September 17, 2017, 6am of COTA. This was the last overall victory achieved by Porsche in the FIA World Endurance Championship, when the 919 Hybrid LMP1s were racing at the time, which achieved a double in Austin.
Almost 6 and a half years have passed since that result and a new chapter in endurance history was written on March 2, 2024 at the 1812 km of Qatar by the Weissach manufacturer, capable of taking Lusail by storm.
Not only has the first great triumph in the history of the Hypercar Class arrived for the 963, but also the very first in the series at an absolute level for an LMDh which adds to that of the 24h of Daytona in the wake of a truly memorable start to the year.
And not only this, because in the Middle East Porsche occupied the entire overall podium, taking first and third place among privateers in the Hypercar category and also winning on its debut in the brand new LMGT3 Class, in an absolutely unique weekend.
The official 963 #6 of Team Penske masterfully driven by Estre/Lotterer/Vanthoor completed the scheduled 335 laps (equal to 10h) without making any mistakes, preceding (thanks to the final withdrawal of the Peugeot #93) Stevens/Ilott/Nato on the 963 Jota's private #12 – first among the independents – and the official twin #5 of Campbell/Christensen/Makowiecki, which started from Pole Position, but dropped down the order after an early pit stop to resolve vibrations at the rear.
Andlauer/Jani/Tincknell placed third in the private Hypercar classification with the #99 Porsche of Proton Competition, at the end of a race which ended in 11th place overall with various difficulties, while the #38 of Jota with Button/Hanson/ Rasmussen stopped after 309 laps due to an electrical problem while fighting to get into the Top5.
A weekend that began very well right from the first tests of the Prologue and continued dominating the scene by exploiting the incredible potential of a 963 improved not only in reliability, but also in overall performance during the winter, showing its muscles at the start of a championship in which now it is seriously aiming to be a protagonist against Hypercars.
#6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer, Laurens Vanthoor
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
“We worked very hard and were rewarded in the best possible way – this success is difficult to put into words,” explains Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President of Porsche Motorsport.
“Everyone involved did an impeccable job. The team and drivers delivered a strong performance. Congratulations also to the entire home team in Weissach. No one could have expected a triple success for Porsche.”
“My respect also goes to Peugeot. It's bitter to stop so close to the finish line, they would have deserved to be on the podium with us.”
Roger Penske, team founder and president of Penske Corporation, cannot help but beam: “Today we have reached another milestone with our team. This is a long-term project, which started a long time ago. The first overall victory in the FIA WEC at the start of the 2024 season gives us a very good feeling. It is the result of the tireless commitment of all team members.”
Jonathan Diuguid, CEO of Porsche Penske Motorsport, can only add smile to smile after the one in Daytona: “Our team has enjoyed the perfect start to the new season on both sides of the Atlantic. After the victory in Daytona, today in Qatar we were extremely fast with both cars and were rewarded with a victory and a podium.”
“This success was the result of hard work. We gave everything we had for the entire distance. It was tough until the last lap. Now we are all looking forward to the rest of the season.”
#6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer, Laurens Vanthoor
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
The rest of the season will not be easy at all, also because in Qatar it was clear that the Balance of Performance was not adequate for some (Toyota first and foremost), so the changes that will be made in the next races could further shuffle the cards.
But in the meantime, Porsche's potential was evident, given that all three 963s on the podium achieved the best average laps over the 10 hours of Lusail, therefore in all types of conditions, always finding themselves at ease as the drivers underlined.
“I am incredibly proud that we achieved this result all together, our car was extremely strong today and the team worked impeccably. However, it was not as easy as it might have seemed from the outside, on the contrary!”, says Estre, who then he tells what happened at the end, when he was called back to the pits to reattach the race number on the left side, given that the light panel had been torn off.
“We encountered many difficult situations and even had some contact with other cars. Two hours before the end, a rear-end collision caused significant damage. The car had become difficult to drive, but the gap remained constant and I was confident I could finish without any worries “.
“Then they called me to the pits and at the time I was surprised. I was told that the side was destroyed and that there was a hole in the bodywork. I had a lot of understeer: on its own it was fine, but with a bit of vibration, but when I followed another car I was definitely in difficulty.”
The application of the race number was carried out quickly, following the regulation which requires the cars to always have it visible in all circumstances.
“However, they assured me that the operation would be quick and in fact it happened that way. We did it, thanks to all the team members and my teammates”, concludes the Frenchman.
#6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer, Laurens Vanthoor
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
Lotterer, on the other hand, is enjoying his first success with Porsche and returns to assert himself in the WEC after many years: “I have waited a long time for this moment, finally my first victory with Porsche! Today we had three cars on the podium. This triumph is thanks to every single person on the team”.
“Everyone worked hard and improved many things for the new season. Everything works perfectly. Even in the race we experienced tense moments, but we kept our cool and brought home the victory. We will be happy to continue like this.”
Vanthoor adds: “I'm absolutely happy, I've been dreaming of this day for a long time! It's just incredible to see how much progress we've made since the start of last season.”
“We have improved significantly in all areas. It's great to be a part of it. I'm proud of what we've achieved and will remember this moment for many years to come.”
#12 Hertz Team Jota Porsche 963: William Stevens, Callum Ilott, Norman Nato
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
Continuing in order, there is also immense joy at Jota for the record achieved among private Hypercars, as well as for the general place of honor achieved at the last minute.
“It's great to get our first podium in Hypercar, we've been on this journey as a team and we came close in the last races of last year. I think we deserve it, we've started the year well and we hope to continue like this,” states Stevens .
“We chose a different strategy from most of the others, favoring triple stints because the degradation was lower than expected, while most of our competitors did two. Today this choice paid off.”
Great debut in the WEC for Ilott, battling towards the end with the factory #5: “The last two stints were very difficult. The Porsche-Penske drivers pressured me a lot, so credit to them. It was unlucky for Peugeot, but still an excellent job by our entire team. We didn't make any mistakes today.”
Nato follows him: “Before the weekend it was difficult to predict that we would get on the podium. We did well, considering that the competition is really fierce. The car performed well in today's race and I can't wait to get back on track.”
Dieter Gass, Jota Team Principal, joins the celebrations: “It's a fantastic result for us to get a podium in our first race with two cars. Obviously it's a disappointment for the #38, which retired before the end after a race very good, but I think getting this podium here is a brilliant start to the season and a key indicator of the hard work the team has put in over the winter.”
Finally here is Makowiecki, who had to settle for third place with the #5: “An extraordinary start to the new WEC year, with a victory for the sister car and a third place for us. After some setbacks, we given our all to get back to the top.”
“True, it wasn't a complete success, but at least we all got on the podium together. Now we will celebrate today's victory as a team. It's great to start the year like this after the difficult 2023 season.”
#92 Manthey Purerxcing Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3: Aliaksandr Malykhin, Joel Sturm, Klaus Bachler
Photo by: Shameem Fahath
As we said at the beginning, Porsche's great Middle Eastern weekend was completed by the huge victory taken by the Manthey Pure Rxcing team in the LMGT3 Class.
Making their debut in the series with the 911 GT3-R 992, the German-Lithuanian team was able to pop the champagne with the #92 crew of Alex Malykhin, Joel Sturm and Klaus Bachler, who after 299 laps got the better of the Astons Martin, showing their potential in broad strokes.
“It's a crazy result, it was my first race in a World Championship, so winning straight away is simply a dream – are Bachler's first words – A huge thank you goes to my team and my fellow drivers”.
“We have put a lot of energy into this project and prepared everything meticulously. The first victory is already in our grasp, there are still seven races to go, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans. There is still a lot ahead of us.”
Sebastian Golz, responsible for the 911 GT3-R project, concludes: “This weekend we won the first race of the GT3 World Championship, a new chapter in the history of racing. This team work has borne fruit, starting from the development efforts of the entire design team, to the test and race preparation by Manthey and its drivers: it makes me particularly proud. We will bring with us some insights and tasks from Qatar, because it is only the beginning of a challenging season.”
#WEC #Porsche #splash #Qatar #scary
