Porsche back to LeMans (and WEC?)

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We will be back. Rejoining the fight for overall Le Mans victories with an LMDh prototype.

 

Discover more: www.porsche.com/lmdh

 

 

 

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The 19-time winner will return to the 24-hour classic with a new LMDh entry in 2023.

 

PORSCHE

 

The pursuit of Porsche’s 20^th overall win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans begins in 2023. Confirmation comes weeks after sister brand Audi announced its return with the same new class, Le Mans Daytona h, which conforms to regulations that allow for racing in IMSA’s WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Porsche’s last Le Mans victory, earned in 2017 with the 1000-hp LMP1 919 Hybrid, served as the German brand’s farewell from prototype action. Among the fastest sports cars ever made, Porsche struggled to reconcile the 919’s jaw-dropping performance with the nine-figure budgets it devoured while playing on the world stage.

PORSCHE

In selecting IMSA’s LMDh as its preferred formula, Porsche eschewed its other option, the WEC’s costlier Le Mans Hypercar regulations. With LMDh, car companies partner with one of four spec LMP2 prototype suppliers, supply its desired internal combustion engine, affix a spec 40hp kinetic energy recovery system to comply with the hybridization rules, and design custom bodywork that features styling elements from its road cars. For LMH, purebred prototypes are allowed, along with race-converted supercars, and all manner of engine options and high-power KERS systems are permitted.

Exceptional creativity lives within LMH, and it’s here where projected budgets diverge with LMDh.

The tally so far among major auto manufacturers is even at two: Audi and Porsche have sided with LMDh; Toyota and Peugeot are all in with LMH. Where LMDh models can race in both series, with the WEC’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, and IMSA’s 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring serving as marquee events to enter, IMSA has yet to open the door to hosting LMH designs at its future events.

Porsche AG CEO Oliver Blume made his feeling known on why IMSA’s regulations led the brand back to sports car racing’s top class.

 

PORSCHE

“The new LMDh category allows us to fight for overall victories with a hybrid system at the Le Mans, Daytona and Sebring classics – without breaking the bank,” he said. “The project is extremely attractive for Porsche. Endurance racing is part of our brand’s DNA.”

Porsche Motorsport is expected to field two factory cars in IMSA and two in the WEC, all while selling its LMDhs and supporting the privately-owned teams who are able to secure the 670hp hybrids from Weissach. Although Porsche did not name its desired chassis partner, it’s believed Canada’s Multimatic—constructor of Mazda’s RT24-P DPis and Ford’s latest road and racing GTs—will be nominated.

Falling in line with Blume’s cost-conscious ethos, Multimatic could be signed to build LMDhs for Audi and Porsche, which would keep the spare parts budget in check due to the vast number of identical components used on the base LMP2 chassis underneath the bespoke bodywork.

Similar to the chassis, no direction has been given on engines, but Porsche did indicate it would lean towards developing a production-based engine for its LMDh. Rumors of utilizing the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 found in Porsche’s Cayenne SUV continue to make the rounds.

 

PORSCHE

And on the teams front in North America, a partnership with Porsche’s last prototype ally, Team Penske, is regularly spoken of as an inevitable development. With the Porsche RS Spyder in its hands, Penske delivered consecutive ALMS LMP2 titles from 2006-2008 while fighting against Acura. In November, Penske concluded a three-year deal to run Acura’s DPi program, which netted championships in 2019 and 2020.

“I’d like to thank our board of directors for the immense confidence they have in the motorsport strategy we’ve developed,” said Fritz Enzinger, Porsche’s VP of Motorsport. “We hold a record with our 19 outright wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and we’ve climbed to the top podium step many times at major races in the USA. We can continue this tradition with an LMDh vehicle while at the same time keeping costs reasonable. There has been huge interest from other manufacturers. I hope we can pick up where we left off with the famous clashes against many other marques in the eighties and nineties. That would give the entire motor racing scene a huge boost.”

[LeeM]

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