Porsche Penske Motorsport with an experience bonus
The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will take place on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the tenth and penultimate round of the season on Sunday, September 17. For the first time, the GTP and GTD classes will compete for points at the historic Brickyard.
Four Porsche 963 and five Porsche 911 GT3 R will compete on the historic Indiana circuit to achieve the best possible finish in 2:40 hours. The race track is particularly important to the Porsche Penske Motorsport Team, as it has been the home of several Team Penske victories. In addition, the track has been in posession of the Penske Entertainment Group since 2020.
The Porsche Penske Motorsport Team tested the Porsche 963 at Indianapolis ahead of the 2023 season – due to that, Nick Tandy, Mathieu Jaminet, Matt Campbell and Felipe Nasr know the circuit well. Mathieu Jaminet, who shares the cockpit of the Porsche 963 #6 with Nick Tandy, is hoping for a better finish to the 2023 season: "A win would significantly improve our chances in the title fight and really lift the spirits before the season finale."
14 historic turns
With a length of 3.925 kilometers, the teams can expect a modification of the original oval layout. Some of the once-paved bricks can be found on the long start-finish straight, which leads into a 90-degree right-hander only to switchback to the left. A long, sweeping arc continues to the right and is followed by a left kink. After that, the teams will be on another long straight that ends in a 90-degree turn – this time to the left. Another 90-degree left turn follows after a right arc and after a brief moment of acceleration, the track heads back to the right. After a particularly long right turn, the cars enter another dynamic section with a tight right turn before entering the final two turns ahead of the start-finish straight.
Urs Kuratle, Head of Factory Motorsport LMDh, says, "The track layout in Indianapolis poses a major challenge with its fast oval sections and the slow, very twisty infield." His colleague, Jonathan Diuguid (Managing Director Porsche Penske Motorsport) remains optimistic, "We’ve had a couple of tests here, and hope to be up to speed on this unique track layout which features long straights and slow-speed technical corners."
Fans can watch the penultimate race of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in the IMSA Livestream on Sunda, September 17, 2023, at 7:05 p.m. CEST.
Fingers crossed for all Porsche teams.
