Porsche 963 experiences major setbacks at Daytona

MANILA: The debut of Porsche Penske Motorsport, the Porsche 963, and the new GTP class in the 24 Hours of Daytona concluded in a P7 finish for the No. 7 race car of Felipe Nasr of Brazil, Matt Campbell of Australia, and Michael Christensen of Denmark.

The sister car, driven by Mathieu Jaminet of France, Nick Tandy of Great Britain, and Dane Cameron of USA, had to be retired due to mechanical issues.

“It was a really tough day for the team, but days like today are things we build upon for the future. I look forward to the future and we will learn for all of the races, beginning in Sebring,” Porsche Penske Motorsport Managing Director Jonathan Diuguid stated.

Throughout the first half of the race, the No. 6 Porsche 963 ran as high as second for large stretches, demonstrating that they were one of the cars to beat.

The goal was to make it through the night, however, the Porsche 963's front, rear wing, and underside were damaged when Tandy experienced an issue during the 5 a.m. hour. The No. 6 maintained its position in the top five after repairs and only losing three laps in the process because other drivers were hindered by issues. With just over two hours remaining, the No. 6 managed to catch up to being just one lap behind, however a gearbox issue eliminated it from the race.

“It was an eventful night. For a long time, we were running up front trying to stay out of trouble, but Nick had an off and it caused some damage to the car. Since then, the car was losing performance. It was really tough out there. We lost a few laps with all of the pit stops. When we changed to the soft/hot tire, we got some performance back in the car,” Jaminet shared.

“An unfortunate end to our first race with the Porsche 963. We had a few small things here or there, but we were hanging around within reach of a podium finish at the end of the day. The guys were fighting hard and put forth a really strong effort. We were just slightly out of touch for the 24 hours. It is too bad that we had to retire in the end with a technical failure,” Cameron said. “It was great to get the first one going, get it out of the way and launch the team, the car and the program. We can build from here and we know we had strong pace. We will come out stronger with all four cars at Sebring.”

In the opening quarter of the race, the No. 7 Porsche 963 experienced driving issues with Nasr before being forced to pull over five hours into the race with Christensen at the wheel due to an electrical system failure. They fell back 19 laps as a result. Over the course of the race's 24 hours, more mechanical issues caused the No. 7 to fall some 34 laps behind the leaders.

“We made it to the end, and that is mission accomplished. It certainly wasn't an easy race for us. We were quite a few laps down, but we were able to fix the car and make it really fast. We were going to fight to the end. It's a shame we weren't able to fight for a win in the end. But I think we learned a lot, and we know what to do from here on out,” Campbell stated.

“The first race in the Porsche 963 was a bit painful in terms of results and where we ended but getting to drive it and race against everyone else was super cool,” Christensen said. “Unfortunately, we just had too many issues. We will learn and get better. There is a long road ahead of us.”

Photos from Porsche

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