By Carlo Platella
In 2023 the WEC and Le Mans welcomed back the most successful house in the centuries-old history of the French marathon, with nineteen overall successes to its credit. The Jota team's Porsche 963 also had the luxury of leading the Centenary edition for some portions of the race, a sign of a project with the potential to fight with the competition when conditions allow. This does not mean that the car from Zuffenhausen still has some ground to make up before being able to compete for victory absolute, but already in the first year Porsche showed signs of significant growth, the strength of which lies above all in numbers.
Courageous approach
Porsche's campaign for its return to the top of endurance racing is built around a bold approach. While almost all rival manufacturers prefer a cautious start, fielding no more than two official cars for the entire season, the Stuttgart horse is moving in a big way. Since the first year, four 963 officials have been involved on both sides of the Atlantic: two in the IMSA championship and the same number in the WEC. To these are added the customer cars of Jota, Proton and JDC Miller, leading to eight Porsches present in the two championshipsdestined to become nine in 2024.
Contrary to the competition, Porsche does not see the abundance of cars as a source of problems, but of information, transforming an obstacle into an opportunity. The eight LMDhs in Stuttgart multiply the kilometers of the 963 in its debut season, inevitably accelerating its development. This is precisely why Porsche's return to the top of endurance racing cannot be treated separately between the WEC and IMSA programs. Porsche Motorsport Vice President Thomas Laudenbach explains: “Let's not forget the benefits we get from the structure we have, in which we work with a partner in WEC and IMSA, so there is a close exchange. You can always considering that every progress we make in one championship we also make in the other”.
BoP variable
In the WEC as in IMSA, the start of Porsche's adventure is not the most brilliant. However, the kilometers accumulated around the world quickly bear fruit, with growth on two fronts. The first is that ofreliability, with several problems at the beginning of the year that limit the accumulated mileage, some of which are the responsibility of the manufacturer, to which are added the youthful defects of the standard components of the LMDh. Nonetheless, the test program at the beginning of 2023 focuses above all on performance, which will not take long to improve. In the 6 Hours of Fuji, Porsche-Penske #6 took third place in the field after defending the lead for two thirds of the race from the Toyotas. In Bahrain the Stuttgart cars surrendered to the Ferrari #50, but the 963s gave the impression for a long time that they could count on a slight superiority in pace.
When analyzing seasonal growth, one must ask the question of what factors contributed to Porsche's move closer to Toyota. The change in the Balance of Performanceand in favor of the LMDh, in fact, it brought the weight advantage of the 963 over the Toyota to 34 kg, compared to 24 kg at the beginning of the year, maintaining the same power levels. The delay, however, falls above all towards Ferrari, which was most affected by the corrections to the Balance of Performance. However, with the information available, it is difficult to establish how much of Porsche's current gap from the top is due to the youth and characteristics of the project or how much to a lack of balance between the Hypercar and LMDh platforms. In fact, the latter can strictly rely on rear-wheel drive and a 50 kW hybrid, compared to the 200 kW of the Hypercars, unlike which, however, they can activate it at any speed.
While waiting for answers, the best yardstick for Porsche is comparison with other LMDhs. From this point of view, the growth in IMSA is evident, where the 963s achieved three victories, two pole positions and four podium finishes, allowing the Stuttgart company to fight for the title until the end. “The competition is different and it may not be as obvious in the WEC, but if you look at IMSA the strides we have made are evident,” Laudenbach's comment. The comparison in the WEC is instead with Cadillac, where Porsche reverses the balance of power compared to the beginning of the year. However, the slight contribution of the BoP must be recognized, which goes from the 8 kg excess and 3 kW more power for the 963 compared to the Cadillac-Dallara at the beginning of the season to the 16 kg and 10 kW more at the end of the year.
![](https://storage.googleapis.com/fp-media/1/2023/04/WEC-Hypercar-Porsche-Cadillac-990x660.jpg)
The development of the 963
The Balance of Performance consistently sees Porsche credited with more power and therefore more weight than the Cadillac-Dallara. The parameters seem to suggest a 963 that needs more horsepower to compensate lower aerodynamic efficiency in a straight line, but the German LMDh also has limits when cornering. The emphasis, however positive, placed by Kevin Estre after the 6 hours of Fuji on the traction capabilities of the car in Japan, defined as “better than ever”suggest that the German company has long worked to improve power grounding. “Our main problem is driveability”confirms Urs Kuratle, director of motorsport programs.
During the year, Porsche-Penske works to improve the balance and driving predictability of the 963, with the aim of restoring driver confidence and reducing aggressiveness on the tyres, acting above all on the mechanical set-up. Furthermore, on-track analyzes highlight some harmful phenomena linked to the management of heights from the ground, which are not always predictable in the wind tunnel or with simulation tools. The development strategy adapts to new discoveries, allowing the car to be lowered and generate more downforce.
![Le Mans Hypercar](https://storage.googleapis.com/fp-media/1/2023/11/Ferrari-499P-Porsche-Hypercar-LeMans-990x660.jpg)
As recently revealed on the pages of Racecar Engineeringother limitations of the 963 are related to particular shape of the front suspension and the steering kinematics. The British newspaper reports that the power steering pump would not be powerful enough to guarantee sufficient assistance, made necessary by the particular suspension layout which Porsche is not willing to give up. Added to this is the tendency to block the inside wheel when braking when entering the corner, due to an excessive load transfer towards the outside, which the team tries to mitigate during the season. Finally, particular attention is dedicated to improving tire management in the race, while the exit times from the pits do not reveal any particular difficulties in getting the tires up to temperature.
Software setup
The progress on the setup does not only concern the field of mechanics, but also includes the evolution of the software. The 50 kW of the electric motor are used to improve traction and degradation of the rear tires, limiting slip. However, the action of the hybrid system is also optimized during braking, controlling regeneration to get as close as possible to the grip limit. Progress on the mechanical and electronic set-up will continue in 2024, while no performance updates to the car are expected. The only innovations announced for the 963 are related to reliability and have already been implemented on the official Porsche-Penske recently involved in the collective tests at Daytona. Zuffenhausen's work doesn't stop, with one objective above the others: to achieve the twentieth overall victory at the 24 hours of Le Mans.
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