Tincknell, Bruni Confirmed in Proton Porsche 963 for Monza

Harry Tincknell and Gianmaria Bruni have been confirmed in Proton Competition’s driver lineup for the team’s Hypercar debut with a Porsche 963 at the 6 Hours of Monza.

Both drivers, who are affiliated with Proton through its GTE program, have long been expected to form part of the German squad’s top-level prototype crew.

Tincknell will move from Proton’s No. 88 Porsche 911 RSR-19 into the hybrid-powered LMDh car alongside former GTE-Pro competitor Bruni and a third unconfirmed driver.

Bruni currently drives for Proton in the European Le Mans Series where he shares an Oreca 07 Gibson with Giorgio Roda and the team principal’s son Jonas Ried. The Porsche factory driver also won the Rolex 24 at Daytona LMP2 class with Proton in January.

According to the provisional Monza entry list, Proton will not field its No. 88 Porsche in GTE-Am as its customer Porsche 963 makes its race debut with the No. 99 designation.

Tincknell, Ryan Hardwick and Zacharie Robichon teamed up in the No. 88 at the beginning of the WEC season, while Inception Racing drivers Brendan Iribe and Ollie Millroy will join Tincknell for next month’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Proton will become the second privateer outfit to run an LMDh car in the WEC after Hertz Team JOTA finished sixth with its Porsche in the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.

Ried’s team is also set to run a different Porsche 963 in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship round at Road America in August.

The arrival of Proton’s Hypercar entry at Monza, the fifth round of the WEC season, puts the Hypercar field to 13 entries and reduces GTE-Am to the same number.

A total of 37 cars are signed up for the July race including 11 in LMP2.

As previously confirmed, Ben Hanley and Giedo van der Garde will replace Filipe Albuquerque and Tom Blomqvist at LMP2 team United Autosports due to a date clash with the WeatherTech Championship race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

Prema also has two drivers absent due to scheduling conflicts, with Mathias Beche replacing DTM driver Mirko Bortolotti in the No. 63 Oreca and Andrea Caldarelli returning to the No. 9 car in place of Juan Manuel Correa who has FIA Formula 2 commitments.

There are also incomplete lineups at Glickenhaus and the No. 21 AF Corse GTE-Am crew.