WEC: Porsche dreams of 20th Le Mans victory

Over the past year, we have repeatedly talked about the new Porsche program in endurance racing: in 2023, the factory Porsche Penske Motorsport team will compete in two championships simultaneously – in the WEC and in the American IMSA series.

For this, the company created the Porsche 963 hypercar, the presentation of which took place at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. The new LMDh class sports prototype underwent intensive testing throughout the year, with factory drivers covering more than 18,000 miles during testing.

The debut of the car will take place in January, as two teams on the Porsche 963 head to the start of the 24 Hours of Daytona marathon. The team has the most ambitious goals, as the company’s management takes on the task of fighting only for victories. In June, among others, she will try to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and if successful, it will be Porsche’s 20th victory in the overall standings of the legendary race.

Urs Kuratle, Director of the LMDh factory program, said: “When the new technical regulations of WEC and the US IMSA series were published, we were immediately impressed, so we became one of the first automakers to announce their participation in the championship in December. 2020 confirmed.

The organization of the Porsche Penske Motorsport team, which will operate on both sides of the Atlantic, was the next important step. Porsche and Penske have a great history of shared success and now we want to continue that together.”

Porsche also confirmed that the new hypercar will be delivered to customer teams, both European and American, as early as 2023. JDC Miller MotorSports will start the IMSA Championship with Porsche 963 drivers, while Jota Sport and Proton Competiotion will compete in WEC on such sports prototypes.