Porsche Penske a “Night-and-Day” Difference to Last Year

Photo: Jurgen Tap/Porsche

Porsche Penske Motorsport’s level of preparation for this weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans has “evolved so much” since last year’s race debut according to Laurens Vanthoor, who believes there’s a “night-and-day” difference to the team as it pursues Porsche’s 20th overall victory in the French endurance classic.

Vanthoor and No. 6 Porsche 963 co-drivers Andre Lotterer and Kevin Estre head into event as leaders in the FIA World Endurance Championship following victory in the season-opening Qatar 1812km, while No. 4 Porsche driver Felipe Nasr currently tops the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with Dane Cameron, having won the Rolex 24 at Daytona alongside Matt Campbell and Josef Newgarden.

The string of success comes 12 months on from a rather disastrous race for the factory Hypercar squad, which saw all three of its LMDh cars face separate issues in the twice-around-the-clock enduro, with a best finish of 16th overall.

When asked by Sportscar365 how much better prepared the team is compared to last year, Vanthoor said: “It’s a night-and-day difference.”

He added: “The team has evolved so much, also the car and us drivers. It’s grown by a huge amount, which is normal I guess for a new program, and quite a complicated program with both the WEC and IMSA programs, plus customer cars.”

Lotterer, who is seeking his fourth Le Mans crown, noted the improvements in the 963’s reliability from year over year, which is now considered to be one of its strong suits.

“There are different aspects [compared to last year], reliability is one and that should be under control,” he said. “The set-up, the driveability of the car is much better, which means we can repeat the performance with more confidence.

“Also within the team, in terms of operations, we have new engineers and it’s easier for the team to make decisions in terms of procedures.

“We come with a better plan and we understand the car better.”

The Mannheim, Germany-based WEC squad, along with the Mooresville, N.C.-based WeatherTech Championship operation, which has been brought into help crew the No. 4 car this weekend, both made significant upgrades with additional engineering and organizational resources to be better prepared to take on the fight to the likes of Toyota and Ferrari.

“It’s definitely a different atmosphere,” Porsche Penske managing director Jonathan Diuguid told Sportscar365. “You can probably see it on the faces of everybody around here.

“We have all the spares prepared and a lot of our engineering tools and processes are in place.”

While Porsche has a numbers advantage, with six 963s taking part this weekend across the three-car Porsche Penske factory operation and customer teams Hertz Team JOTA and Proton Competition, Vanthoor believes it’s “great” for the German manufacturer and the WEC.

“It was a lot of work for Porsche itself to build that up, but we saw in the last race a privateer car winning,” Vanthoor said in reference to JOTA’s victory in the 6 Hours of Spa.

The Belgian, meanwhile, said he sees the customer JOTA and Proton cars as direct competitors, as much as the sister works entries.

“Yeah, they could beat us,” Vanthoor said in reference to the customers.

“But in all honesty, for me personally, if I get beaten by the No. 5, or the No. 4, or the JOTA or the Proton, it wouldn’t matter to me.

“There’s competition for sure, but there are also positives but I think we are confident enough we can be the car on top.”

Jamie Klein contributed to this report

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John