Porsche announced late last year that it would be returning to Le Mans, and would compete in the Le Mans Daytona hybrid (LMDh) class of the FIA World Endurance Championship and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. While others like Brabham and Toyota are gunning for top honors in the newly-formed Hypercar class at Le Mans, Porsche has decided that one tier down is a more cost-effective proposition for competition, and Team Penske, with which Porsche has a storied history, agrees. As a result, the two will join forces to create one team to manage competition in both of the above racing series.
The partnership between the two is expected to continue for a number of years, and representatives from both entities were present to sign an agreement to that effect (pictured above). Under the name of Porsche Penske Motorsport, two LMDh prototypes will compete in each series, beginning in 2023. These cars will weigh around 2,200 pounds and are based on an LMP2 chassis while the hybrid drivetrains of each will produce around 670 horsepower.
Oliver Blume, Chairman of the Executive Board of Porsche AG, is excited: "We are delighted that we were able to get Team Penske to form this partnership. For the first time in the history of Porsche Motorsport, our company will have a global team competing in the world's two largest endurance series. To this end, we will be setting up team bases on both sides of the Atlantic. This will enable us to create the optimal structures we will need to take overall victories at Le Mans, Daytona, and Sebring, for example."
But Porsche will be gracious with any data it gets from entering the cars in competition and will share this with customer teams that are expected to join the series as soon as early 2023. "Not only will we be keeping our fingers crossed for the four factory cars we have in total, but also for our customer teams," Dr. Michael Steiner, board member for research and development, explains.
"These partner teams will be given our full support. Whatever insights we gain from our factory effort will also be shared with them." Doubtless, insights gained here will also trickle down to road cars in the future. Fingers crossed for a successor to the epic 918 Spyder, or at least an even better Taycan.
