Porsche Penske Reveals Mannheim LMDh Headquarters

Porsche Penske Motorsport has given an inside look on its near-completed, 48,000 square-foot headquarters for its factory FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar effort.

Located in the German city of Mannheim, roughly halfway between Frankfurt and Stuttgart, the property has been owned by Penske Automotive since 2008 and previously housed a Porsche Center for six years.

Work to convert the facility into the home base for Porsche Penske’s WEC operations began in May 2021, after the company board approved the development of the 963 LMDh project and the collaboration with Penske was renewed.

The facility’s foyer includes several historic racing cars from the brand’s illustrious past, including the RS Spyder that captured three American Le Mans Series titles and a Porsche 962C that competed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Construction of the facility took three years and now provides Porsche’s WEC team with office spaces, conferences rooms, digital networking spaces, extensive workshop space and an on-site gym.

Four work areas are available for the construction and maintenance of 963 chassis, with further departments for pre-assembly, racing equipment, carbon composite processing, high-voltage systems, spare parts, storage and logistics.

Notably, the facility features a replica of the Le Mans pit lane, where the mechanics are able to practice changing tires and refuelling on a special test and training vehicle.

“Our state-of the-art facilities have to deliver everything we need to operate across two continents – between Mannheim, Weissach and Mooresville – and globally as a race team,” explains Porsche Penske Motorsport managing director Jonathan Diuguid.

“The building, originally designed and built by Porsche and then acquired by Penske as a Porsche dealership, has been fully remodelled and modernised to support the needs of racing and servicing our hybrid-powered Porsche 963 race cars around the world.”

Work on the facility is not yet entirely finished, with the construction of what Porsche describes as a ‘Battle Room’ still ongoing, which will serve as a remote location for strategic and operational support during racing events and testing.