JOTA Has “Intention” to Add Second Porsche Next Year

Hertz Team JOTA intends to increase its FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar operation to a pair of Porsche 963s next year, according to team co-owner David Clark.

The reigning LMP2 champion squad is stepping up to the WEC’s top category this season as a customer of Porsche’s new hybrid-powered LMDh prototype.

JOTA aims to run its Hertz-backed Porsche from round three onwards before doubling its Hypercar involvement for the 2024 campaign.

While awaiting delivery of the Porsche in April, it will run a second Oreca 07 Gibson in LMP2 at Sebring and Portimao, meaning it will have two cars in every race this year.

Clark told Sportscar365 during the No. 38 Porsche’s launch event on Wednesday that the team’s “intention” is to expand to a pair of LMDh cars.

He said that this would provide a sporting benefit and could also open the door to potential outings in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, where LMDh cars race in the GTP class.

“For any team, the benefit is running a two-car team,” Clark noted.

“You’ve got more strategy choices. It would give us the opportunity to maybe do some endurance races in the U.S. We’ve got [partners such as] Hertz who are global and in America, and Brady… it hasn’t really been talked about, but it will probably evolve to that.

“We’ve always run two cars. We know how to do it – it works.”

JOTA has not yet placed an order for an additional Porsche 963 because its current focus is to work with the manufacturer on rolling out its first chassis.

That stance was shared by Porsche Motorsport boss Thomas Laudenbach who told Sportscar365 last month that the provision of more customer LMDh cars in 2024 will depend on how this year goes.

“We’re just waiting for things to evolve, for the car to get delivered,” Clark stressed.

“I think there’s a lot of pressure on Porsche. Once everyone’s got their cars and calmed down, then we’ll talk about 2024 and 2025.

“They’ve got all their testing and some problems they’ve had. Do they need that? No. That’s what we’re going to do and see how it evolves. It’s important for them to be happy with their customer program.

“We’ll just work with them as much as we can. For us, it’s a big thing. I thought it was the next step, but it’s actually a leap.”

The intention for JOTA to add a second Porsche comes amid the expectation that the WEC is set to abolish its LMP2 class after this season due to growth in the Hypercar field and the arrival of LMGT3.

JOTA has operated two LMP2 entries in each of the last five WEC seasons, either under its own name or under the Jackie Chan DC Racing banner.

“In 2016 we ran a single car because we had one in ELMS and one in WEC,” said team co-owner Sam Hignett. “Otherwise, we’ve been two cars.

“Sporting-wise, there are a lot of advantages of being a two-car team. Freight, logistics, economies of scale within the team, controlling your own destiny in the pit lane, hospitality space… you’ve got to be a two-car team.

“Commercially it’s far more interesting, in terms of value of the business. We would always want to be a two-car team, if possible.”