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The Porsche Penske Motorsport team sends the new Porsche 963 into the battle for overall victories in the world's biggest endurance races. From 2023, two of the hybrid prototypes according to LMDh regulations will start in the FIA World Endurance Championship WEC and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Porsche 963 with a retro look
The racing car presented this Friday (June 24) in Goodwood, UK, bears the colors typical of Porsche in motorsport: white, red and black. In the cockpits of the 500 kW (680 hp) strong cars, experienced prototype champions alternate with proven pilots from the Porsche works driver squad. Porsche Penske Motorsport prepares the races at two locations: the branch in Mannheim (Germany) is responsible for the FIA WEC, while the vehicles for the IMSA are prepared in Mooresville (North Carolina, USA).
"After 7.889 test kilometers in the first half of 2022, we see ourselves on the right track, but there is still some work to be done before the start of the coming season," emphasizes Thomas Laudenbach, Head of Motorsport. “Our new Porsche 963 should build on the great success of legendary models such as the 917, 935, 956, 962 or 919 Hybrid. I am sure that we will be well positioned in the technical area and have also created the appropriate structures on the team side in order to be able to win in the exciting competition between numerous manufacturers and different concepts.”
The official race debut of the Porsche 963 is scheduled for January 2023 at the 24 Hours of Daytona in the USA. In the meantime, the FIA WEC has opened the doors for test runs as part of the upcoming World Championship rounds this year. Porsche Penske Motorsport is targeting a possible out-of-competition dress rehearsal at the season finale in Bahrain in November.
Test drives of the LMDh prototype at the Circuit de Catalunya
"In the past few months, the employees of Porsche Motorsport and Team Penske have grown into an optimally functioning and committed team, the Porsche Penske Motorsport Team," says Urs Kuratle, Head of Factory Motorsport LMDh. “We will have strong driver pairings in the four works cars. We are making great progress in cooperation with our long-term tire partner Michelin and the chassis manufacturer Multimatic. The Porsche 963 is to be homologated in autumn. Until then, we want to make further progress in test drives and gain additional insights. We can hardly wait for the first mission.”
The experienced factory drivers Kévin Estre (France), Michael Christensen (Denmark), André Lotterer (Germany), Laurens Vanthoor (Belgium) and Matt Campbell (Australia) are already available for the races in the FIA WEC endurance world championship and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship ), Mathieu Jaminet (France) and the two experienced sports car drivers Dane Cameron (USA) and Felipe Nasr (Brazil). During the early development phase, Frédéric Makowiecki played a central role. The Frenchman drove the very first meters in the Porsche 963 during the roll-out in Weissach in January and also completed the first laps in the simulator. In the future, other experienced drivers will complement the cockpit crews at the long-distance races in Daytona, Sebring and on Road Atlanta (“Petit Le Mans”).
Porsche Penske Motorsport is preparing the two 963s for the world's two largest sports car racing series at the locations in Mooresville, North Carolina, and in Mannheim, Germany. The WEC base in Baden-Württemberg was built in a former Porsche center by Penske Automotive according to the latest standards. A high-performance data line connects the team bases in Mooresville and Mannheim with the Porsche development center in Weissach. The data exchange between the three high-tech centers of Porsche Penske Motorsport takes place almost in real time. The WEC team will move into the Mannheim location in autumn of this year.
Jonathan Diuguid is the Managing Director of Porsche Penske Motorsport. "The expectations are extremely high," says the American. “Not only from the public, but also from Porsche and Penske, who have written great motorsport stories together in the past.” Diuguid and Travis Law (Competition Director) lead the global team Porsche Penske Motorsport and lead the management in both endurance -WM as well as in the IMSA series. The team in the FIA WEC is managed by Bernhard Demmer (General Manager) and Francis Schammo (Team Manager), in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in North America Joel Svensson (Team Manager) is responsible.
Design is based on the classics 956 and 962
As specified by the LMDh regulations, the Porsche 963 is based on a chassis in the LMP2 category. Porsche is working with the Canadian high-tech company Multimatic on the newly developed vehicle base. The standard hybrid components are contributed by Bosch, Williams Advanced Engineering and Xtrac. The heart of the drive is a 4,6-liter V8 biturbo. The engine is based on the high-performance 918 Spyder hybrid sports car. Its DNA goes back to the RS Spyder racing car, with which Porsche and the Penske team celebrated countless successes from 2005 to 2008.
The design of the new Porsche 963 is based on the victorious classics 956 and 962 from the 1980s. At the rear, a continuous strip of light represents the striking highlight of the current nine-eleven generation 992. The vehicle design in white, red and black underlines the reference to successful Porsche racing vehicles. And another tradition lives on: The new Porsche 963 will be available to customers from the first year of use. The first Porsche customer teams will be communicating their program in the next few days.
Porsche Penske Motorsport is collaborating for the intended commitment in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (IWSC) – the two most important long-distance racing series in the world including the classic 24h Le Mans, 24h Daytona and 12h Sebring strong and proven partners together. The tire manufacturer Michelin continues its close cooperation, as does ExxonMobil with the Mobil1 brand. In addition to the software specialist Ansys, which as the official technology partner supports the global team with the latest simulation solutions, the internationally active Penske Corporation is also involved, which as an official partner focuses on numerous subsidiaries and various brands.
Multimatic, with its expertise in development and engineering, acts as a technology partner in the project. As the official timing partner, the watch manufacturer TAG Heuer is also involved in the global team at Porsche Penske Motorsport. The fashion company Hugo Boss, as the team's clothing partner and outfitter, and the sports lifestyle company Puma, as the technical partner for fireproof racing clothing, round off the portfolio of the top cooperations of Porsche Penske Motorsport.
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Worldwide use for Porsche Penske Motorsport with the new 963
Photo credit: Porsche
