Proton Porsche 963 Ruled Out for Indianapolis

Photo: Porsche

Proton Competition’s Porsche 963 will not take part in next weekend’s Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with the car ruled out due to chassis damage sustained from the last IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup round.

Nico Pino was collected in a multi-car accident in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen in late June, which resulted in an early race retirement for the No. 5 Mustang Sampling-sponsored GTP class entry that’s been entered for the five long-distance WeatherTech SportsCar Championship races this season.

“We had a big off in Watkins and the monocoque was damaged,” team principal Christian Ried told Sportscar365.

“We sent the car back after Watkins to Europe and gave it to Multimatic to check it. We’re still discussing how we can fix it for Petit, but Indy is most likely not possible.”

With the chassis still currently at Multimatic in the UK, where all Porsche 963 chassis are assembled, Ried indicated that time has essentially run out for the car to be ready for the Sept. 21 race.

“It looks like it, unfortunately,” he said. “It was a big impact. I’m happy that Nico got out of the car with no issues. The car we can fix, it’s just a matter of time.”

Proton’s withdrawal will result in a likely 12-car GTP field for the six-hour race, with the No. 63 Riley-run Lamborghini SC63 expected back for its penultimate race.

Kaku Ohta, meanwhile, will be back behind the wheel of the No. 93 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 as a third driver, with Frederik Vesti set to back in the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R as well.

The full entry list will be released by IMSA on Wednesday.

Davey Euwema 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