Porsche reveals next Le Mans contender

The Porsche hybrid LMDh-spec prototype has broken cover, and twoPorsche 963 cars will tackle the world’s greatest endurance series in 2023

Porsche has taken the wraps off its next Le Mans contender. The Porsche 963 follows in the tyre tracks of the iconic 956 and 962, and will compete in the new LMDh category for hybrid prototypes from 2023. Revealed at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in late June where it performed a demonstration run up the 1.1-mile hill, the new car is set to be fielded by Porsche Penske Motorsport – the outfit responsible for the brand’s FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and IMSA Weather Tech Sports Car Championship (IWSA) vehicles.

The 680hp racer, finished in the timeless Porsche motor racing colours of white, red and black, seeks to continue the legacy of models such as the 917, 935, 956, 962 and 919 Hybrid, and will make its official race debut at the 24 Hours of Daytona in January next year. However, the car will first appear in what Porsche is calling a “noncompetitive dress rehearsal” at the final round of the WEC championship at Bahrain in November.

Newly established LMDh regulations mean the Porsche 963 is based on an LMP2-category chassis. This brand new chassis has been supplied by Canadian company Multimatic, while Bosch, Williams Advanced Engineering and Xtrac are also heavily involved in the project. The car is powered by a 4.6-litre V8 Biturbo power unit that’s based on the one found in the 918 Spyder hybrid sports car, although its DNA can be traced all the way back to the RS Spyder racer of 2005 to 2008.

Visually, the design of the 963 makes reference to the classic 956 and 962 cars of the 1980s, yet there are further nods to the 992-generation of 911 – perhaps most notably the lighting strip at the rear. Porsche will make the 963 available to customer teams from its very first year of competition.

While victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans is the obvious primary target for the new car, campaigns in WEC, IWSA, the Daytona 24 Hours and 12 Hours of Sebring will also feature next year. Works drivers Dane Cameron, Matt Campbell, Michael Christensen, Kévin Estre, Mathieu Jaminet, André Lotterer, Felipe Nasr and Laurens Vanthoor have initially been earmarked to pilot a total of four 963 cars, with further driver announcements set to follow in due course.