Porsche Projecting Possibility of “Two to Four” 963s for Asia

Photo: Porsche

Porsche is in talks with prospective new customers that could run 963s in the 2026-27 Asian Le Mans Series according to Porsche LMDh factory director Urs Kuratle, who has projected between “two to four” cars for the inaugural Hypercar season.

The German brand has been the first and only LMDh manufacturer to date to offer customer cars, arguably offering the easiest pathway for customers wanting to race in the series’ new FIA Bronze-rated driver-enforced class.

“We’re talking to potential customers that are interested in Asian Le Mans but there’s nothing finalized or set or ready to go yet,” Kuratle told Sportscar365 during last weekend’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

“But there are some people with interest in this one, which we are also interested in and happy to support.

When pressed further on the number of possible 963s that could appear for the upcoming season, Kuratle said: “Realistically there are two to four cars.”

He confirmed they would all be new cars and customers to the Hypercar ranks.

“There’s a timeframe we discussed with those potential customers that it is somewhere mid-year, [in] June, where we need to know where we are going in terms of building the cars,” he said.

“Also, potentially, our existing customer, they may also ask for new cars, so we have to time it.”

Sportscar365 understands that Proton Competition no longer holds possession of its two 963s, which have been sold off to collectors, while JDC-Miller Motorsports’ initial exploration into the Asian series has not led to any leads.

Kuratle said Porsche would provide similar support to what it currently offers to JDC-Miller in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, although it would likely be tweaked given the series’ unique winter season and double race format.

“The setup for the Asian Le Mans Series, with these three events and six races, is quite different to what we’ve experienced in IMSA or WEC with customers,” he said.

“There’s some fields we need to discuss but basically the support would be [the same] as JDC is currently or Proton and JOTA used to be in the WEC.

“But there’s uncertain points like spare parts, we have to discuss how to do it.”

It’s also currently unclear if the new cars would be built up to 2025 or 2026 specification, as the ACO and SRO Motorsports Group, which became a co-promoter in the series in 2023, have yet to finalize the technical regulations for the class.

FIA World Endurance Championship rules mandate that all Hypercar entries run in latest specification, although BBM Sport has signaled plans to campaign a pair of wingless Peugeot 9X8s that ran up until the the 2024 Qatar 1812km.

“There’s a lot of question marks from the governance bodies,” said Kuratle. “With other OEMs potentially running in the ALMS, I only know from rumors.”

Kuratle said Porsche and its LMDh chassis partner Multimatic have more than enough resources to build and support additional 963s in time for the season-opener, which was earmarked for November in the Middle East, plans that were set prior to the start of the Iran war.

“We still have some chassis back in Weissach ready to build up and we’re also in contact with Multimatic to re-order some more,” he said.

“We’re in a luxury situation now. We don’t have supply chain issues like two or three years ago, which is not the case anymore.”

ACO President Pierre Fillon’s modest target of having two or three Hypercars on the grid for the first season looks almost certain to be surpassed, with Ferrari understood to be in a position to support up to three 499P entries, which would all be run by AF Corse in a customer capacity.

Coupled with the already confirmed Peugeot program and prospective Porsche customers, and others still in the mix, the grid could now realistically see upwards of ten entries.

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