Five important victories around the globe in just 30 hours: Porsche Motorsport can look back on an almost perfect racing weekend. Racing cars from the German sports car manufacturer first celebrated overall and class victory at the WEC race in Spa-Francorchamps (Saturday at 9:00 p.m.), followed by a triumph at the Formula E in Berlin (Sunday at 4:00 p.m.) and rounded off the success story with another overall and class victory at the IMSA race in Laguna Seca (Monday morning at 2:00 a.m. CET).
With such a triumph in three world-famous racing series, the statistical highlight should of course not be missing: On Friday in Spa, the Porsche works team (Campbell/Makowiecki/Christensen) achieved the 100th pole position with the 963-LMDh (inherited after Ferrari’s disqualification ) for racing partner Penske, on Sunday Nick Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet followed up with the 100th race win for ‘Captain’ Roger Penske’s company at the IMSA race in Laguna Seca. On top of that, it was the 600th victory for a Porsche in the US sports car championship.
Laudenbach from Spa to Berlin – Penske from Spa to Laguna Seca
“What an incredible weekend for Porsche,” said Porsche Motorsport Director Thomas Laudenbach, who traveled directly to Berlin from Spa-Francorchamps together with Development Director Michael Steiner. “First the double successes of the Porsche 963 and the Porsche 911 GT3 R from Manthey at the FIA WEC in Spa, then the triumph of Antonio Felix da Costa at the Formula E in Berlin and finally a victory and a podium finish for Porsche Penske Motorsport and first place in the GTD Pro class for AO Racing at the IMSA series in Laguna Seca.”
The US motorsport legend Roger Penske had an even tighter travel plan: The 87-year-old (!) initially watched the WEC victory in Belgium from the command post and made it across the pond to Laguna Seca, California, in time to meet his operations team in the To see IMSA win. “And later I will follow our team in the Indycar series,” said Mister Penske. “Many people know that we are winners. We have shown this several times with Porsche Penske Motorsport. Now we have Le Mans firmly in our sights.”
WEC leader Andre Lotterer: “Everyone unpacks at Le Mans”
It’s an open secret that Roger Penske wants nothing more than an overall victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (June 15-16, 2024). The American had already confirmed this after Porsche’s triumph at the 24 Hours of Daytona in January. The prospects for the Zuffenhausen team ahead of the classic are good: Penske-Porsche drivers Andre Lotterer, Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor are traveling to the long-distance classic as championship leaders.
Nice gesture: At the 92nd edition of the 24h Le Mans, Porsche is donating 750 euros for each race lap driven by the factory cars. The total amount goes to charitable initiatives that benefit seriously ill children and their families. Last year, from a sporting perspective, things didn’t go as hoped, but Porsche still increased it to 911,000 euros.
“We currently have good momentum,” said three-time Le Mans winner Andre Lotterer after second place in Spa Motorsport-Magazin.com. “Of course everything can go differently at Le Mans. It will be a tough battle. Everyone will unpack.” The fact that the Porsche factory team in Belgium had to admit defeat to the customer team Jota (Callum Ilott/Will Stevens) is bearable: There is no better way to advertise your own product and attract other customer teams.
After the third WEC race, Porsche leads the manufacturers’ championship with 83 points ahead of Toyota (60 points) and Ferrari (49). In the IMSA series, Porsche reduced the gap to leader Cadillac, while the Penske duo Felipe Nasr/Dane Cameron (P3 in Laguna Seca) was able to extend their lead in the drivers’ championship over Jack Aitken/Pipo Derani (Cadillac).
GT3 Porsches win in WEC and IMSA
The Hypercar/GTP overall victories in Spa and Laguna Seca were certainly the focus of general interest, but Porsche also won across the board in the GT3 sports cars.
In the WEC race, the Manthey team celebrated a double victory with its two Porsche 911 GT3 R. Shahin/Schuring/Lietz prevailed in front of the sister car with Malykhin/Sturm/Bachler. Crazy: After Alexander Malykhin suffered a serious accident in qualifying, the 911 had to be completely rebuilt overnight. At seven o’clock in the morning on race day, the 911 was completely screwed together.
Overseas at the IMSA round in Laguna Seca, things were hardly less successful: In the GTD Pro category, the Porsche customer team AO Racing celebrated a confident victory with the dinosaur-look nine-eleven called ‘Rexy’. The German Laurin Heinrich and his teammate or racing driver’s son Seb Priaulx crossed the finish line almost ten seconds ahead of the Pfaff-McLaren of Marvin Kirchhöfer and Oliver Jarvis.
Porsche victories in Spa, Laguna Seca and Berlin
Between Spa and Laguna Seca, the Porsche works team in Berlin was also able to celebrate its first Formula E victory on home soil. Antonio Felix da Costa bounced back after a difficult start to the season, including a temporary loss at Misano, and won Sunday’s race in Tempelhof.
World champion Jake Dennis in Andretti’s customer Porsche started the race from pole position and finished in fifth place behind Porsche title candidate Pascal Wehrlein. Wehrlein is in second place in the drivers’ standings behind Saturday’s winner Nick Cassidy (Jaguar), while Porsche is also in P2 behind Jaguar in the manufacturers’ standings.