Urs Kuratle, head of the 963 project, described last Sunday’s day of testing at Le Mans as “definitely satisfying” after a Porsche finished in the top three in both sessions.
The first track test of the Le Mans week on the entire Circuit de la Sarthe followed a significant test program that followed the previous WEC round at Spa at the end of April.
The schedule included testing at Monza, Paul Ricard and Watkins Glen in the USA, following the Porsche Penske Motorsport team’s final race in the IMSA SportsCar Championship at Laguna Seca last month.
“We made a lot of progress during testing and the race we did in America,” Kuratle told Motorsport.com. “We learned a lot and between tests we worked hard.”
The Porsche LMDh had stability problems under braking, which are exacerbated in situations of low grip. Kuratle explained that the 963 has “improved a lot in this area” since Spa.
“The riders will tell you, but I can’t say we’re completely fine. It’s still our main problem, but we’re improving. I hope we’ve turned around, but we can only say at the end of the week.”
#75 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 of Felipe Nasr, Mathieu Jaminet, Nicholas Tandy, Matt Cambell
Photo by: Paul Foster
Laurens Vanthoor, who ended Test Day in second place after Ferrari driver Antonio Giovinazzi, said he was satisfied with the car at Le Mans.
“In general the sensations are good, but there is still some work to do,” he said. “We still have things to work on and improve. It’s good to see your name high up on the lap times monitor and it’s definitely good for the morale of everyone in the team.”
Vanthoor took second place with a 3’29″648, which compares with Giovinazzi’s 3’29″504 in the fastest of the Ferrari 499P LMHs.
But Vanthoor recorded a faster time, 3’29″274, which would have been the day’s best if he hadn’t been canceled for a track limit infringement at Tertre Rouge.
Yifei Ye was the third fastest of the morning for the Jota Porsche team with a 3’31″447s, which compares with the 3’30″686 with which Antonio Fuoco closed the session in the lead.
#24h #Mans #Porsche #confident #progress