsche 963 presents us with logistical and operational challenges”, describes Jonathan Diuguid, Managing Director of Porsche Penske Motorsport. “Even when we established our program, we did so with the premise that we could expand it if necessary.
We are a global team with commitments in the World Endurance Championship and in the IMSA. We have highly qualified and motivated staff who support each other.
Taking a third car means that the members of our participating IMSA team will be in Germany and France for around four weeks. They will join forces with their colleagues from the WEC to prepare the vehicles and the necessary material.
Next on the schedule is test day and then race week. The IMSA championship calendar allows this without having to make big concessions. We will have three prototypes on the grid prepared and at exactly the same level.”
The Porsche 963 is preparing for its official debut in competition
The wheel of the Porsche 963 nº 5 will be shared by American Dane Cameron, Dane Michael Christensen and Frenchman Frédéric Makowiecki. At the controls of the No. 6 will be the Frenchman Kévin Estre, the Belgian Laurens Vanthoor and the German André Lotterer, three times overall winner of Le Mans.
Felipe Nasr will be part of the line-up for the #75 car. His two teammates, to be announced later, will also be works drivers for Porsche Penske Motorsport in the IMSA championship.
To drive the #38 Porsche 963, customer team Hertz Team JOTA has appointed António Félix da Costa from Portugal, Will Stevens from Britain and Yifei Ye. The Chinese driver is supported by Porsche Motorsport Asia-Pacific.
The 24 Hours of Le Mans were first held in France 100 years ago. The 91st edition will be held on June 10 and 11. In the fight for the final victory in the new Hypercar category, Porsche will face manufacturers such as Ferrari, Cadillac, Toyota or Peugeot.