Porsche Penske Undecided on Third Car Lineup for Le Mans

Photo: Porsche

Porsche Penske Motorsport has “yet to determine” the complete lineup for its third factory Porsche 963 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans according to team owner Roger Penske, who downplayed the prospects of Josef Newgarden being in the roster.

Reigning Indianapolis 500 winner Newgarden, who was part of Porsche Penske’s winning lineup in January’s Rolex 24 at Daytona, has expressed a desire to make his debut at Circuit de la Sarthe on multiple occasions in recent years.

However, when asked by Sportscar365, Penske said they have some “very good guys” to fill the final two seats alongside the already confirmed Mathieu Jaminet.

“He’s got a big job in IndyCar but at the moment,” Penske said of Newgarden. “Obviously he did a good job, stayed out of trouble [at Daytona]. He’s got to get time in the car like anybody else does.

“We don’t want to run a driving school either. We’ve got some very good guys here.”

In addition to Porsche Penske’s remaining IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship lineup of Nick Tandy, Felipe Nasr and Dane Cameron, the team recently tested 2023 DTM champion Thomas Preining at Sebring International Raceway.

“We’re in a brilliant situation,” said head of Porsche Motorsport Thomas Laudenbach.

“We’ve got a pool of drivers that we can pick. We don’t have any pressure and as we do, we sit together, we discuss it, we put pros and cons and then we make a decision.

“Like Roger said, we just haven’t made the decision yet.”

Porsche Penske managing director Jonathan Diuguid told Sportscar365 that the decision will likely come following Sebring, in a similar schedule to last year.

Jaminet was joined by Tandy and Nasr in the No. 75 Porsche in the 2023 edition (pictured above).

Penske, meanwhile, said having a third factory Porsche 963 at Le Mans provides the team a number of benefits.

“The great news is that we can run a third car because we have the capability,” he said. “We have the hardware, we have the mechanics and we have a group of drivers we can pick from.

“When you look at statistics, if you have two good cars and add a third one with the same capability, your statistics for success goes [up].”

No Plans for Third Porsche Penske 963 in Future IMSA Enduros

Penske, however, dismissed the idea of having a third GTP class entry in some of the WeatherTech Championship enduros in the future.

The team’s only history with a three-car program in IMSA competition came in the 2008 American Le Mans Series when it entered a third Porsche RS Spyder, highlighted by a sweep of the LMP2 podium at Motul Petit Le Mans.

“No I don’t think so,” Penske said. “Le Mans is a special, special situation.”

Laudenbach added: “You remember from LMP2 times we did that once.

“It’s not planned right now but never say never. You never know what kind of situation comes up. But right now it’s not in discussion.”

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