Though the sky is gray and overcast, the mood in Watkins Glen is filled with joyous anticipation. For the Porsche Penske Motorsport Team, the day is akin to Christmas: The Porsche 963 with the starting number 75 – decorated in the Le Mans anniversary livery – has arrived for the local testing. It will be the only deployment of the #75 before it is brought to the Sarthe in France, and will join the other two Porsche vehicles of the Hypercar class. It is just one of a total of three vehicles bound to participate in Le Mans – one more than so far in the World Endurance Championship.

 

The event itself will already start for the teams on Saturday, June 3 with the registration and the testing on the track the following day. The Porsche Penske Motorsport Team is planning to utilize this precious time to get reacquainted with the track, but also to find ways to perfect the finishing touches on the vehicles. The goal is to give all three vehicles – the Porsche 963 with the starting number 5, 6 and 75 – even better chances at winning the 20th overall victory. To make that possible, the engineers and mechanics of the Porsche Penske Motorsport Team will often sacrifice sleep, but the team spirit helps them maintain their concentration in spite of the tension.

Beside a crew in the pit and the fitting vehicles, a successful race also needs talented drivers. For that, the Porsche Penske Motorsport WEC drivers will receive backup from the IMSA team.

 

In the Porsche 963 #5, the familiar faces of Frédéric Makowiecki (France), Michael Christensen (Denmark) and Dane Cameron (USA) will be switching out behind the wheel.

 

Taking a seat behind the steering wheel of the Porsche 963 #6 will be Laurens Vanthoor (Belgium), Kévin Estre (France) and André Lotterer (Germany).

 

Switching out in the Porsche 963 #75 will be Mathieu Jaminet (France), Nick Tandy (UK) and Felipe Nasr (Brazil).

 

For all three vehicles, Matt Campbell (Australia) will be prepared to step in as backup driver.

 

All drivers, with the exception of backups, must absolve six hours of driving time in total, though they cannot be completed at once. After four hours, drivers must switch, which leads to most teams deciding to exchange their drivers after around three hours.

The long history between Porsche and Le Mans has left its mark on both. Without Le Mans, many unforgettable moments and vehicles of Porsche motorsport history would not exist. The Circuit de la Sarthe is equally entwined with the Porsche brand – after all, it was immortalized there in the Porsche Curves track section. No other manufacturer has achieved so many overall victories as Porsche.

 

For the 100th anniversary of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Porsche Penske Motorsport Team wants to go down in history once more – and we are keeping our fingers crossed.