This month the #91 Porsche won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the GT-Pro class, with drivers Richard Lietz, Fred Makowiecki and Gianmaria Bruni. It was a great finish as Ferarri finished 2nd and the #92 Porsche finished 3rd, with drivers Michael Christensen, Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor.
In GTE-Am the #79 WeatherTech Porsche, with Cooper MacNeil, Thomas Merrill and Julien Andlauer, came in 3rd. The Dempsey-Proton #88 came in 5th, driven by Fred Poordad, Max Root and Jan Heylen.
Now for the BIG news of the month! On June 24th, Porsche revealed its new 963 Porsche LMDh hybrid prototype at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in England.
The Penske Team will start with the 24 Hours of Daytona followed by the 12 Hours of Sebring and compete in the IMSA Weathertech Championship GTP class. The European team will compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) series.
The 963 is in Porsche colors of Red, White and Black with an accent of the Porsche 992, with the rear tail light across the back.
The 963 has a V8 turbo engine from the 918 Spyder and electric assist, for a total of 680 HP, again in cooperation with Williams. The chassis is a multimatic design with xtrac and Williams Advanced Engineering involved. Anyone can buy one as they will be available after the 1st year of racing. You can buy one for your garage for a mere $2.9 million.
They have announced that the drivers will be Kevin Estre, Michael Christensen, Andre Lotterer, Laurens Vanthoor, Matt Campbell, Mathieu Jaminet, Dane Cameron and Felipe Nasr. Fred Makowiecki was the first driver to drive the 963 in the simulator and has the most time in both the simulator and on the track testing the 963. Why he is not listed as a driver, I do not know.
“After 7,889 test kilometers (4,900 miles) during the first half of 2022, we’re on a very good path but there is still work to be done before the start of next season,” outlines Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President Porsche Motorsport. “Our new Porsche 963 should continue the legacy of legendary models such as the 917, 935, 956, 962 and the 919. I’m positive that we’ll be well-positioned when it comes to technology and we’ve also created the relevant team structures to set us up for wins in the thrilling competition between many manufacturers and different concepts.”
I will bring you up to date on the new EV of Porsche next month!
Hope to see you at the IMSA race at Lime Rock July 15-16th.
