Proton will use the red, white and black colors of new sponsor FAT International on its customer LMDh this year, bringing an iconic Porsche livery back to endurance racing. The livery entered racing folklore in the 1980s and 1990s, when it adorned one of Porsche's Joest cars on both sides of the Atlantic, competing in classic races such as the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 24 Hours of Le Mans .
Most famously, FAT International, a French logistics company at the time, sponsored the Dauer 962 which took an overall victory at Le Mans in 1994 with Yannick Dalmas, Hurley Haywood and Mauro Baldi. The Dauer 962 had a radical history behind it, as it was originally conceived as a Porsche-based road car. Later, a racing version of the Dauer 962 was developed for the post-WSC era with the support of the German manufacturer.
The company FAT International, which dictated the livery as part of its sponsorship deal, is no longer present in the same form, but the brand name has been relaunched to host events and promote an automotive culture. It is this new company that sponsors Proton and lends the iconic livery to the team, which will be one of two Porsche customer teams on the Hypercar grid this year, alongside the Jota.
#99 Proton Competition Porsche 963: Neel Jani, Harry Tincknell, Julien Andlauer
Photo by: Siegerdesigns
Proton competed in the latter part of the 2023 season, in both WEC and IMSA, sporting near-identical WeatherTech liveries. WeatherTech was replaced in IMSA by the Mustang Sampling energy drink, whose black and gold colors were already present on JDC-Miller's Cadillac DPi cars between 2020 and 2012. FAT International instead took WeatherTech's place on JDC-Miller's WEC car. Proton.
The German team recently revealed its full lineup for the 2024 season, signing new deals with Neel Jani and Harry Tincknell and adding Porsche works driver Julien Andlauer to complete its lineup. However, it is not yet clear whether Tincknell will take part in the full season, as there are two concurrences between the WEC and his commitments with Ford in the IMSA GTD Pro class.
Proton's new FATT-backed Porsche 963 will be seen in action for the first time in next week's Prologue at the Losail International Circuit, before the season kicks off on March 2 at the same venue in Qatar.
Yannick Dalmas, Hurley Haywood, Mauro Baldi, Dauer 962 Le Mans Porsche
Photo by: Motorsport Images
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