Proton Competition could be the only customer team to field Porsche 963s in the upcoming FIA World Endurance Championship season.
At the moment there is still nothing official, except that the team principal of the German team, Christian Ried, has stated several times that he intends to double his commitment with the German LMDh in the HYPERCAR class.
With Jota moving to Cadillac Racing’s factory team for 2025, the pair of Weissach prototypes currently run by the British outfit are currently free, so one would be inherited by Proton.
As for the other one, however, there doesn’t seem to be room for anyone to take care of it, at least according to what Porsche Motorsport Vice President Thomas Laudenbach stated.
Thomas Laudenbach, Head of Porsche Motorsport
Photo by: Andreas Beil
“It looks like Proton will be the only customer team next year, from what I understand that’s the most likely scenario; if Christian wants to run a second car, he will ask us. Maybe there are others who want to run more cars, like Ferrari did, but that’s something they do with the ACO and not with us,” Laudenbach told a press briefing in Austin, including Motorsport.com.
“Of course we have a close relationship with him, there is no doubt. But they are the ones who decide, because they have to try to put together the budgets. I think it is difficult to finance this project on a private basis.”
“But if someone calls us tomorrow, obviously we will sit down and talk about it, whether it is a suitable team, whether they have the funding and so on, and then we will make a decision. After that, the WEC will decide on the entry.”
“There are currently two customer teams in the field: Jota and Proton. Jota is much closer to Cadillac, and I think that’s good for them. You only have to talk to Christian to understand how difficult it is to put together the budgets for something like this. Maybe there are a lot of teams that want to do it, but few are really able to do it at a certain level.”
#5 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Matt Campbell, Michael Christensen, Frederic Makowiecki
Photo credit: JEP / Motorsport Images
Then there is the question of the extra car that will remain vacant. At the moment we know that the places available on the grid for 2025 will be 40 and that in HYPERCAR the obligation will come in for each Manufacturer to enter two cars. Aston Martin will be the newcomer with the two Valkyries put on the track by Heart Of Racing.
The remaining space will be for privateers and for now Ferrari has already confirmed that the 499P #83 of AF Corse is ready to continue its adventure. After abandoning the series before Austin, Isotta Fraschini has absolutely not ruled out the possibility of returning, while Vanwall-ByKolles has updated its Vandervell 680 LMH in view of a possible application to be presented to the FIA WEC and ACO.
In any case, Porsche has no intention of committing further than the two official 963s managed together with Team Penske, more or less imitating what Ferrari does, except for when the 24 Hours of Le Mans comes around.
#99 Proton Competition Porsche 963: Harry Tincknell, Neel Jani, Julien Andlauer
Photo credit: JEP / Motorsport Images
“It’s something we’re not talking about, even though we’re always thinking about it, but I think we’re in a very good position with our two cars. We have at least three Porsches on the 2025 grid, if Christian decides to continue. And let’s not forget that to have a third official car you need financing. The operations are very different if you’re talking about three cars, but that’s not on the agenda at the moment.”
“The fact is that two years ago our philosophy was probably different, because we said we were very happy to supply cars to customers, which we did. But now that we have so many factory or manufacturer-supported cars it seems like the space for privateers is running out.”
“This is maybe a little sad for them, but on the other hand it’s great for the series. It’s great that there are so many Houses, but at the same time for private individuals life is not easy.”
“It’s also no secret that there is only one Porsche available for customers. We have to provide service and everything else, which is already quite demanding. But we will absolutely not disappoint any customer, that’s clear.”
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