Proton Competition has revealed the livery and driver lineup for its Porsche 963 that will debut at Monza before attentions turn to the U.S. for a trio of IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship races beginning at Road America in August.
Carrying the colors of series sponsor WeatherTech — Proton Competition currently runs the Mercedes AMG for GTD PRO team WeatherTech Racing — the Porsche will be driven by Gianmaria Bruni and Harry Tincknell, with Neel Jani on board for Monza. It also carries a throwback FAT International logo that was a familiar sight on Porsche race cars of the past, although now an automotive lifestyle and promotions company rather than the logistics company it was then.
🚨 Oopsie, the cat’s out of the bag!
We had a surprise in store, but the racing world just couldn't wait! Our #hypercar livery got leaked revealing a jaw-dropping design that will leave you in awe😱So here it is! Our special livery, a stunning collab with @RaceWeatherTech… pic.twitter.com/K402tMYuoi
— Proton Competition (@ProtonRacing) June 28, 2023
For both Tincknell and Bruni, Road America will mark a return to the IMSA paddock. Tincknell most recently competed with AO Racing in its GTD-class Porsche 911 GT3R at Daytona, but his last full-season appearance came with Mazda in its DPi program in 2020-21. Prior to that he was with Chip Ganassi Racing and Ford in its GT GTLM efforts, and has recently been working with Ford to develop the new Mustang GT3. The last couple of years he has raced with Proton and Dempsey-Proton in WEC and at Le Mans.
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Bruni has been tied with Porsche since 2017, although he was a Ferrari driver prior to that. He was part of the winning LMP2 squad for Proton Competition at this year’s Rolex 24 At Daytona, and was competing with WeatherTech Racing at Daytona last year.
The Proton car marks the second customer Porsche 963 in the WeatherTech Championship, JDC-Miller Motorsports having brought theirs to the party beginning at Laguna Seca in May.