In the main category of the WEC we’ll see another name amongst the competitors: Porsche is coming with the ambition of winning, as they explicitly said that their goal is to win the championship already in the first year. Thanks to the LMDh program the German brand is able to take part in both the endurance and the IMSA championship with a lower budget. First presented at Goodwood’s Festival of Speed, here’s the Porsche 963.
The 917 and the LMP1
Porsche is the manufacturer that currently has the highest number of overall victories at Le Mans, counting in fact 19. The first ever victory for Porsche came in 1970, with a 917 KH driven by Herrmann and Attwood. Born to comply with the "new" regulations of the International Sports Commission, the 917 was about to become a legend. Its first variant was the 917K, then the 917LH (Langheck) characterized by a tail with only one wing. In 1972 the Porsche 917/10 also arrived, followed by the 917/20 which was a meeting point between the previous ones. Two other variants followed the 917/20: the 917/30 and the 917K/81, created to race at the 1981 Le Mans.
The results that this car achieved on track were amazing: in 1970 it won the first overall victory for the team from Stuttgard. The 917 won on tracks such as Daytona, Monza, Sebring, Spa-Francorchamps that year alone, winning the constructors' title. In recent years, in the LMP1 class, Porsche won the manufacturers' and drivers' title in 2015, 2016, 2017. Fifty-three years after its first win at Le Mans, Porsche is ready to return to the overall category at La Sarthe.
"I hope we can pick up where we left off with the famous battles against many other brands in the 80s and 90s"
The Team
The team that took part in this project to collaborate with Porsche is the American team Penske, famous for its participation in Formula 1 from 1974 to 1977. Founded by Roger Penske, a former driver who never completely abandoned racing, founded the team in 1968. The team has a long history of victories in the North American championships and drivers such as Mario Andretti, Emerson Fittipaldi and Juan Pablo Montoya raced with them.
The Chassis and the Engine
The Porsche 963 has a LMDh prototype front wheel drive chassis made by Multimatic, while the engine is a V8 biturbo 4.6 liters and, as per regulation, the power of this car is equal to 500kw, so 680 horsepower. The powertrain of this car is developed on the basis of the Porsche 918 Spyder hybrid. The hybrid components of the prototype will be manufactured together with Bosch, Williams Advanced Engineering and Xtrac.
The Livery
The car’s livery is a tribute to the manufacturer’s history, like that of Ferrari. White, red and black are the colors that Porsche’s Hypercar will wear for 2023. Wearing a similar livery, in fact, was the Porsche 917K in 1970 when the German house got the first of the 19 victories of the 24h of Le Mans. The colours actually show the Austrian flag, nationality of the team that managed the car that year: Porsche KG Salzsburg.
The Drivers
The drivers chosen by the team for the 2023 season are: Kevin Estre, Mathieu Jaminet, André Lotterer, Michael Christensen, Laurens Vanthoor, Matt Campbell, Dane Cameron and Felipe Nasr.
Not only 2 Porsche on the grid
Not only we will see 2 Porsche 963 on track, but there will be 2 other cars, one managed by JOTA and one managed by Proton, the two costumer teams.
Porsche is currently the manufacturer with the most victories at La Sarthe, will they be able to write the name of the 963 in the golden roll of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the year of its debut? Meanwhile we will see this car racing for the first time in January at the 24 Hours of Daytona, the first round of the IMSA championship.
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