A mixed first run for Porsche at Daytona

Parmi les quatre nouvelles LMDh présentes pour le Roar des 24 Heures de Daytona, la Porsche 963 est peut-être celle qui a donné la moins bonne impression lors des deux premières séances d’essais. Le prototype allemand est certes dans le coup par rapport à ses concurrents, mais il n’a pas affiché un rythme exceptionnel. Sur le classement cumulé des EL1 et EL2, le constructeur de Stuttgart place sa première voiture au 4e rang, but more than 5 tenths behind the Meyer Shank Racing Acura. 

Beyond pure performance, it was above all reliability that was lacking for Porsche, which only racked up 88 laps with its two mounts, compared to 157 for BMW, 142 for Cadillac (with 3 cars) and 117 for Acura. The No. 963 Porsche 6 completed just 29 laps in total, hampered by suspension issues during FP2, which forced it to spend most of the session in the garage and only complete nine laps .

No worries at Porsche

These are normal teething problems expected by Porsche, which are not a source of concern according to Jonathan Diuguid. The general manager of Porsche Penske Motorsport was even rather satisfied with this first day in Florida, despite the running being inferior to the competitors. “Our first day was good. Days like today are why we are happy to be here for almost two weeks sometimes. Both cars ran in both sessions, perhaps not as well as we would have liked, but the drivers were quite happy with the speed and performance they displayed. We have a few things we need to continue to work on, but it was a good start here at Daytona. »

Porsche still has time to refine its copy this Saturday, with three test sessions on the program (FP3 from 17:15 p.m. French time) before qualifying on Sunday.

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