Six Porsches at the 24 Hours of Le Mans: “Important to give yourself every chance of winning”

Last year, for the Centenary edition, we say that Porsche arrived with a veritable armada of 963s, since four German Hypercars were entered in the Sarthe with the addition of a third official mount. In 2024, this will still be the case, but with an even larger army! On June 15, there will be a total of six Porsche 963 on the starting grid in the Hypercar category!

It's simple: with six cars, the Stuttgart manufacturer will be the most represented in the Hypercar field at Le Mans, far ahead of Cadillac and Ferrari (three cars each), with three official Porsche Penske, two Hertz Team JOTA and one Proton Competition. And again, this figure could increase to seven since a second Porsche Proton Competition is listed at the top of the list of reserves!

“We would like to take this opportunity to thank the organizer, the ACO, for once again giving us the opportunity to enter a third car, comments Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President of Porsche Motorsport. The 24 Hours of Le Mans will be a true festival of spectacular cars with 14 manufacturers in the Hypercar and LMGT3 categories. We expect a close and exciting fight at the front. It is therefore all the more important to give ourselves every chance of winning our 20th victory in the general classification by entering a third Porsche 963.”

“The history of the 24 Hours of Le Mans has shown time and time again the importance of an additional iron in the fire. Last year, it was our third car that managed to lead the peloton in the race, adds Urs Kuratle, LMDh project director. After our victory at the 24 Hours of Daytona last month, our goal is very clear: we want to climb to the top of the podium at the Le Mans classic. »

Jaminet returns to Le Mans with Porsche

This year, the third official Porsche will wear the number 4. At the time of writing, only Mathieu Jaminet has been confirmed to drive the third official 963. “I am delighted to drive the Porsche 963 at Le Mans again this year,” confides the Habs. For a Frenchman, it is a great privilege to be able to fight for overall victory with record-breaking Porsche at Le Mans. Last year we didn't get the result we hoped for. But since then, we have made significant progress. This is why I feel very confident as we approach this big test in June. »

The presence of an additional Porsche at the 24 Hours of Le Mans will be a real technical challenge for the German firm, which can draw on the experience acquired in 2023 in Sarthe. “For the second year with the Porsche 963, having the privilege of racing with an additional entry allows our team to apply all of the hard-learned lessons in 2023 and field three entries that we believe are capable of winning this historic race, comments Jonathan Diuguid, Managing Director of Porsche Penske Motorsport. Operationally, we will prepare and run the additional car in a very similar manner to last year, with the support of our team IMSA. That's the whole point of Porsche Penske Motorsport: we can use our global program to tap into personnel and material resources for the biggest races of the year. »

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