Porsche Penske Motorsport: WEC Team

While Porsche and Penske competed together in the Canadian-American Challenge Cup (Can-Am) in 1972, Porsche won the GT manufacturers' title in the WEC in Europe. The following year, the Porsche 911 Carrera RSR dominated as the winning car. Although it did not win Le Mans, the RSR immortalized itself by crossing the finish line at the legendary Targa Florio in 1973. It heralded a new era in GT customer racing.

Meanwhile, in the USA on June 11, 1972, Team Penske driver Mark Donohue took 2nd place with the 1,000 hp 917/10. This was despite the fact that his turbo throttle valve was stuck open due to track debris and he was set back three laps as a result. At the following Road Atlanta in the spring, George Follmer, who was standing in for an injured Donohue, took first place. This started a winning streak for Team Penske and Porsche: from a total of 17 races in two seasons, the team took 11 victories.

In the year 2006, Team Penske returned once more to the IMSA, together with Porsche Motorsport. The team entered the LMP2 category of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) with the Porsche RS Spyder – and directly won the overall victory, manufacturer title and the driver’s title in the first year.

The following years, 2007 and 2008, were much of the same: With the Porsche RS Spyder, Team Penske won all titles of the LMP2 class once more. And even won against LMP1 prototypes. Particularly in 2008, the cooperation fulfilled a long harbored dream: the victory at the 12 Hours of Sebring and they managed it twice-over. First and second spot went to Team Penske. Meanwhile for Porsche, this was the first victory after exactly 20 years in Florida.  

In 2023, the World Endurance Championship calendar began with the 1,000 Miles of Sebring on March 17. But the team could already grow into a cohesive unit during the development and homologation of the Porsche 963. After the roll-out of the LMDh prototype, the Porsche Penske Motorsport Team went straight to on-track testing: the team covered roughly 8,000 kilometers / 4971 miles in the first half of the year 2022, just to prepare the Porsche 963 for its run in the IMSA and WEC.

Already, the team could gather precious driving experience in Europe during the tests: during the roll-out in the Porsche Development Center in Weissach, the tests on the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona and the presentation of the 963 in Goodwood. The time of tests was over when the 2023 season began and then it was all about celebrating new victories in the FIA WEC.