Porsche sets out its 2024 motorsport plan
In the absence of the 911 RSR, Porsche is gearing up for an action-packed season of motorsport this year, both on the track and in simulators.
Porsche has established its goals for the forthcoming 2024 motorsport season. Following the retirement of the 911 RSR the marque will focus its factory racing efforts on a variety of motorsport activities, including Formula E, the World Endurance Championship and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, with Manthey Racing continuing to play an important role.
Four Porsche 99X Electric cars will tackle the Formula E season across a record 17 races with drivers Pascal Wehrlein, António Félix da Costa, world champion Jake Dennis and Norman Nato. Meanwhile, the Porsche 963 will continue in the FIA WEC and IMSA championships, with Dane Cameron and Matt Campbell joining the endurance racing offensive. Driving in the WEC, Campbell will share with Michael Christensen and Fréd Makowiecki, with Kévin Estre, André Lotterer and Laurens Vanthoor carrying on their partnership in the sister car.
In the North American IMSA Championship, Mathieu Jaminet and Britain’s Nick Tandy will crew one Porsche hybrid prototype, joined by Kévin and Laurens for the season-opening 24 Hours of Daytona at the end of this month. Felipe Nasr and Cameron will share duties as the regular drivers in the sister car, supported at Daytona by Campbell and American IndyCar star Josef Newgarden.
With the introduction of the new class for GT3 vehicles, and in the absence of the 911 RSR, Porsche will look to Manthey to fly the flag for the Porsche 911 in the 2024 WEC series. Two 911 GT3 Rs will race against GT cars from eight other manufacturers, with Richard Lietz and Klaus Bachler the only two yet confirmed for seats. In addition, Manthey will continue its DTM campaign, and Porsche works driver (and 2023 DTM driver champion) Thomas Preining will use one of the two 565bhp cars entered by the Meuspath-based company.
Four customer teams will field five 911 GT3 Rs in the two GT classes of the IMSA championship. AO Racing will advance to the GTD Pro category, Kellymoss with Riley will run a vehicle in both GT classes, while Wright Motorsports and MDK Motorsports will also take on the GTD category. They’ll face a new Porsche customer squad: Andretti Motorsports. In the Intercontinental GT Challenge, the GT World Challenge, the European Le Mans Series and the Asian Le Mans Series, customer teams receive support from Porsche.
Naturally, the various Porsche one-make Cups will also continue. They include the halo Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup and, at home, the Carrera Cup GB, which continues to sit on the TOCA package racing in support of the British Touring Car Championship.
The growing world of Esports will see the Porsche Coanda Esports Racing Team return in 2024. The works team will contest the ESL R1 series – based on the Rennsport simulation software – as well as the Le Mans Virtual Series. Joshua Rogers, Dayne Warren and Britain’s Charlie Collins will be among the works drivers. The Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup will continue to run on the iRacing’s sim racing platform in 2024.
“Motorsport is at the core of the Porsche brand,” said Oliver Blume, chairman of the Executive Board of Porsche AG. “For us, motorsport and innovation are inextricably linked. New developments from motorsport improve our road cars. In motorsport, we rely on our pioneering spirit, our courage and our sportiness. The love for Porsche begins on the racetrack. There’s often not a lot between victory and defeat. We experienced this first-hand this year. But we wouldn’t be Porsche if we didn’t learn from setbacks. We’re fierce fighters with great ambition and perseverance. That has always set us apart.”