The WEC returned at the Qatar 1812km in March

A second season: Back to the WEC

We return once more to the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) for the second season of Porsche Penske Motorsport running a hybrid prototype – the Porsche 963.

Its first campaign saw the team score an overall podium on just its second outing - the 6 Hours of Portimao - before repeating the feat at Fuji later in the season.

Heading into 2024, the team has already seen success, taking its first overall win since 2017 at the season-opening Qatar 1812km.

With 20 overall victories and 111 class victories, Porsche has raised the bar in the WEC. For Porsche, the FIA WEC is like an old friend who brings out the best in them, and more victories are yet to come.

Changing times: A revamped class structure

The evolution of the WEC continues in 2024.

Since the mid-70s, multiple vehicle categories have participated in the FIA WEC and are subject to varying guidelines. Teams such as Porsche Penske Motorsport consider these guidelines to be a challenge, but also an opportunity: For them, its about developing new technologies for vehicles. A recurring topic in the FIA WEC.

Like last year, Porsche’s works team will field two Porsche 963s in the top Hypercar class, while the Hertz Team Jota and Proton Competition customer teams have three more entries.

The championship features a modified class structure this season, with just two classes. After twelve years, the GTE Pro category was dissolved at the end of the 2022 season, followed by the retirement of the GTE AM category at the end of 2023.

It will be replaced by LMGT3, with Porsche’s experienced customer team Manthey flying the brand’s flag with the 911 GT3 R.

The LMP2 category has been removed, but will return for a one-off outing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

There will also be a revamped qualifying format, adapting the “Hyperpole” familiar from Le Mans.

From the season opener, the time trials in both classes will be divided into two sessions. In the first twelve-minute session, all cars in a category head out onto the track at the same time. The ten fastest cars in each of these short qualifying sessions will then compete for the best grid positions for the race in a ten-minute “Hyperpole” session.

Our Customer Racing Teams.

Our work during the past season and over the winter is obviously yielding the results we had hoped for

Urs KuratleDirector Factory Motorsport LMDh

Familiar tracks for new challenges.

The races of the FIA World Endurance Championship take place on seven racetracks worldwide. For some of the members of the Porsche Penske Motorsport Team, the upcoming tracks are old acquaintances. And the aspiration to race to victory on them remains the same.

Qatar 1812km

6 Hours of Imola

6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps

24 Hours of Le Mans

6 Hours of São Paulo

Lone Star Le Mans

6 Hours of Fuji

8 Hours of Bahrain

Qatar 1812km

The Lusail International Circuit, opened in 2004, hosted an FIA WEC race for the first time this season. The season opener, contested over a maximum of ten hours, was held under the title Qatar 1812 km (1125 miles) - the number refers to the Qatar National Day on 18 December.

The 5.419-kilometre (3367.21 miles) circuit is located north of the capital city of Doha, and has 16 corners, which are predominantly medium and high speed. The start-finish straight, which is over a kilometre (0.6 miles) long, requires low drag to reach top speed, and heads into the prime spot for overtaking at Turn 1. Downforce and good traction are paramount in the twisty second sector between Turns 6 and 12.

Porsche Penske Motorsport took a landmark podium sweep, with the No. 6 car claiming overall victory - the team’s first since 2017.

6 Hours of Imola

The Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari joins the WEC calendar in place of Monza this season while the northern Italian track undergoes renovation works. It previously hosted the 6 Hours of Imola for the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup and the Le Mans Series in 2011.

The 4.909 km (3.050 mi) circuit, with 20 turns, also hosts Formula 1’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Porsche has tasted success at the circuit before, winning the World Sport Prototype Championship’s 1000 KM of Imola in 1984 with by German pairing Hans-Joachim Stuck and Stefan Bellof, driving a Porsche 956 B.

6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps

An iconic track for endurance races, whether in cars or on bikes, the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps is situated in the southeast of Belgium. Bedded in a valley of the Ardennes Forest, the roughly seven kilometre-long track was twice as long back in the seventies and contained stretches of public roads.

In modern times, the track is particularly well-known for the Eau Rouge – the second curve right after the start – and the following Raidillon: Before reaching the Eau Rouge the track slopes downward, but upon reaching the lowest point, it enters a steep incline into a curve. Due to this challenging section, this curve received additional runoff areas for the 2022 season.

Porsche narrowly missed out on a Hypercar podium last season, and will be back and hoping to break into the top three this year.

24 Hours of Le Mans

The most iconic race on the calendar and a highlight of the motorsport season, the 24 Hours of Le Mans draws a huge audience to the Circuit de la Sarthe in France. With race day tickets already sold out, the blue riband event will once again prove a true test of driver and machine over 24 hours and more than 350 laps.

Celebrating its centenary last year, the race at the Sarthe river once again proved the old motorsport adage true: You don't win Le Mans. Le Mans let's you win.

It was at the Circuit de la Sarthe where Porsche Motorsport teams have previously celebrated 19 overall victories – more than any other manufacturer. It was in Le Mans where Porsche achieved the victory after dramatic races. And it shall be Le Mans once more, where Porsche Penske Motorsport wants to celebrate new records.

6 Hours of São Paulo

The 6 Hours of São Paulo returns to the WEC calendar for 2024, having been absent since 2014, where Porsche took overall victory.

Bringing to the calendar a carnival atmosphere, the Autódromo José Carlos Pace has hosted Formula 1’s Brazilian Grand Prix since 1973, with several layout modifications in that time.

The current circuit has 15 corners, with the first sequence - the Senna S - proving a popular overtaking spot. Its last sector, including the Tribunas straight, is a long, full-throttle stretch, similar to Kemmel Straight at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. Its banking also proves a challenge for drivers.

Lone Star Le Mans

Joining the calendar for the first time since 2020, the WEC returns to the Circuit of The Americas near Austin, Texas for the Lone Star Le Mans.

The six-hour race will take place under the Texan sun, with high temperatures proving a challenge for drivers around the 5.513 kilometre (3.4 miles) track. One lap features nine right-handers and 11 left-handers. The circuit, designed by German architect Hermann Tilke, has 40 metres difference in altitude and is run anti-clockwise. The longest straight is 1.2 kilometres.

A fan favourite, the circuit is sure to prove a hit as it makes a long-awaited return to the WEC.

6 Hours of Fuji

Located at the foot of Mount Fuji in Japan lies Fuji Speedway – a racetrack utilised in various motorsport events since the sixties. Over the past decades, the track has experienced multiple changes, but the 1.5 kilometre-long / 0.93 mile-long start-finish stretch has remained.

Due to its location, the track tends to be obscured in fog, thus creating difficult track conditions. The 6 Hours of Fuji was first held in 1967, and Porsche has taken seven wins over the years.

Porsche Penske Motorsport took its second podium of 2023 at the circuit, with the No. 6 car finishing third overall.

8 Hours of Bahrain

The Bahrain International Circuit is a modern racetrack located in the middle of Bahrain’s desert sands. For teams and drivers, the surroundings not only pose a challenge due to the temperatures: The wind often blows the desert sand onto the tarmac and reduces vehicle traction.

Marking the end of the season, the 8 Hours of Bahrain will take place across 1,347.34 km (837.20 mi). The circuit has 15 turns and is 5.412 km (3.3 miles) long.

So far, Porsche only managed to achieve one victory in the desert state – back in 2015 with the 919 Hybrid. The Porsche Penske Motorsport team narrowly missed out on a podium spot last year by less than one second, and is hoping to improve once more in 2024.

Reunion among old friends.

Now, the team is back on the tracks where, amongst others, the Porsche 919 achieved a hattrick in Le Mans in the previous top category (LMP1). Back with a hybrid prototype, back to the top category of the FIA World Endurance Championship, back to the highlight called the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The Porsche Penske Motorsport Team is ready for the FIA World Endurance Championship 2024.

WEC

Porsche 963

Penske

LMDh Prototype