The second 963 for the Jota team, which is preparing to face the WEC 2024 with two cars, will be the last one completed before production is temporarily interrupted, as the German manufacturer explained, modifying the original plan which envisaged making available of customers two more cars for each series in the prototype’s second year of competition.
The plan was to deliver four cars, two from each series, to customers in both 2023 and 2024, but Porsche’s LMDh project manager, Urs Kuratle, explained that there were two reasons for the decision.
“We would simply overload our supply chain, and that is the first aspect,” he said. “This includes the supply of the single-brand battery produced by WAE Technologies.”
“There are a few problems with the supply of batteries, it’s no secret: having more cars on the grid would therefore be a problem from this point of view. The second reason is that we would go beyond the possibilities in our customer support system : Halfway through the season we felt we had reached the limit and Porsche wants to give them good support.”
“The LMDh project, which has a dual commitment of Penske Porsche Motorsport in WEC and IMSA, in addition to the customer program, simply has not grown as we had anticipated.”
Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images
#5 JDC Miller MotorSports Porsche 963: Tijmen van der Helm, Mike Rockenfeller, Jenson Button
Kuratle added that there was no firm date for the resumption of construction of the 963 in the middle of next year, insisting that there was demand for the 963 from existing and new customers and that other cars could have been sold in addition to the Jota’s second chassis for 2024.
Assuming Jota gets it for the WEC, likely including high-profile former Formula 1 drivers including Robert Kubica, Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button, there will be five 963 customers competing next year.
Jota’s two cars in the World Championship will be joined by that of Proton Competition, which came into action at the Monza race in July. Proton and JDC/Miller MotorSports will have one 963 each through the 2024 IMSA season.
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