Porsche 963 on two continents next weekend

WECHyperCar

May 8

Porsche Penske Motorsport is facing an intense weekend as its works teams aim to achieve top results with the Porsche 963 at Spa-Francorchamps in the World Endurance Championship WEC FIA and Laguna Seca in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Qatar 1812 left: winning Porsche 963; at Daytona right: Winning Porsche 963

Porsche Penske Motorsport also occupies the top spot in the team standings of the FIA WEC and the North American IMSA Championship thanks to two victories in Daytona and Qatar and podium finishes in all other races so far this season.

FIA WEC: Important dress rehearsal for the 24 Hours of Le Mans

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Imola and Lusail.

Next up on this year’s FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) calendar is round three at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium on 11 May. The Porsche Penske Motorsport works team fields two 508 kW (691 PS) Porsche 963 race cars in the six-hour race. The customer teams Hertz Team Jota and Proton Competition enter three more Porsche 963 racers in the top Hypercar class on the seven-kilometre “Ardennes rollercoaster” in Belgium. The five lineups well be as follows:

Porsche Penske Motorsport #5: Matt Campbell (AUS), Michael Christensen (DK), Frédéric Makowiecki (F) 📷 Left
Porsche Penske Motorsport #6: Kévin Estre (F), André Lotterer (D), Laurens Vanthoor (B) 📷 center left
Hertz Team Jota #12: Will Stevens (UK), Callum Ilott (UK) 📷 Center right
Hertz Team Jota #38: Jenson Button (UK), Phil Hanson (UK), Oliver Rasmussen (DK)
Proton Competition #99: Julien Andlauer (F), Neel Jani (CH) 📷 Right

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Imola. #6 Porsche 963.

Kévin Estre (Porsche 963 #6, FIA WEC): “Spa-Francorchamps is one of the most beautiful racetracks in the world and definitely one of the highlights of the FIA WEC calendar. Driving a hypercar like the Porsche 963 through Eau Rouge is a real experience on every lap. Last year we were quite fast there, but we were very unlucky. I want to change that this year. We tested at Spa and are well prepared. That’s why I’m confident that we can extend our wonderful series of podium finishes. It won’t be easy, because the competition is fierce. Nevertheless, we’re better than last year and we’re in fantastic form as of late.” Source: Porsche

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Imola.

In the LMGT3 category, partner team Manthey will line up with two Porsche 911 GT3 R. The outfit from Germany’s Eifel region tops the leaderboard in all classifications in the new GT3 class. Both lineups are as follow:

Manthey EMA #91: Yasser Shahin (AUS), Morris Schuring (NL), Richard Lietz (A) 📷 Left
Manthey PureRxcing #92: Alex Malykhin (UK), Joel Sturm (D), Klaus Bachler (A) 📷 Right

IMSA series: Through the famous “Corkscrew” under new conditions

Round four of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season at Laguna Seca Raceway will be contested over 2 hours 40 minutes on 12 May. The storied Californian track with the famous “Corkscrew” corner was resealed in the summer of 2023. Porsche Penske Motorsport familiarised itself with the new grip conditions during two days of testing. In the top GTP category, the customer teams JDC-Miller MotorSports and Proton Competition will campaign two more Porsche 963. The hybrid prototypes from Weissach can call on a maximum output of 511 kW (695 PS) in the IMSA series according to the current Balance of Performance. The four 963 lineups are as follows:

Porsche Penske Motorsport #6: Mathieu Jaminet (F), Nick Tandy (UK) 📷 Left

Porsche Penske Motorsport #7: Felipe Nasr (BR), Dane Cameron (USA) 📷 Center Left
Proton Competition #5: Gianmaria Bruni (I), Bent Viscaal (NL) 📷 Center Right
JDC-Miller MotorSports #85: Tijmen van der Helm (NL), Richard Westbrook (UK) 📷 Right

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Daytona. Win for #7 Porsche 963 with Nasr, Newgarden, Campbell and Cameron..

Felipe Nasr (Porsche 963 #7, IMSA): “After our strong start to the season, we want to carry that momentum into Laguna Seca. The track is steeped in tradition and very demanding. We had the opportunity to test on the new asphalt. The results were positive and gave us important insights for the upcoming race. The entire team continues to work tirelessly on optimising our Porsche 963. Based on the test results and our good performance last year, we’re aiming for overall victory at Laguna Seca.” Source: Porsche.

In the two GT classes, four partner teams will each enter a Porsche 911 GT3 R as follows:

GTD Pro (Porsche 911 GT3 R):
AO Racing #77: Laurin Heinrich (D), Sebastian Priaulx (UK) 📷 Right
GTD (Porsche 911 GT3 R):
Andretti Motorsports #43: Jarett Andretti (USA), Gabby Chaves (COL)
MDK Motorsports #86: Anders Fjordbach (DK), Kerong Li (CHN)
Wright Motorsports #120: Adam Adelson (USA), Elliott Skeer (USA) 📷 Left