Porsche Reveals Race Ready 963 For Hypercar and GTP Programmes

Whilst the development version of the Porsche LMDh car has been seen in testing in ‘camo’ livery, until today the final look, livery and name of the new car had not been revealed.

At the Goodwood Festival of Speed though, with a parallel ‘reveal’ at Watkins Glen for the IMSA media and fan audience, Porsche Penske Motorsport have confirmed that the new car will be named the Porsche 963, a major nod to the iconic 962 Group C car of the 1980s.

The new cars, in factory hands, are set to contest both the FIA World Endurance Championship (from a base in Mannheim, Germany which will become operational this autumn) and in the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship (from a base in Mooresville North Carolina) in full-season competition from next year.  The European programme is currently operating from a former Porsche Centre of Penske Automotive in Baden-Württemberg with data exchange between the three facilities happening almost in real-time.

Also revealed today is the racing livery for the new car – in red black and white!

“After 7,889 test kilometres during the first half of 2022, we’re on a very good path but there is still work to be done before the start of next season,” outlines Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President Motorsport. “Our new Porsche 963 should continue the legacy of legendary models such as the 917, 935, 956, 962 and the 919 Hybrid. I’m positive that we’ll be well-positioned when it comes to technology and we’ve also created the relevant team structures to set us up for wins in the thrilling competition between many manufacturers and different concepts.”

The official race debut of the Porsche 963 is still planned to take place in January 2023 at the 24 Hours of Daytona in the USA.

The team are now targeting though “a non-competitive dress rehearsal” at the final round of the 2022 FIA WEC season in Bahrain this November.

“Over the past few months, our people at Porsche Motorsport and Team Penske have grown into an efficient and committed squad – the Porsche Penske Motorsport Team,” acclaims Urs Kuratle, Director Factory Motorsport LMDh. “We’ll have powerful driver crews in the four factory cars. The collaboration with our long-standing tyre partner Michelin and the chassis manufacturer Multimatic works flawlessly. The Porsche 963 should be homologated this autumn. Until then, we want to make further progress with test drives and gain additional insights. We can hardly wait for our first outing.”

The new Porsche 963 will be available to customers from the first year of competition with c.4 chassis understood to be available for 2023.

Also revealed today is that the first Porsche customer 963 teams will communicate their programmes “in the next few days”.

The driver pool and team management for the two works programmes have also been announced.

In compliance with the LMDh regulations, the Porsche 963 is based on a next generation LMP2-category chassis supplied by Multimatic.

Bosch, Williams Advanced Engineering and Xtrac contribute the standard hybrid components.

At the heart of the powertrain lies a 4.6- litre V8 Biturbo. The engine is based on the high-performance 918 Spyder hybrid sports car with DNA going back to the hugely successful Porsche RS Spyder LMP2 car, with which Porsche and Team Penske notched up many victories between 2005 and 2008.

On the design front, Porsche confirm that the new Porsche 963 takes major cues from the Group C 956 and 962 prototypes whilst continuous strip of lighting at the rear echoes the distinctive feature of the latest 992-generation 911.

Finally, Porsche Penske Motorsport has confirmed a suite of technical and commercial partners across both Championship efforts:

Michelin (sole tyre supplier for both Hypercar and GTP) continues its close alliance, as does ExxonMobil with its Mobil1 brand.

In addition to the software specialist Ansys, which supports the global team with simulation solutions as the official technology partner, the Penske Corporation, which will highlight a number of subsidiaries and brands, is also on board as an official partner.

With its expertise in development and engineering, Multimatic joins the project as a technology partner. Luxury watchmaker TAG Heuer also joins the global team as the official timing partner of the Porsche Penske Motorsport team and fashion brand Hugo Boss will serve as the team’s clothing partner and outfitter. Puma meanwhile is named as the technical partner for fireproof race clothing

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