Next year André Lotterer will only be involved in the FIA World Endurance Championship, as had already been decided at Porsche for some time.
The Weissach manufacturer is trying to organize the next season in the best possible way from all points of view and the German, who was also one of the pawns of the FIA Formula E, will continue his work in the electric series only as a test driver.
This goes in perfect harmony with what the brand’s top management is deciding these days, starting with the choice to use Antonio Félix Da Costa only in the single-seater championship and no longer in the World Endurance Championship.
An option that the Portuguese, as an official competitor, could not help but accept, albeit with a bit of regret, with the explanation from his superiors of not squeezing his competitors too much in more championships, but making them concentrate only on a series.
The seat of the 963 LMDh #6 managed by Team Penske, crewed by Kévin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor, is therefore confirmed for Lotterer.
“After 26 years of racing single-seaters I have decided to close this chapter of my career and focus on the challenge of winning the 24h of Le Mans and the FIA WEC with the Porsche 963. At the same time, I am thrilled to be able to continue supporting the brand in Formula E with my experience,” said the 42-year-old Duisburg native.
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
#6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Kevin Estre, André Lotterer, Laurens Vanthoor
As far as the WEC is concerned, the line prevailed at Porsche to carry forward the LMDh project while keeping everyone in their place, or almost so.
The only change to the crews can be found on the 963 #5 with Matt Campbell who will replace Dane Cameron; last year the latter had explicitly asked to try the adventure in the World Championship, despite his great experience in the IMSA SportsCar Championship.
The 35-year-old American will therefore return to his roots by joining Felipe Nasr in Penske’s 963 #7 in the North American series, with Campbell returning to racing in the WEC after his experiences in the LMGTE AM Class.
The Australian will be the new companion of Michael Christensen and Frédéric Makowiecki in the top endurance series, although he had initially been confirmed aboard the IMSA 963 #7 with Nasr, Josef Newgarden and Makowiecki for the 24h of Daytona.
At the 24h of Florida, in the other official Porsche branded #6, we will see Estre and Vanthoor at work with the owners Nick Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet.
Photo by: Art Fleischmann
#6 Team Penske Porsche 963: Nick Tandy, Mathieu Jaminet, Laurens Vanthoor
963 customers: how many pilots are missing?
Then the discussion of the 963 customers becomes interesting. In the WEC, Proton Competition will continue the work started in mid-2023 on its #99 with Harry Tincknell already confirmed at the wheel, while barring last-minute reversals, Gimmi Bruni and Neel Jani should also be there, already marked as standard bearers for the German team at the 24h of Daytona.
Having lost Da Costa, Jota still entered two 963s in the Hypercar Class, doubling last year’s commitment. On #12 (number chosen to pay homage to the sponsor Tom Brady, a football player who wears this shirt) there is Will Stevens, while on the confirmed #38 there is Oliver Rasmussen.
Yifei Ye should leave his commitment and join AF Corse to drive the Ferrari 499P #83 together with the already announced Robert Kubica and it has been rumored for some time that Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button could join Jota.
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
#38 Hertz Team JOTA Porsche 963: Antonio Felix Da Costa, Will Stevens, Yifei Ye
At the end of the 2023 season the English team asked the FIA and ACO if it was possible to field a car with only two drivers for the 6 Hour races, obviously without including one with a Bronze license as it is prohibited by the Sporting Regulations.
The response was positive: “As foreseen in article 13.2.2, the composition of the crew is free, provided that it does not include a Bronze driver. Therefore, for WEC races (excluding Le Mans), it will be allowed to have a crew of 2 pilots”. This may possibly allow Jota not to look for further drivers if the names mentioned above are confirmed, but clearly there is time until March and therefore everything is in flux.
To conclude, still in IMSA; JDC-Miller Motorsports is the only private team to already have all its drivers: Tijmen Van Der Helm and Richard Westbrook will share the cockpit of the 963 #5 throughout 2024, Philip Hanson will join them for the Endurance Cup races and Ben Keating will be the fourth member of the crew at Daytona.
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