Porsche Set to Take Second Evo Joker for 963 in 2025

Photo: Drew Gibson/Porsche

Porsche is set to utilize a second Evo joker for its 963 prototype next year, with the brand revealing for the first time that an initial joker was taken for the car’s developments ahead of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship seasons.

The German manufacturer, which swept the WeatherTech Championship GTP titles and currently leads the Hypercar drivers and manufacturers world championships entering this weekend’s season-ending 8 Hours of Bahrain, will have used up two of the permitted five jokers in the initial phase of the LMDh homologation cycle by the start of the 2025 season.

Speaking with Sportscar365 in Bahrain, Porsche LMDh factory director Urs Kuratle confirmed the current state of play for its Multimatic-chassied machine, which will have seen front suspension upgrades in successive seasons.

“We tested some components [for 2025],” said Kuratle. “We are in discussion with the governance bodies and are in good [shape]. We’re waiting the written confirmation of the whole thing.

“Then we have the [IMSA] sanctioned test, like everybody else, we will have the final confirmation before then and we will then have this update.

“We are expecting the written confirmation any day. Then it’s sure and it’s also sure, these updates, some suspension components, we’ll have a joker.”

Kuratle revealed simultaneously that the car’s updates for this year, which debuted on all 963s at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, also counted towards in the joker allowance, making Porsche the first LMDh manufacturer to utilize such a permitted evolution.

“We had these sensor updates that also belonged to front suspension that counted to this one,” he said of the 2024 updates. “It was counted as a joker.

“There were updates and there were [new] sensors. The sensor, for example, on the front brake pressure sensor, it was part of the homologation.”

He explained that next year’s updates, which will be outfitted on both the factory Porsche Penske Motorsport entires and the JDC-Miller Motorsports customer car at this month’s IMSA-sanctioned test at Daytona International Speedway, are “a further step” in the car’s “evolution.”

“Next year’s update will be mounting points and some hardware,” said Kuratle. “There are more parts involved.”

Kuratle explained that the changes for the 2025 seasons have been made to provide a wider operating and setup window.

“We have this outlier, for example, Qatar, a positive outlier,” he said. “We need more adjustability from the car, a wider range.

“The engineers have more positions, more buttons to adjust on the setup.”

The new front suspension components, which were first tested on the car in a pre-Motul Petit Le Mans test at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, will have to be equipped on all 963s competing worldwide beginning with January’s Rolex 24, per regulations from IMSA and the ACO.

“We have to produce parts because we also have to deliver parts to the customers and they also want to have it,” Kuratle added.

“JDC confirmed already that they want to be at the Daytona sanctioned test this year as well and they want to run these parts.

“We wait for the written confirmation and then we produce the parts, send it out, fit it to the car and start testing.

“Unless something goes horribly wrong, yes it will be on the car at the sanctioned test.”

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