PPM DRIVER PAIRINGS ANNOUNCED

December 17, 2022

Porsche tackles the 2023 motorsport season with ambitious goals, extensive works commitments and new options for customer racing. In the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and the North American IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship, the Porsche Penske Motorsport works team pursues overall wins with two 963 hybrid prototypes fielded in each series. In the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team has set its sights on claiming the title with the new 99X Electric Gen3. Many Porsche customer teams will race the 992-generation Porsche 911 GT3 R on GT stages worldwide. Porsche announced its 2023 motorsport programme on Saturday evening at the “Night of Champions” in Weissach.

Porsche sets a course for the upcoming motor racing season with three newly-developed racing cars and a vision of a future electrically-powered one-make cup vehicle. The Porsche 963 hybrid prototype, the Formula E Porsche 99X Electric racer and the GT4 e-Performance experimental car rely on electric or fully-electric drive concepts. The 2023 agenda is rounded off by a long-term expansion of customer racing activities, among others, with the new 911 GT3 R, and also an extensive factory commitment in the esports sector. “Motorsport has always been extremely important for Porsche and an integral part of the brand’s DNA. We use it as a development platform for future technologies and to showcase the potential of our sports cars. We want to continue pursuing this,” declares Michael Steiner, Member of the Executive Board for Research and Development.

“Sustainability and electrification are hugely important for a sports car manufacturer like Porsche. Our motorsport activities reflect this,” added Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President Porsche Motorsport. “The new GT4 e-Performance is an example. The highly innovative prototype represents our vision of a 100% electrically-powered customer sport racing vehicle. We’re competing in Formula E with the Porsche 99X Electric Gen3, and the new 963 features hybrid technology. During the 2023 season, the 911 GT3 Cup vehicles in the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup are scheduled to switch to eFuels from the pilot facility of our partner HIF Global in Chile. This shows that we’re making big progress towards sustainability in motor racing, as. There’s more to come.”

New works team fights for overall victories at Le Mans, Daytona and Sebring

Under the name Porsche Penske Motorsport, the Stuttgart sports car manufacturer joins forces with the successful American racing outfit Team Penske to field a pair of Porsche 963 and fight for overall wins in the two largest endurance series. The ca. 500 kW (680 PS) hybrid racing prototype has been extensively tested and developed over the last eleven months. The works drivers involved covered a total of 29,713.8 kilometres. The 963 will celebrate its debut at the 24 Hours of Daytona in late January. The endurance classic marks the start of the IMSA championship season. Over the year, the new works team will also contest the highlights at Sebring and the Petit Le Mans event at Road Atlanta in North America.

In addition to securing the world title in the FIA World Endurance Championship WEC, Porsche Penske Motorsport has set its sights on another big goal: In June, the squad aims to clinch the 20th overall victory for Porsche at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the 963. Apart from the French classic, which will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2023, the FIA WEC will be contested in Portugal, Belgium, Italy, Japan, Bahrain and the USA. Ten works drivers from the Porsche Motorsport squad will share driving duties in the four 963 cockpits in the World Endurance Championship and the North American IMSA championship. The Porsche Penske Motorsport team operates out of two locations: The branch in Mannheim (Germany) is responsible for the FIA WEC, with the IMSA vehicles prepared in Mooresville, North Carolina (USA). In its maiden season, the new Porsche 963 will also be available for customers to compete in both endurance series. The confirmed teams are JDC Miller MotorSports (IMSA) as well as Jota Sport and Proton Competition (WEC).

Urs Kuratle, Director Factory Racing LMDh: “We were immediately impressed by the new regulations that have been introduced in the World Endurance Championship and the North American IMSA series. We were among the first manufacturers to commit to this in December 2020. Establishing the globally-operating Porsche Penske Motorsport was another important milestone. Porsche and Penske have a very successful shared history. We now want to build on that together.”

With the launch of the 963 era in endurance racing, Porsche has redistributed its works driver crews. The most notable changes include the return of Nick Tandy after a two-year break. For 2023, the 38-year-old from Bedford, England, shares the No. 6 Porsche with Frenchman Mathieu Jaminet in the IMSA series. At the 24 Hours of Daytona, the pair receives support from Dane Cameron (USA). The second LMDh prototype (No. 7) in the North American championship is helmed by Matt Campbell (Australia) and Felipe Nasr (Brazil) with Michael Christensen (Denmark) as the third driver at Daytona.

Three works drivers will share the cockpits of the two Porsche 963 in the FIA World Endurance Championship WEC. The No. 5 car has been reserved for Dane Cameron, Michael Christensen and Frédéric Makowiecki (France), with the No. 6 sister car designated to Kévin Estre (France), André Lotterer (Germany) and Laurens Vanthoor (Belgium). Gianmaria Bruni (Italy), Romain Dumas (France), Richard Lietz and Thomas Preining (both Austria) are also part of the 2023 factory driver contingent. The detailed schedules for the drivers are currently being finalised.