The two Porsche 963 fielded by the Porsche Penske Motorsport factory team are holding their ground among the frontrunners in the early stages of the 24 Hours of Daytona. In the first four hours of the endurance classic in Florida, Brazilian Felipe Nasr advanced to second place at the start in the #7 car and defended his position over many laps. In the first hours, his British brand colleague Nick Tandy worked his way up the order to fourth place in the #6 sister car. The Porsche 963 customer teams were also looking strong as the sun set. The partner teams in the two GT classes brought their Porsche 911 GT3 Rs through the first four hours of the race unscathed.

Watched by record crowds, the race got underway at 1:40 pm local time under scattered clouds and in summery temperatures of 26 degrees Celsius. Immediately after the green flag dropped on the season opener of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, Felipe Nasr gave an impressive demonstration of Porsche Penske Motorsport’s big ambitions. The Brazilian catapulted the 519 kW (706 PS) #7 Porsche 963 from third place to second and set his sights on catching the leader of the 24-hour race. Right behind him, Nick Tandy systematically worked his way through the field in the second LMDh prototype of the Porsche works team. “That was super interesting and entertaining,” commented the Briton after his two stints and his push to fourth place.

After around two hours of racing, Nasr handed his car to American Dane Cameron, while Frenchman Mathieu Jaminet took the wheel of the #6 car from Tandy. Shortly before sunset in Daytona, Laurens Vanthoor (Belgium) and Matt Campbell (Australia) climbed into the two Weissach racers. “All four Porsche 963 from the factory team and the customer squads are going strong so far. We’re on the same lap as the leaders. That’s precisely the goal,” says Urs Kuratle, Director Factory Motorsport LMDh. “Now we’re heading into the night. That should suit us because the air and tarmac temperatures are dropping. We have to continue our present course: we have the right tactics, our drivers are fast and the team is working flawlessly.”

Proton Competition and JDC-Miller MotorSports step into the spotlight
The Porsche 963 customer teams fielded by Proton Competition and JDC-Miller MotorSports made an impressive showing in the first few hours of racing. Richard Westbrook in particular shone behind the wheel of the American team’s #85 car. At one stage, the Briton even went head-to-head with works driver Nick Tandy. After their two stints, the two Englishmen reported an “intense duel”. American amateur driver Ben Keating brought the bright yellow Porsche 963 safely through his first race laps, while Dutchman Tijmen van der Helm progressed to fifth place by nightfall. The identical prototype fielded by Proton Competition initially clocked strong lap times with Le Mans winner Neel Jani (Switzerland) and then with Italian works driver Gianmaria Bruni in the cockpit. After four hours, the #5 car was in ninth position.

GT classes: All five Porsche 911 GT3 R look promising
In the two GT categories, the five customer teams brought their Porsche 911 GT3 R producing up to 415 kW (565 PS) safely through the occasionally turbulent start phase. AO Racing’s #77 race car, affectionately known as “Rexy”, is running in fourth place in the GTD Pro category after four hours despite being handed a drive-through penalty. Works driver Michael Christensen from Denmark shares the cockpit of the green nine-eleven with former Porsche Junior Laurin Heinrich from Germany and Sebastian Priaulx from Great Britain. The technically identical GT3 cars from Wright Motorsports, Kellymoss with Riley, Andretti Motorsports and MDK Motorsports are holding their own in the midfield of the GTD class.

Drivers’ comments after the initial phase
Mathieu Jaminet (Porsche 963 #6): “Early on, our focus was on getting the tyres to cover as much ground as possible in the high temperatures. In the latter half of my double stint, I was constantly losing traction. I got through it without any collisions or mishaps. We’re consistently hovering around the midfield of the GTP class. There are all sorts of different race strategies at play, so it’s impossible to predict the result right up until the very finish.”

Dane Cameron (Porsche 963 #7): “That was tough. Our tyres deteriorated pretty rapidly with the high track temperatures. We’re managing to really attack over a certain distance and set strong lap times. Now, we’re saving as many fresh sets of tyres as possible for the final hours of the race so that we can call on absolute maximum performance – it isn’t until the end that it really comes down to the wire.”

Gianmaria Bruni (Porsche 963 #5): “We had an issue with our seatbelt system which we managed to fix during the pit stop. Apart from that, our Porsche 963 is running like a dream. We aren’t the fastest, but we’re putting down consistent lap times. The lapped traffic was really wild at times. There were some tricky situations, but we survived them without any damage – all is well.”

Ben Keating (Porsche 963 #85): “I drove for about two and a half hours straight and had an absolute blast! I still need to get some more tracktime in the Porsche 963. There are so many things to consider in a GTP car – it’s certainly equal parts scary and fun for somebody like me. And please don’t forget that I’m the only amateur driving in the top class. Nobody expects me to set absolute top times. It’s just about getting the car through my stints unscathed. I managed to do that.”

Full results at https://imsa.alkamelsystems.com.