Porsche 963 Endurance Racer Brings Retro Look to Goodwood Festival of Speed
On Friday, Porsche revealed the Porsche 963 endurance-racing car at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.The car is the result of a collaboration between Porsche Motorsport and Team Penske first announced in 2021.The Porsche 963 will compete in both the FIA World Endurance Championship and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, as it’s built to new-for-2023 LMDh specification.
After nearly 15 years of separation, Porsche Motorsport and Team Penske have gotten back together. This time, the collaborative effort, known as Porsche Penske Motorsport, will field a new endurance race car, the Porsche 963, which was unveiled Friday at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
The renewed partnership was first announced in May of 2021 with the intention of running factory entries in both the FIA World Endurance Championship and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. That dream has now come to fruition with the 963 set to debut in the new GTP class at the 24 Hours of Daytona in January 2023.
The hypercar is built to LMDh specifications, with a LMP2-category chassis supplied by Canada-based Multimatic and spec hybrid components from Bosch, Williams Advanced Engineering, and Xtrac. However, the star of the show is the 963’s 4.6-liter twin-turbo V-8, which is based on the hybrid 918 Spyder’s engine. The powertrain will deliver 680 horsepower to the rear wheels in an effort to snag overall victories in races like the Le Mans 24 Hours and the 12 Hours of Sebring.
The body of the 963 is reminiscent of the smooth, rounded look of previous Porsche-Team Penske collaborations like the Porsche 962 of the 1980s, but sharper headlights and a rear light bar reminiscent of the current 911’s give the 963 a more modern look. The paint design, too, is at once retro and sleek. Black, white, and red color blocking give a traditional race-car look, while gradient white-to-black lines arching over the red section inspire images of air flowing across the vehicle.
LMDh cars are new for 2023, and they are the first category of hypercars to be able to race in championships both in North America and across the Atlantic. The use of spec parts like the chassis and hybrid systems also cuts costs for OEMs, so the category has attracted entries from many manufacturers, with Acura, BMW, and Cadillac in addition to Porsche already confirmed for 2023.
The 963 has already seen 4900 test miles and will get a full practice run when it drives non-competitively in the FIA WEC’s 8 Hours of Bahrain in November. After that, Porsche Penske Motorsport will prepare four total cars to be based in Mooresville, North Carolina, and Mannheim, Germany, and compete in the IMSA and FIA WEC circuits.
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