Porsche appears set to shelve its plans to update the 963 with a new 90-degree crankshaft, following the car’s improved form in both IMSA GTP and the WEC’s Hypercar class. Speaking with the media yesterday at Le Mans after the Test Day, Porsche …
Porsche appears set to shelve its plans to update the 963 with a new 90-degree crankshaft, following the car’s improved form in both IMSA GTP and the WEC’s Hypercar class.
Speaking with the media yesterday at Le Mans after the Test Day, Porsche Motorsport’s director of factory racing Urs Kuratle said that a firm decision on the upgrade will come after this weekend’s race.
“If all the 963s go through Le Mans without having any problems we can relate to a vibrational thing or a crankshaft thing then we will not introduce it,” he explained.
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“It’s (about saving) tokens but to be really honest, it’s even more the money. If we would have to change the crankshaft for a good reason it will cost us a lot of money because we will have to update the customer cars (at the same time) as well.
“We do not expect something to happen here because the reliability of the 963 has improved a lot and it doesn’t seem to be an issue any more.
“The Le Mans race will be the second 24-hour race (this year) we hope without any problems. But the biggest reason is to save, not to save money because we will spend it somewhere else.”
Kuratle was then asked whether another significant upgrade was now being evaluated instead. Without going into detail, Kuratle explained that Porsche is indeed looking at other areas to improve the 963 in the future.
“We are thinking about it,” he said. “What does the 963 need to be more competitive, what makes sense? These are discussions we are having internally, then as is normal we have to get into contact with the FIA, and ACO and decide whether that is an “‘EVO Joker’ or not.
“We don’t have a date set immediately, the agreement is after Le Mans we decide whether we go, or need it. If the decision is that we have to go for it, then we have to go the supply chain, endurance test it and then go into discussions with the governing bodies on when and how to do it.”
Porsche’s original plan was to shift from a 180-degree crankshaft to a 90-degree one, to address issues encountered at Daytona. And Kuratle explained to RACER that Porsche intended to try and complete the complex test and sign-off process after Le Mans, but before the end of the season.
Unlike the other LMDh manufacturers, Porsche has to factor in the added complexity of updating customer cars. Any updates to its 963 must be introduced to both factory and customer cars at the same time, making lead times challenging to predict.
However, since it began work on the update the 963 has been winning races regularly. Reports then emerged after the WEC race at Spa that the new crankshaft may no longer be required.
This year alone the 963 has taken wins at Daytona, Qatar and Laguna Seca with the Penske factory team, and at Spa with Hertz Team JOTA. Porsche also leads the Manufacturers’ championships in both IMSA and the WEC.
“There are pros and cons to both types of crankshafts,” Kuratle told RACER back in February. “At the early stage, we decided to go for the crankshaft we have in the car now for good reasons. But then we realised that it wasn’t ideal for a number of other reasons. Now we are evaluating the next one and trying to overcome the downsides of a 90-degree crankshaft.
“It’s all about reliability, we have suffered so many problems,” he continued. “We had minor problems at Daytona. There were no show-stoppers, but we discovered problems in Daytona which we clearly relate to vibration issues. This is the downside to the current 180-degree crank.”
So, a 1-2-4 for Porsche Penske Motorsport in the combined Le Mans Test Day times yesterday, and no major mechanical dramas or incidents to report from the German marque’s factory program. That’s it then, might as well hand over the trophy and head …
So, a 1-2-4 for Porsche Penske Motorsport in the combined Le Mans Test Day times yesterday, and no major mechanical dramas or incidents to report from the German marque’s factory program. That’s it then, might as well hand over the trophy and head home…
Not so fast!
As ever, drawing firm conclusions from testing is unwise. With each team working towards a different set of objectives, too much shouldn’t be read into the lap times.
There is so much more to come from the pace of the Hypercars as race week wears on, if it stays dry. The pole time last year was a 3:22.982, four seconds faster than the best lap achieved by Kevin Estre in the No. 6 Penske Porsche during the test.
However, you often get the odd hint of where things stand from post-test body language, conversations and lap counts.
On that basis, should we expect the Porsche 963s to be the class of the field this year? After all, Penske won in Qatar, JOTA won at Spa, and the Penske team appeared upbeat after its performance in the test yesterday after its three-car fleet topped the times on pace and completed 196 laps and 2,671 kilometres during the six hours of track time.
Toyota certainly thinks so.
“The hierarchy is clear,” said Toyota Gazoo Racing’s technical director David Floury after the test. “If Porsche doesn’t win they will have done a pretty bad job. No surprise (after seeing the BoP).”
It was by no means a quiet day for Toyota though, despite Floury’s downbeat tone. The No. 7 GR010 HYBRID topped the Morning session and went on to set the third fastest time in the Afternoon run, the best lap just seven-tenths off the No. 6 Porsche.
Jose Maria Lopez has wasted no time getting reacquainted with Toyota’s Hypercar program. JEP/Motorsport Images
Both GR010 HYBRIDs also began to turn up the wick at the end of the afternoon session, with fast individual sector times from Sebastien Buemi and Kamui Kobayashi before the latter brought out a red flag at the end with an off at Indianapolis.
Nevertheless, Floury feels this year’s race will be Porsche out front, with a competitive fight between multiple manufacturers behind.
“I think (Porsche) has the edge on every aspect and I wonder what Ferrari and Cadillac are doing. Clearly, Porsche is looking very strong,” he said. “BMW looks good as well. Behind Porsche, it should be a good fight.”
Toyota is, however, satisfied that Jose Maria Lopez is already up to speed on his return to the Hypercar team on short notice after Conway’s late withdrawal from the event due to injury.
“By the look of the lap time, it was like he drove the car yesterday,” said Floury. “He was up to speed immediately. There were no issues and he was clearly motivated. He has worked hard to get up to speed with the car’s systems and he is on top of things. We are confident there will be no issue in the race.”
Porsche meanwhile, believes it has a real shot at a 20th overall victory this year. The 963 looks like an entirely different animal in Year 2 and looks to be significantly more capable at the Circuit de la Sarthe for the 2024 event.
While Urs Kuratle, Porsche Motorsport’s director of factory racing, doesn’t believe there can be a standout favorite for this race, he was positive about the team’s prospects ahead of practice and qualifying.
“We will be in the mix, we will be there, but I am not sure you can be favorites because so much can happen.
“We had a really easy, relaxed preparation for this one. During the session, besides a rear-right flat spot on the No. 5 car we had no technical issues and are high on the timing board. It will not be representative of the qualifying ranking though, we are realistic.
“The fact we are in the mix with so many other cars is such a nice thing for the whole sport.”
Elsewhere, there were notable performances from some of the cars that are entirely new to Le Mans.
The No.20 BMW M Hybrid V8 set the sixth-best time and completed plenty of mileage (though the sister car did need an engine change during the day) and the No. 63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini SC63 ended up seventh after 73 tours.
Peugeot’s 2024-spec 9X8 also got its first taste of the La Sarthe asphalt. Its 9X8s ended up 13th and 21st on lap time, but the team believes that the new car is effective on the circuit and there is plenty more to come from the car in performance terms.
“I’m happy to be here compared to last year when I did not do the Prologue,” No. 93 driver Jean-Eric Vergne told the media. “It’s a massive help to get me acquainted to the car and build confidence.
“I think we have a good indication of where we need to go with the setup of the car, and I am happy with the feeling behind the wheel. There are no areas where we are bad, so that’s a positive.
There could be more to come from Peugeot. Jakob Ebrey/Motorsport Images
“Obviously the lap times are not representative, all I care about is the feeling in the car. We know where we can improve and it should be easy to do. We focused our car on setup, the other car on long runs, so we have a lot of data gathered.
“It seems to have improved last year, but frankly that was not difficult.”
Jean-Marc Finot, the senior VP of Stellantis Motorsport, was also keen to stress that the new car is showing signs of improvement.
“It’s ok. We had a software issue on the No. 94 because we downloaded the wrong file, but everything is going well. This track is very specific and difficult, we have a simulator but it’s hard to anticipate the tuning of the car on the aerodynamic and chassis side.
“We also spent a long time seeing the behaviour of tires on long runs.
“For Le Mans, it’s too early to say (where we are in the pecking order), because we don’t know the run plan of our competitors.”
He did however give some insight into his thoughts on the new “two-stage” BoP process that has been introduced for this event, which regulates power output below and above 250 kph, handing the rule-makers greater control over the top speed of the cars.
The hope is that it will prove to be another valuable tool to balance the cars more effectively, particularly on a circuit like this one, which features long stretches of straight road.
The general consensus appears to be that this addition is a positive one. However, Finot downplayed the difference that the percentage of power gain tweaks above 250 kph will make in practice.
“If you change 1 per cent of the power at high speed it will change the top speed of one-third of a percent. So I don’t think it will change a lot. For instance, five kilowatts should be 1 kph or 1.5 maybe, no more.”
Floury from TGR also raised the point that he’d rather it was introduced earlier in the season, rather than right before Le Mans.
“It would have been more comfortable to run it in a previous event. Generally, It’s a good thing, it was needed and it is doing what it was designed for.”
What about Cadillac and Ferrari? Both manufacturers have been coming up in conversations surrounding the OEMs in the fight for victory.
The 2023 pole-sitting No. 50 499P enjoyed a quiet day that resulted in the fifth-fastest time. Cadillac’s three V-Series.Rs on the other hand, would slot in 14th, 16th and 19th, with the No. 3 Ganassi entry having its track time limited by a fuel line issue.
There doesn’t appear to be any sense of panic within the Ganassi or Action Express ranks at this stage though. After achieving an overall podium last year, the Cadillac has form here, and as we all know, you cannot win the Test Day…
“I think we’ve made a significant step forward on systems,” No. 3 driver Sebastien Bourdais said. “We’ve been focusing on race trims and trying to get the balance where we want it, get good tyre data and make sure that balance and grip stay fairly consistent over two or three stints.
“In general, the track seems a bit harder on tires than last year, so there is a bit more sliding around and that’s where we’re trying to see how much margin we have as far as adjustments on the setup to regain the grip that we’ve lost.
“Overall, the car is responding well and the engine side I feel like we have a better handle on things and the systems in general are a lot smoother and predictable than our first time here last year.
“We just have to fine-tune some things to bet ready for qualifying practice.”
“We’re racing here at Detroit, it’s a short sprint race for us, just 100 minutes, and we’re on a narrow street circuit,” begins Nick Tandy, who scored the pole for today’s Chevrolet Sports Car Classic in the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsports 963 …
“We’re racing here at Detroit, it’s a short sprint race for us, just 100 minutes, and we’re on a narrow street circuit,” begins Nick Tandy, who scored the pole for today’s Chevrolet Sports Car Classic in the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsports 963 he’ll share with Mathieu Jaminet.
“So it makes the emphasis on qualifying even greater, of course. To have control of the pole position is mega for the start … but to have the front row to be able to control what’s happening into the first corner is a huge benefit for the team.”
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Tandy’s teammate Dane Cameron will start alongside in the No. 7 963 he’ll hand over to Felipe Nasr. Teammates starting side-by side on the front row can be a huge advantage if executed correctly. Of course, Tandy hopes they execute so well that the race, frankly, isn’t very exciting.
“We’re obviously very much now looking forward to the race and hoping that it’s going to be a very boring affair for everyone outside. But that’s the way that it will make it the best race for us, of course.”
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The PPM 963s weren’t the only front-row lockout in qualifying. The two Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Z06 GT3.Rs will lead the GTD PRO field to the green, courtesy of Antonio Garcia’s pole lap in the No. 3, and Tommy Milner putting the No. 4 on the outside of the front row. The team achieved the same feat in the last outing at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Nicky Catsburg taking pole in the No.4 over Garcia. That one didn’t work out as intended, but Laguna Seca isn’t a narrow street circuit.
“It was definitely the first goal of the weekend,” declared Garcia. “We knew this track was going to be really tough to pass. So obviously to be up front and actually have Tommy beside me into Turn 1, actually, it’s kind of nice – not only to be all around (General Motors’ headquarters Renaissance Center) and have the both Corvettes on the front row.
“It’s definitely the best possible start we can have, and let’s see if we can finish what we didn’t at Laguna with the same one-two. We just have to run a cleaner run than the one we had there.”
Front-row sweeps are nice, but its hard to maintain the advantage throughout the race as traffic and pit stops come into play. And if the teams decide to split strategies between two cars, then it’s nearly impossible to keep them together and maintain the veneer of invincibility that two teammates leading a race provides.
If nothing else, a one-two qualifying is a great morale booster for the entire team. Both teams have major Detroit ties, too. The race is Roger Penske’s baby, conducted in the hometown of Penske Corporation. The race runs around GM’s headquarters, and Pratt Miller is not far away in New Hudson, Mich. As for building and maintaining momentum, Corvette Racing by PMM is looking to get the ball rolling with the first win for the Z06 GT3.R. PPM is a two-time winner so far in 2024, and the IndyCar Series side of the operation is coming off of massive success at the Indy 500.
“Detroit being one of Roger’s home events, let’s say the Penske Corporation, along with what’s going on with IndyCar … it’s a great thing,” said Tandy. “It’s following on from momentum that we’ve built as a team since the back end of last year across two championships with Porsche Penske Motorsport.
“Personally, it’s great to be the building on the momentum that we’ve got on the [No.] 6 side since since the win at Laguna Seca.”
It’s certainly been a good couple of weeks to be a Penske driver. First Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy took the second win of the season for Porsche Penske Motorsports in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna …
It’s certainly been a good couple of weeks to be a Penske driver. First Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy took the second win of the season for Porsche Penske Motorsports in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. That victory was also the 100th for Penske in sports car racing and the 600th for Porsche in IMSA competition. The following Sunday, Team Penske locked out the front row for the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500, and Joey Logano won the NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Then Josef Newgarden, who drove with PPM for its 2024 Rolex 24 At Daytona win, scored his second consecutive Indy 500 victory.
With all those other wins, adding triumphs for PPM Porsche 963s in the Rolex 24 and the World Endurance Championship season opener at Qatar, it’s shaping up to be a very good year for the sports car teams. Focus for now is on the 1h40m race on the streets of Detroit, but it will shift immediately to the biggest prize in sports car endurance racing, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Should the team claim victory in the famed French race, it would be Porsche’s 20th overall win.
Before his Indy 500 heroics Josef Newgarden was part of Porsche Penske Motorsports’ first triumph of 2024 for the organization, sharing the winning Porsche 963 GTP at the Rolex 24 with Matt Campbell, Felipe Nasr and Dane Cameron. Michael Levitt/Motorsport Images
Bolstering its opportunities, in addition to its two regular cars for WEC, PPM is adding a third for IMSA regulars Felipe Nasr, Tandy and Jaminet. Of course, the manufacturer could get that 20th win from one of the other teams running the 963, JOTA and Proton Competition, as JOTA showed at Spa. A customer team taking a victory in WEC shows the strength of Porsche’s program at the moment.
“Last year, we all know the results … and we did a lot of hard work on both sides of the Atlantic, both teams, we worked on operation, we worked on the reliability — probably it was the biggest change from last year to this year,” explains Urs Kuratle, Porsche’s Motorsport Director of Factory Racing. “And third parties, the performance as well. So we worked on all those areas. If you participate in the Porsche family, Penske, in the championship, either IMSA or WEC, it doesn’t matter … but you’re there to win and you have to win — that was the expectation. Yes, we’ve come a long way if you want, but all the work, now it pays off. And the two teams and the customers, they’re making progress. All those things are coming together now and starting to pay off.”
Laurents Vanthoor — who races in WEC in the No. 6 963 with Andre Lotterer and Kevin Estre and joined Jaminet, Tandy and Estre in the No. 6 for a fourth-place finish at Daytona — agrees everything is moving in the right direction for the team.
“I think we are clearly on a very different path last year, which I think is normal. And I do have the confidence that this will carry on,” Vanthoor says. “I think we’ve been to a track which we knew favored us, where obviously the result was good; then we went to a track where we maybe were a little bit more worried, and nevertheless, the result was good as well. And we had a race [at Spa] where there were some troubles thrown our way, despite things going all right later on. Nevertheless, we performed and we executed. So that gives me the confidence that we’re going the right way, that we currently are making the right decisions.
“But we’re obviously not the only ones. The others will continue to work to try and catch us and there will be plenty of other competitors in Le Mans fighting for the same thing. But I’m having quite a lot of confidence going into Le Mans that we that we will be good — and also for the rest of the year.”
The same is true of the IMSA squads. Nasr and Dane Cameron lead the standings, while Tandy and Jaminet are fifth in a very tight points race. PPM Competition Director Travis Law is focused on the Detroit battle this weekend, but knows that each race builds on the next.
“It’s been a lot of success within the organization, which we really enjoy,” he says of Team Penske’s good days recently. “It’s great to see everyone’s else success — not that you need more motivation, but it’s definitely great. You want to be the next person to bring home another successful day and build on the the ones that you’ve seen. Across the PPM 963 organization, we’ve been working really hard on both sides to make sure we’re successful every weekend. We’re obviously looking forward to Le Mans and want to come back stronger than we were last year and hopefully have a similar result as Daytona.”
Expectations of excellence are shared across all the Penske teams and their crews. Michael Levitt/Motorsport Images
Cameron, back in the IMSA fold after a season competing full-time in WEC, won’t be competing at Le Mans this year. But as the sports car driver with the most history in the Penske organization, he’ll be watching and rooting for the other teams competing at Indy and Charlotte this weekend as he prepares to get a second season victory for the No. 7 963 at Detroit.
“There’s not a lot of crossover between some of these programs unless there has to be, which you’ve seen in some of the personnel over the last few weeks,” Cameron explains. “On one hand it is it is a big family and we’re supportive of all the other divisions of Team Penske. But on the other side, our world is IMSA sports car at the moment and global Porsche 963 programs, so that’s kind of our focus. There’s really not much we can we can do or interact with the rest of it. But it was a good road over the weekend — the [IndyCar team] guys have got fast cars at the Speedway, so that’s always great, that makes me happy. Things are operating really well, I think, in every program at the moment, in terms of results as of late, so we just keep doing what we’re doing.”
It’s going to be a busy June for the Porsche Penske Motorsport squad and some of its personnel as the team has Detroit immediately followed the next weekend by Le Mans test day, then the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and culminating with the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen a week after Le Mans. It will certainly be a challenge keeping the whirlwind moving on the right trajectory.
Antonio Felix da Costa secured his second win in three races with a commanding drive in the second race of Formula E’s Shanghai E-Prix. The TAG Heuer Porsche driver held off NEOM McLaren’s Jake Hughes who got his first Formula E podium after …
Antonio Felix da Costa secured his second win in three races with a commanding drive in the second race of Formula E’s Shanghai E-Prix.
The TAG Heuer Porsche driver held off NEOM McLaren’s Jake Hughes who got his first Formula E podium after starting from pole position, having led for just under half of the 28-lap contest — one lap shorter than Saturday’s race.
Da Costa started third on the grid, and by waiting late to take his two passes through the longer Attack Mode line, he didn’t lose as much ground compared to others around him. He moved into the lead on lap 16, passing Andretti’s Norman Nato in the first corner.
Nato had been the pacesetter for much of the early stages of the race, having taken the lead himself on lap 4 — his fourth lap also being the fastest lap of the race – when front-row starter Stoffel Vandoorne dipped into the Attack Mode loop. Nato eventually finished third after da Costa and Hughes broke away, while Vandoorne wound up sixth.
All three faced a threat from Jaguar TCS Racing’s Nick Cassidy, who once again had an energy advantage due to the Jaguar’s superior efficiency, but his charge faded after he made contact with Hughes on lap 19 which left him with front wing damage. Cassidy led home teammate Mitch Evans with the DS Penskes of Vandoorne and Saturday polesitter Jean-Eric Vergne next up.
Maserati MSG Racing’s Maximilian Guenther wound up eighth, ahead of Envision Racing’s Robin Frijns who completed a stellar charge through the field from 20th on the grid.
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It was a difficult day for championship challengers Oliver Rowland and Jake Dennis, who wound up 10th and 11th respectively having been unable to complete their customary climbs up the order as has come to be expected this season. They did fare better than fellow title protagonist Pascal Wehrlein, however, who finished a lowly 20th after pitting with a puncture following contact with McLaren’s Sam Bird.
Bird, who was the race’s only retirement, was also involved in a collision with Mahindra’s Nyck de Vries which resulted in a five-place grid penalty which will be served at the first race in Portland in five weeks time.
After both races in Shanghai, Cassidy remains in the lead of the championship with 167 points, 25 clear of Wehrlein, with Evans a further 10 back in third. Da Costa sits seventh, behind Rowland, Dennis, and Vergne, but could be something of a championship dark horse with his exclusion from the first Misano race still pending review. Should that race win be reinstated, he would be the only three-time winner this season and leapfrog Vergne, moving within a point of Dennis.
Porsche has become the latest manufacturer to commit to Formula E’s GEN4 ruleset, which will be introduced in the 2026-27 season. It joins Nissan and Jaguar is signing up for the all-electric series’ next generation, having first joined the series …
Porsche has become the latest manufacturer to commit to Formula E’s GEN4 ruleset, which will be introduced in the 2026-27 season. It joins Nissan and Jaguar is signing up for the all-electric series’ next generation, having first joined the series in 2019 during its GEN2 era.
“The very important statement from our side is that it was always a long-term engagement,” vice president of Porsche Motorsport Thomas Laudenbach told select media including RACER at the recent Berlin E-Prix. “When we enter a series, it’s not like in and out. So for us it was always clear that we want to do it long-term, we want to be a big part of this championship and we want to give our contribution to build it up.”
Alberto Longo, co-founder & Chief Championship Officer of Formula E, Andreas Haffner, Member of the Executive Board, Human Resources and Social Affairs, Michael Steiner, Member of the Executive Board, Research and Development, Jeff Dodds, CEO of Formula E, Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President Porsche Motorsport, Pablo Martino, Head of Formula E Championship, FIA.
The commitment shoots down any rumors of an impending departure from Formula E for Porsche, once thought of as a distinct possibility amid the brand’s Formula 1 links — something that Laudenbach wouldn’t be drawn on, insisting “these have nothing to do with each other.”
“We’re on some kind of journey together, everybody together, but of course before you sign in you have some talks, you want to clarify some things, you talk about conditions, you talk about everything before you sign,” he said of the renewal of the Formula E deal. “But that doesn’t mean that it was something very difficult or something that … it was just taking the time to do it in a proper way. For us it was always clear that it’s a long-term engagement that we have.”
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News of Porsche’s commitment to Formula E’s GEN4 formula comes a year after it signed on for the final two seasons of GEN3. Those two seasons will be contested with the new GEN3 Evo car, meaning Porsche has been simultaneously developing its GEN4 platform alongside its GEN3 Evo. But Laudenbach points out that the balancing act of developing both side-by-side has been natural, and the GEN3 Evo having the basis of the current car means it’s not so much a drain on resources.
“You’ve got to balance it and you’ve got to look at how much effort you put into each generation, because resources are not endless,” he said. “But I think that’s a challenge in motorsport in general. I think in any racing series you have this every year.
“I think we have a very good GEN3 car — it looks like we’re competitive no matter if it’s our own team or a customer team. For sure we’ll make a step for the Evo — you don’t have to throw away what you have to make an Evo, like the name suggests.”
Porsche has incorporated Formula E’s Attack Mode power boost into its road-going Taycan EV.
While there was no public talk of GEN4 at the time of last year’s announcement, behind closed doors, those conversations were already happening.
“(Porsche is) a really simple partner to work with,” said Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds. “Porsche says, ‘Motorsport is important to us, this is what we’ll bring, this is what we need from you,’ and what they need from us is a commitment to develop the next generation technology that allows them to learn — and the new Taycan has an Attack Mode button which is something that they’ve taken and developed out of Formula E.”
“But also they say, ‘We want you to grow this motorsport, grow the audience, grow the fan base, keep delivering really competitive motorsport, and if you do that, why would we want to be anywhere else?’ and I think that’s a lovely relationship. It’s a very simple transaction.”
“They’re foundational for us,” he added. “We’re a challenger brand — we’re 10 years old in a market where some of our competitors are 75, even 100 years old, and we’re in the infancy of developing a series.
“The reality is we’re growing ridiculously quickly, (but) what we can’t develop really quickly is a lifetime of heritage and legacy that someone like Porsche brings with them. So when Porsche commits to a championship like ours, it sends a message around the world, which is ‘this is a serious motorsport.’”
The benefits go both ways though, with Porsche taking lessons learned with its Formula E program and applying them directly to its consumer products.
“We are the ones that still do motorsport right in the middle of the R&D center,” explained Laudenbach. “There are engineers sitting side-by-side working on a road car and on a race car, and this is how the contribution happens. It’s not like you develop a component in a race car, you take it and put it into a road car. You never do that. It’s about developing technology, developing the processes, it’s about developing functions, so it’s all of that and we will see in the next (few) years some solutions in road cars which really come purely from racing.
“If there would not be any benefit, we wouldn’t do it. It’s very clear. There needs to be a benefit on the technical side,” he insisted.
“If you look into the future, we have a very clear commitment to the electrification of our fleet. But it’s not that we deny our history — we still have a lot of combustion engines on the road and we will have for the future; nothing happens overnight. But if you really think about long-term technology, electrification, it’s obvious (why) we’re racing full electric vehicles here.”
AO Racing has been knocking on the door of victory since moving to GTD PRO with its No. 77 Porsche 911 GT3 R, and finally got it in a race where it seemed least likely. Starting fifth behind a front row of two Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller …
AO Racing has been knocking on the door of victory since moving to GTD PRO with its No. 77 Porsche 911 GT3 R, and finally got it in a race where it seemed least likely. Starting fifth behind a front row of two Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Z06 GT3.Rs that seemed to have the pace to control the race, AO moved up steadily and used an early pit stop strategy to get the car to the front at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Once there, Laurin Heinrich – in his third IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship start – and Seb Priaulx claimed victory in the Motul Course de Monterey Powered by Hyundai N and the GTD PRO points lead.
“Before the race we were talking about passing on this track, which is historically not so easy,” said Heinrich. “I was preparing quite a lot before, looking at many IMSA races from the past, looking over videos. You just have to set it up right. We had a good car, and we were purposely focusing on having a car to follow other guys, now that we knew we were starting from the third row so we had to overtake some cars. I think our engineers and the whole AO Racing crew did a great job to give us exactly the car that we needed. It was not particularly easy in clean air, but that’s not what you need. You know, as soon as you’re first at Laguna, it’s much easier to stay there than to get there.”
Nicky Catsburg put the No. 4 Corvette on the GTD pole with Antonio Garcia alongside in the No. 3 as the Corvettes looked like they might have the first victory for the Z06 GT3.R on their hands. However Pfaff Motorsports put the No. 9 McLaren 720S GT3 EVO – running a red-and-white livery in honor of Ayrton Senna – into the lead after the first round of pit stops, the first time the car has led since Pfaff switched to McLaren. The No. 3 Corvette was caught out when the only full-course caution came 50m into the race, still not having pitted.
Heinrich, having taken over from starter Priaulx, was third at the restart, and quickly took second from Tommy Milner, now in the No. 4 Corvette. He took the lead from Marvin Kirchhofer as he passed the McLaren in Turn 6 a few laps later. The AO crew then brought the Porsche in first, and they cycled back to the lead after the second round of stops — a lead they would never relinquish as Heinrich drove to a 9s margin of victory over Kirchhofer and Oliver Jarvis in the No. 9 McLaren.
“AO Racing did an absolute awesome job today – and not just today, the whole year, and they’ve been improving each time,” said Priaulx. “It’s just absolutely great to see and they’re really hard-working guys. Qualifying pace wasn’t right there yesterday, but today, Laurin did a great job and just absolutely awesome to win our first race. For the team, a massive confidence boost and great for them to feel that. They’ve worked very hard. We’ve been unlucky with some stuff, but I’m just really, really proud of them all.”
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“I think it was clear that the Corvettes had the upper hand in qualifying; there was no way we were going to reach them even with a perfect, perfect lap,” added Heinirch. “Seb did a good job of placing us ahead of all the GTD cars which was crucial for us to stay in our GTD PRO game. He did a good start, kept the nose clean, overtook the Heart of Racing Aston Martin. Halfway into his stint, I could see that he was starting to be faster than the cars ahead of him, so I knew we had something on our hands here. The race was without many full-course yellows, so it was more about long runs. I think that was exactly our strength.”
Catsburg and Milner claimed third in the No. 4 Corvette, with Ben Barnicoat and Jack Hawksworth finishing fourth in the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3. Garcia and Alexander Sims rounded out the top five in GTD PRO in the No. 3 Corvette.
With the victory, Heinrich and Priaulx move into the GTD PRO points lead with 981 points, 56 more than Barnicoat and Hawksworth in second. Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow are third for Paul Miller Racing at 888.
In GTD, Winward powered back into their winning ways after a critical mistake by the No. 557 Turner BMW in the closing minutes. Jake Galstad/Lumen
Winward Racing resumed its dominance in GTD that it momentarily lost at Long Beach, claiming its third win in four races this season and maintaining its spot at the top of the points with Russell Ward and Philip Ellis.
Danny Formal had scored the GTD pole in the No. 45 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2, but the car didn’t have the fight to stay up front, and after the first round of pit stops it was Robby Foley in the lead in the No. 557 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3, followed by Ellis in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes AMG GT3 and Mikael Greinier in the No. 32 Korthoff/Preston Motorsports Mercedes AMG. For a while, Foley was able to open up a gap to Ellis, and it appeared that it might be a storybook ending for Turner Motorsport, celebrating race start no. 577 with BMW and becoming the most prolific BMW race team in the world when the green flew. But as GTP traffic came through the GT field, Ellis reeled Foley in, and it was contact with a passing GTP car, the No. 40 WTRAndretti Acura ARX-06 driven by Jordan Taylor, that ultimately made the difference. Foley turned into the Acura, had light contact and briefly went off track, and Ellis moved into the lead.
“I think we might have had a bit of a better pace when we were out in clean air, but behind them there was no chance of overtaking them,” explained Ellis. “I was actually stuck behind the Aston Martin, the PRO Aston Martin, for quite a bit. Thankfully he let me by and I finally chased down Robby. I think Robby only lost a bit of lap time with the GTPs initially. On our pace, it would have not been a chance of overtaking. It’s sad for them, of course, how it ended. I would have liked to do it on my own, but we’ll definitely take it.”
Foley and Patrick Gallagher ended up second, while a charging Elliot Skeer finished third in the No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche he took over from Adam Adelson. Grenier and Mike Skeen were fourth for Korthoff/Preston, and polesitter Formal and Kyle Marcelli were fifth.
Ellis and Ward have a 213-point lead over Gallagher and Foley. Adelson and Skeer are third in the points, while Parker Thompson sits fourth ahead of Grenier and Skeen.
The GTD class has a long break until the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen at the end of June, while GTD PRO is in action again in three weeks on the streets of Detroit.
After having his first win of the season taken away by a post-race ruling, Antonio Felix da Costa finally got a victory for keeps in the second half of the Berlin E-Prix. Although this one, too, came with a post-race scare when the stewards noted an …
After having his first win of the season taken away by a post-race ruling, Antonio Felix da Costa finally got a victory for keeps in the second half of the Berlin E-Prix. Although this one, too, came with a post-race scare when the stewards noted an “error in the identification number of declared equipment” on the winning car.
Thankfully the only penalty this time was a 1,000 Euro fine to be paid within 48 hours, meaning that while da Costa and Porsche’s win absolutely stands this time around, they’ll have a little less to put behind the bar when they celebrate tonight.
The TAG Heuer Porsche driver survived a race where contact was a significant ingredient to win by over six tenths from Jaguar’s Nick Cassidy and he says that it was him choosing his battles wisely that enabled him to emerge not just victorious, but unscathed too.
“I think if you treat the others well, they treat you well back. I see a lot of drivers around me hitting each other and then they get it right back, and rightly so,” he told RACER. “People are trying to stand their ground, but I always try and be fair.
“My car had zero scratches on it, which is quite impressive after a race like that. I’m very lucky to race against very experienced and respectful drivers so I know if you give some you get some.”
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The victory was da Costa’s second for Porsche, and first for over a year and comes after a huge amount of what he says is “hard work” to get him back on track after a tough start to the season where he had three straight races without registering a point while his teammate Pascal Wehrlien started the campaign off as a winner.
“I would say Pascal still has a little edge on me over one lap — he’s driving the package really well,” he said. “I’m still struggling to find the right balance; we want different balances from the race car, and that’s the work that’s been ongoing.
“We have done steps — I think it’s been seven duels this year where I’ve missed out in P5 by a few hundredths, so we have made steps but we do need to still find a bit of pace. Then again, in some of these races it doesn’t really matter where you qualify, but still you want to show the world and your team that you are the quickest driver.”
Case in point, da Costa (like Saturday winner Nick Cassidy) was victorious despite qualifying 10th, and with two of the remaining three doubleheader events being held on tracks expecting to throw up similar “peloton-style” races, he’s optimistic about the rest of the season although he admits that with Wehlein in a better position in the points, he’ll be the focal point for Porsche.
“We seem to do well in these types of races, but (we’ve) still got Pascal up there and I think at the moment that’s the big push from us,” he said. “If we do get the win back from Misano, maybe — that’s being contested — but I’m not really thinking that. I think you could see these guys, how they raced me and how they raced each other, they were kind of happy to let me go and not get involved in the mix.
“I’ve a little bit less to lose right now — wins are more important to me than finishing fifth or sixth. Let’s see, it’s still a long season but to be fully honest the championship’s not really on my mind.”
“I think if you treat the others well, they treat you well back,” says da Costa, here leading TAG Heuer Porsche teammate Pascal Wehrlein. Dom Romney/Motorsport Images
As he alluded to, da Costa’s removed victory from the first Misano race — when his No. 13 Porsche was disqualified for having an “illegal throttle damper spring” fitted — remains subject to appeal, and while recovering that would change his outlook on his own championship hopes, he says he’s willing to play rear-gunner for Wehrlein should he need to.
“At the moment the goal is I’d really like to win the teams’ championship — it’s a tough battle with Jaguar at the moment. Obviously Pascal is still very much up there in the championship so I think that’s our goal as team.
“I’m happy to help, happy to give up places for Pascal to score a few extra points but I still want to race for myself if the opportunity is there. Today, this happened perfectly and I’m happy with that.”
Porsche Penske Motorsport’s No. 6 963 led the way in the final practice session for the FIA WEC teams at Spa, with Kevin Estre managing a 2m04.125s tour of the circuit in sunny conditions ahead of qualifying. This time was marginally quicker than …
Porsche Penske Motorsport’s No. 6 963 led the way in the final practice session for the FIA WEC teams at Spa, with Kevin Estre managing a 2m04.125s tour of the circuit in sunny conditions ahead of qualifying.
This time was marginally quicker than the 2m04.162s he set to go quickest in Free Practice 2, and was 0.2s up on the best time from Ferrari in this session. 2023 Le Mans winner James Calado was the Italian make’s fastest driver in the No. 51, with a 2m04.340s.
The No. 6 set the fastest Sector 1 and 2 times, while the Ferrari ended up quickest in Sector 3. Qualifying this afternoon is finely poised.
It was a better session from Peugeot in pace terms. The No. 93 9X8 slotted in third with a 2m04.357s from Mikkel Jensen. The No. 50 Ferrari ended up fourth, with the No. 15 BMW M Hybrid V8 completing the top five.
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In LMGT3, it was Manthey Pure Rxcing’s Porsche that topped the times, with Alex Malykhin’s 2m20.947s during a qualifying sim. Rahel Frey ended up improving on Sarah Bovy’s qualifying sim in the Iron Dames Lamborghini to go second with a 2m21.298s.
The third-fastest time was set by the No. 82 TF Sport Corvette. The No. 54 AF Corse Ferrari ended up fourth, with the Manthey EMA Porsche completing the top five.
There were a few of issues to report in the session, the first being the Isotta Fraschini Tipo6-C stopping on pit lane at the start of the session, needing a refire. The second was an off into the gravel for the No. 82 TF Sport Corvette. Hiroshi Koizumi was aboard the Z06 LMGT3.R and ended up facing the wrong way at Les Combes and beached, bringing out an eight-minute full-course yellow period.
The No, 38 JOTA Porsche had the biggest moment, though, and suffered significant rear-right and front-end damage from a high-speed off for Oliver Rasmussen at Blanchimont. The Dane went off the circuit through the gravel and ended up getting air over the grass before taking a nose-dive. The car will require significant work before qualifying, and the JOTA mechanics were working on it by the end of the session after Rasmussen brought it back.
Moments later the Cadillac also had an off through the gravel. And finally, in pit lane, the No. 83 privately-entered Ferrari required attention to its front end for much of the session and only managed 10 laps.
Porsche’s championship-leading No. 6 963 set the quickest lap time in Free Practice 2 for the FIA WEC runners at Spa this afternoon, with Kevin Estre setting a 2m04.162s to go a tenth clear at the top. The times, as expected, are tumbling somewhat …
Porsche’s championship-leading No. 6 963 set the quickest lap time in Free Practice 2 for the FIA WEC runners at Spa this afternoon, with Kevin Estre setting a 2m04.162s to go a tenth clear at the top.
The times, as expected, are tumbling somewhat in Hypercar as the track rubbers in and teams improve their base setup. For comparison, the fastest time came from Ferrari’s Antonio Fuoco in the first session, a 2m05.690s. This was a time bettered by the top eight in Hypercar in the second session.
The No. 50 Ferrari that topped FP1 ended up second, with a 2m04.283s. The Cadillac Racing V-Series.R also came within two-tenths of Estre, while the No. 7 Toyota and No. 12 JOTA Porsche all set times in the 2m04s too.
Further down the list, after finishing up third in FP1 the Lamborghini SC63 toured the circuit in 2m06.107s, and ended up 11th. The fastest new Peugeot ended up ninth, with the quickest WRT BMW 15th.
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In LMGT3, the fastest time didn’t eclipse the best lap from FP1 — a 2m20.885s from Daniel Juncadella in the No. 82 TF Sport Corvette.
However, it was a highly encouraging 90 minutes for AKKODIS ASP. For the first time this season, a Lexus found itself at the top of the timing screens, with WEC rookie and meeting latecomer Clemens Schmid setting a 2m21.257s in the No. 78 during an eight-lap stint in the car.
After arriving trackside at midnight, today has been a challenge for the Austrian. But it is one he has risen to, as prior to this week he hadn’t turned a single lap in a Lexus GT3.
The Iron Dames Lamborghini slotted in second, with the No. 46 WRT BMW third. The top eight cars set times within a second of one another.
WEC track action continues tomorrow morning with Free Practice 3 at 11:00am local time.
