Porsche Penske Motorsport faces a busy schedule in Sebring on the third weekend in March. The works team heads to the US state of Florida fielding two Porsche 963 in the season-opening round of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and another two in the second round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
The new hybrid prototypes from Weissach will contest the 1,000-mile FIA WEC race on Friday, 17 March. This is the first time they face their Hypercar rivals from Ferrari, Peugeot and Toyota, among others. The tradition-steeped IMSA race over twelve hours takes off the following day. In the GTE-Am (WEC), GTD-Pro and GTD (both IMSA) vehicle classes, Porsche customer teams campaign a fleet of 911 RSR and 911 GT3 R.
Under the banner “Super Sebring”, the Sebring International Raceway hosts two endurance races within two days. This puts a massive load on the Porsche Penske Motorsport team – and two works drivers: The two full-time FIA WEC drivers Dane Cameron from the USA and Michael Christensen from Denmark will first tackle the eight-hour World Endurance Championship race over 1,000 miles (about 1,600 km) on Friday, 17 March. A day later, the two works drivers will support their brand colleagues in the two other Porsche 963 at the IMSA 12-hour race. Four customer teams will field a total of six Porsche 911 RSR racers in the GTE category of the FIA WEC. In the two GTD classes of the North American IMSA championship, four private teams campaign a total of six Porsche 911 GT3 R.
“The Sebring event will be a real festival for endurance racing fans and a huge challenge for our works team,” explains Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President Porsche Motorsport. “Our Porsche Penske Motorsport squad will face tough competition in both racing series on two consecutive days. After the setback in Daytona, we’re eager to turn the Porsche 963’s enormous potential into the appropriate results. In the FIA WEC, we’re excited to join the great Hypercar field. At the season opener we’re back to fight for overall victory after almost 50 years: Porsche versus Ferrari – that’s simply fantastic. That’s not to say we’re forgetting the other manufacturers. In both series, numerous customer vehicles will contest the GTE-Am, GTD-Pro and GTD classes. The Porsche brand will be very well represented.”
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