At the Daytona international Raceway, January 29, 2023 was the finish date of the 1st IMSA race of the year known as the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona. With 61 cars entered for the 61st Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, Porsche entered two cars in the new GTP category with their 963 race cars and seven in the GTD category with the Porsche 911 GT3 R 992. Porsche was not able to podium.

Two of the seven in GTD were entered in the GTD PRO category, where the cars are the same as the ones entered in the GTD category, only the drivers are at a higher professional lever as deemed by the International rankings. The new Porsche 911 GT3 R had almost no chance due to an unfavorable BOP (Balance of Performance). The IMSA motor and weight adjustments are supposed to have the cars all be similar and competitive among each other. It was evident during qualifying, when most of the Porsche 911 GT3 cars qualified down in the middle to lower among the other teams, that Porsche wasn’t as competitive.

Unfortunately and per the quote from Porsche, Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President of Porsche Motorsports, “We’re disappointed, no question about it.” It was unfortunate that after 5 hours the #963 had an issue with the “ESS” (Electrical Service System) or the high-voltage battery system. This put the #7 Porsche 963 some 18 laps down after replacement. It was an amazing effort by the team if you consider that this unit weighs about 110 pounds, is installed from under the car alongside the driver and is mounted with many bolts for a secure install and wire connected to all the cars electrical components. That 18 laps equaled about 27 minutes from the time the car entered the pits until it entered the track again.

The #6 Porsche 963 also had problems with its power train. Porsche has commented that they had experienced several problems but at the same time were able to learn a great deal. They now know where they stand with their competition and what they need to work on and will prepare systematically for the next race at Sebring in March.

Next month I will discuss this Porsche (below) and will also have an update on Porsche in IMSA racing.