Porsche formalizes its interest in LMDh

Since last Friday, many manufacturers and competitors have welcomed the ACO-IMSA and the creation of a premier category, entitled LMDh, meeting common technical regulations.

Mais ce matin, Porsche va plus loin. La firme de Zuffenhausen a, en effet, confié à AUTOhebdo the clear interest it has in this common platform.

“We greatly appreciate the idea of ​​having a common prototype class in IMSA and the World Championship.Endurance of the FIA, Michael Steiner, Member of the Board of Directors of Porsche AG and Head of Research and Development, told us. This new cooperation is a historic moment for our sport. Currently, we have neither details nor regulations, so it is too early to judge the interest that an entry in this new LMDh category would have for us. But the fact that a manufacturer can race with the same car in the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship as well as in the FIA ​​World Endurance Championship and therefore can compete for overall victory in the two major Endurance Championships of the planet, is an excellent idea. I asked my colleagues in the motorsport department to look into the details of this new platform. I would like to congratulate IMSA and the WEC for this decision. »

After leaving LM P1 at the end of 2017 with a third victory in a row at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and a third consecutive title of Endurance world champion, Porsche is therefore studying with certain interest a return to the premier category of Endurance, its favorite discipline. As Pascal Zürlinden – responsible for official Porsche competition programs – rightly tells us in the carpooling of the week, “the true tradition at Porsche is Endurance”.

As a reminder, Porsche at Le Mans has 108 category victories, including 19 overall, and never since the brand's first appearance at the start in 1951 has an edition of the Sarthe double-round race taken place without a Porsche. at the beginning.