Porsche Penske Unveils Mobil 1 Liveries for Sebring

Photo: Porsche

Porsche Penske Motorsport will run special Mobil 1-themed liveries on its pair of factory Porsche 963s in this weekend’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, celebrating Porsche and ExxonMobil’s successful 30-year partnership.

Unveiled on Wednesday morning as IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship cars were unloaded in the paddock at Sebring International Raceway, the designs are inspired from the Porsche 911 GT1 in 1996, the first year of its wide-ranging partnership.

The pair of factory GT1 cars finished second and third in the 24 Hours of Le Mans that year, behind the Joest Racing-entered TWR-Porsche WSC95.

It was that June when the German manufacturer signed a comprehensive agreement with Mobil 1 that included the factory fill of lubricants for all new Porsche vehicles delivered worldwide.

“The close and highly trusted partnership between Porsche and Mobil 1 has produced countless unforgettable moments and lasting innovations,” said Porsche Motorsport boss Thomas Laudenbach.

“We have always used competition on race tracks around the world to test technologies and push boundaries.

“Mobil 1 has accompanied us on this journey for 30 years as the ideal partner.

“This year’s Sebring race and the special livery place this partnership in the spotlight. The anniversary also fits perfectly into our celebrations marking 75 years of Porsche Motorsport.”

During the 2000s, the partnership played a significant role in the success of the Porsche RS Spyder in the American Le Mans Series, with cutting-edge developments in engine oil and battery cooling fluids propelling the Porsche 919 Hybrid to three overall victories at Le Mans and and FIA World Endurance Championship titles.

In recent years, innovations in cooling technology for the electric motors and batteries of the Porsche GT4 e-Performance have delivered advances, while Mobil 1 is also a key technical partner of Porsche’s factory effort in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.

Additionally, the brand has served as the title sponsor of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup since 2007.

“Mobil 1 has been an essential technology partner for Porsche for decades – a period defined by race victories, championship titles and groundbreaking engineering,” said ExxonMobil Product Solution’s global lubricants director Kelli H. Wright.

“With a special livery at Sebring, we honor this shared anniversary and celebrate a collaboration that continues to drive performance, efficiency and innovation for the future of motorsport and production vehicles.”

Porsche Penske heads into this weekend’s Florida endurance classic seeking back-to-back overall victories, less than two months after claiming its third consecutive triumph in the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

The No. 6 Porsche of Laurens Vanthoor, Kevin Estre and Matt Campbell will run in blue accents, with the Daytona-winning No. 7 car of Felipe Nasr, Julien Andlauer and Laurin Heinrich in red.

“Even with the current Porsche 963, we benefit in many areas from Mobil 1’s innovations and expertise,” said Porsche factory LMDh director Urs Kuratle.

“In the tightly contested IMSA series, the smallest details make the difference – and recently we have consistently been at the front.

“The championship titles in the past two years and another victory at the 24 Hours of Daytona in January underline this. Together with all our partners, we want to keep winning in this anniversary year.”

Photo: Porsche

Photo: Porsche

Photo: Porsche

Photo: Porsche

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