Porsche has ambitious goals, extensive work commitments for 2023 racing season

MANILA: With three newly developed racing cars and a concept for an electrically powered one-make cup car, Porsche plots its course for the upcoming racing season.

The GT4 e-Performance experimental car, the Porsche 963 hybrid prototype, and the Porsche 99X Electric Gen3 racer all use electric or fully electric drive concepts. A long-term expansion of customer racing activities, including those involving the new Porsche 911 GT3 R, and a major production investment in the esports industry round out the 2023 agenda.

“Motorsport has always been extremely important for Porsche and an integral part of the brand’s DNA. We use it as a development platform for future technologies and to showcase the potential of our sports cars. We want to continue pursuing this,” Porsche Executive Board for Research and Development Member Michael Steiner stated.

“Sustainability and electrification are hugely important for a sports car manufacturer like Porsche. Our motorsport activities reflect this,” Porsche Motorsport Vice President Thomas Laudenbach said. “The new GT4 e-Performance is an example. The highly innovative prototype represents our vision of a 100% electrically-powered customer sport racing vehicle. We’re competing in Formula E with the Porsche 99X Electric Gen3, and the new 963 features hybrid technology. During the 2023 season, the 911 GT3 Cup vehicles in the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup are scheduled to switch to eFuels from the pilot facility of our partner HIF Global in Chile. This shows that we’re making big progress towards sustainability in motor racing, as there’s more to come.”

Porsche Penske Motorsport is a partnership between the Stuttgart sports car manufacturer and the successful American racing team Team Penske that fields two Porsche 963s to compete for overall championships in the two major endurance series. Over the past 11 months, the 680ps hybrid racing prototype has undergone extensive testing and development. The distance traveled by the participating work drivers was 29,713.8km. The 963 will make its debut at the 24 Hours of Daytona later this month. The IMSA championship season begins with the endurance classic. The new works team will compete in the highlights at Sebring and the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.

Porsche Penske Motorsport has another major objective in mind after winning the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC): the team hopes to use the 963 to claim Porsche's 20th overall victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June. Aside from the French classic, which will mark its 100th anniversary this year, the FIA WEC will also be held throughout Portugal, Belgium, Italy, Japan, Bahrain, and the USA. 10 Porsche Motorsport works drivers will alternate behind the wheel of each of the four 963s in both the North American IMSA championship and the WEC.

The Porsche Penske Motorsport team operates in North Carolina, USA and Mannheim, Germany. The Mannheim branch is in charge of the FIA WEC. Customers will be able to participate in both endurance series during the new Porsche 963's debut season. The confirmed teams are Jota Sport, Proton Competition, and JDC Miller MotorSports.

“We were immediately impressed by the new regulations that have been introduced in the World Endurance Championship and the North American IMSA series. We were among the first manufacturers to commit to this in December 2020. Establishing the globally-operating Porsche Penske Motorsport was another important milestone. Porsche and Penske have a very successful shared history. We now want to build on that together,” Porsche Factory Motorsport LMDh Director Urs Kuratle stated.

Porsche enters into a new era of Formula E with the Porsche 99X Electric Gen3. The electric racing car, which was created in Weissach, makes its competition debut on January 14 in the Mexico City E-Prix, which serves as the first round of the ninth season of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship. Porsche's 99X Electric Gen3, which it plans to use to win races and place on the podium, also serves as a foundation for the company's fully-electric production cars.

The fastest, lightest, most powerful, and most efficient electric racing cars ever made are the third generation (Gen3) vehicles used in season 9. The Porsche 99X Electric Gen3 has a maximum power of 476ps. Regenerative braking is utilized to recover at least 40% of the energy used. The electric motor, which has two powertrains at the front and rear, has a power efficiency of around 95% compared to the best internal combustion engines' 40%.

“The new Gen3 cars represent a technological milestone in all-electric racing,” Porsche Factory Motorsport Formula E Director Florian Modlinger stated. “They could make the races even more spectacular for spectators and give the popularity of Formula E worldwide even more of a boost.”

The TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team entered two Porsche 99X Electric Gen3 cars for its fourth Formula E season. As the first Porsche customer team in Formula E, Avalanche Andretti also competes in the series with two 99X Electric Gen3 cars. Since its inception in 2014, Formula E has brought exhilarating motorsport to residents of major cities.

Porsche provides the official safety car once again in season 9 with the all-electric Porsche Taycan Turbo S. The paintwork combines the colors of all eleven teams, as well as those of the FIA and Formula E, representing the  shared commitment to the development of all-electric racing as well as to social values like diversity and community.

Porsche shows how sustainable customer motor racing can perform and inspire in the future with the all-electric GT4 e-Performance. Technology from the Mission R concept study is used in the prototype. In simulated racing conditions, 612ps are available for 30 minutes, which is the length of a Carrera Cup race. A maximum of 1,088ps is possible. The 718 Cayman GT4 ePerformance is comparable to the performance of the current 992-generation 911 GT3 Cup in terms of lap times and top speed.

Porsche Motorsport has also entered the virtual world of esports with its own works team and drivers. Josh Rogers from Australia, Mack Bakkum from the Netherlands, Mitchell deJong from the USA, and Tommy Ostgaard from Norway are among the team's current sim racing experts. They all are seasoned professionals andrepresent the Porsche Coanda Esports Racing Team from Gronau in Munsterland. The team has ambitious goals for this year. The 24-hour race will be held on January 14 and 15, serving as the championship round of the Le Mans Virtual Series (LMVS). The next LMVS season will start in September with five endurance events.

Photos from Porsche

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