The best Porsche 963 finished the 2023 Le Mans 24 Hours in ninth place. The Porsche Penske Motorsport works team was unlucky in what was very close and intense competition for long stretches at the 100th anniversary of the long-distance classic. All three hybrid prototypes were thrown back by incidents or technical defects. As a result, they were unable to compete for overall victory with the Porsche 963, which had an output of over 515 kW (700 hp). The identical vehicle of the Hertz Team Jota also went unrewarded after a strong performance. In the GTE-Am category, the Porsche 911 RSR of the customer team GR Racing finished third on the podium.

In front of 325,000 spectators, the four Porsche 963s presented themselves in the best possible way in the starting phase. In changing conditions with sun and sometimes heavy rain showers, the starting numbers 5 and 75 from Porsche Penske Motorsport performed just as well as the "Mighty 38" from the Hertz Team Jota. However, tire damage, technical defects and accidents threw all Porsche racing cars back in the top class hypercar. The three works drivers Dane Cameron from the USA, Frédéric Makowiecki from France and Michael Christensen from Denmark were behind the wheel of the number 5 car in ninth place overall and ultimately the best-placed Porsche crew. The trio's vehicle spent more than 20 minutes in the pits during the night to have the cooling system repaired and then had nothing to do with the fight for overall victory.

In the darkness on Saturday evening, it was the third 963 from Porsche Penske Motorsport that presented itself strongly in the close battle between the 16 hypercar vehicles. In the hands of works drivers Nick Tandy (Great Britain), Felipe Nasr (Brazil) and Mathieu Jaminet (France), the hybrid racer led the field for many laps. On the occasion of the anniversary of Porsche sports cars, he wore the starting number 75. Late in the evening at 10:44 p.m. the disillusionment followed: Jaminet stopped on the track without propulsion. A lack of fuel pressure made it impossible to continue – the premature end for this team.

In the early morning, it was car number 6 that finally held up the flag for Porsche in the competition for the podium. But André Lotterer (Germany), Kévin Estre (France) and Laurens Vanthoor from Belgium ended up off the track several times with their Porsche 963 and even crashed into the barriers twice. Repairs that were due in the pits took over 40 minutes, and the crew lost another half an hour because the hybrid battery had to be changed. The number 6 reached the finish in eleventh place, 22 laps behind the winners.

"It was a disappointing Le Mans 2023. We had planned more," sums up Thomas Laudenbach, Head of Motorsport. “There is a tremendous amount of work involved in this project. Despite the unsatisfactory result, I would like to thank all employees in Weissach, at Porsche Penske Motorsport and all partners. There were various reasons why we weren't successful today. We are now taking a close look at these topics and will make further progress. So I'm positive about the future. Congratulations to the Ferrari winners who did a great job.”

"Unfortunately, once the incidents started, it didn't seem to stop," says Urs Kuratle, describing his impression. The Head of Works Motorsport LMDh adds: “Our pace was very good at the beginning. That makes it all the more painful. Without damage we would have been far ahead. Next year we will come back stronger. Congratulations to Ferrari.”

“It was really hard work for the team,” says Jonathan Diuguid, Executive Director Porsche Penske Motorsport. “We may have suffered blows to the neck, but we also take positives with us. We faced all the challenges and, whenever possible, got our cars back on the track at great expense. That was an important signal and a strong performance by our crew.”

Hertz Team Jota impressed with leading laps and strong lap times
The Porsche 963 from the Hertz Team Jota convinced in the first phase of the race. Factory driver António Félix da Costa quickly moved the #38 British customer team from 60th place overall into the top 10. The Chinese Yifei Ye then set off veritable fireworks. At around 9:00 p.m. on Saturday evening, the youngster sponsored by Porsche Motorsport Asia-Pacific even took the lead. The first setback followed a little later: an accident in the fast Porsche curves. The repairs that were due took over 40 minutes, and replacing a defective FIA sensor for measuring the torque on the rear axle also took time. Another accident on Sunday morning gave the team even more work and increased the gap.

In the end, the first customer Porsche 963 in the FIA WEC, shared by Félix da Costa and Ye with Briton Will Stevens, finished 13th in the hypercar class. "After a difficult start due to not qualifying, we delivered a strong performance," sums up team boss Dieter Gass. “We really enjoyed fighting for the overall victory at Le Mans in the first four and a half hours at the front of the field. The incidents set us back, but we still take a lot of positive things with us. The performance on the track allows us to look forward to the remaining races of the season with confidence and maximum motivation.”

GTE-Am class for the last time at Le Mans: GR Racing secures a podium finish
Luck and bad luck were also close together in the GTE-Am class. After modest performances in qualifying, the eight Porsche 911 RSR from five customer teams made their mark in the early stages of the race. At times, five of the approximately 478 kW (515 hp) nine-elevens were able to assert themselves at the top of the category. Accidents then threw all three Proton Competition cars out of the race – including starting number 911 with Hollywood star Michael Fassbender from Ireland. The sister car named Dempsey-Proton Racing and the Iron Lynx 911 RSR also retired early after incidents.

The drivers of the GR Racing Porsche 911 RSR experienced a flawless drive. The Italian Riccardo Pera and the two Brits Michael Wainwright and Ben Barker stayed away from all trouble for more than 24 hours and finally secured third place. Just behind them: the Iron Dames. Rahel Frey from Switzerland, Sarah Bovy from Belgium and Michelle Gatting from Denmark set a 91-year-old record. At that time, Frenchwoman Odette Siko also finished fourth at Le Mans. The 911 RSR from Project 1 – AO called “Rexy” dropped from first to seventh place in the last two hours of racing. GT vehicles based on GTE regulations will be replaced by GT3 cars from 2024. The victorious 911 RSR is then no longer eligible to start. The new Porsche 911 GT3 R is already in the starting blocks.

Racing for charity: Porsche factory cars bring in 549,750 euros in donations
On the occasion of the 75th birthday of Porsche sports cars, the manufacturer initiated a large fundraising campaign. As part of "Racing for Charity", a total of 549,750 euros was raised during the 24-hour race - for each of the 733 laps driven by the three Porsche 963s of the works team, 750 euros went into the donation pot. In the coming weeks, the total amount will be made available to the three non-profit organizations Kinderherzen Retten eV, Interplast Germany eV and the Ferry Porsche Foundation. The money is used, among other things, to finance urgent operations for children from crisis and development areas. The Automobile Club de l'Ouest, organizer of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, presented the "Racing for Charity" initiative with the "Sustainable Endurance Award" on the Friday before the start.

Driver comments after the race
Frédéric Makowiecki (Porsche 963 #5): “It was a very difficult event for us, but we are still proud. We knew we wouldn't be at the very front in terms of performance. Nevertheless, we were able to really annoy the competition at times. It is quite clear where we still need to improve in order to have a real chance of winning Le Mans 2024. We no longer want to be the challenger, but rather the hunted.”

Kévin Estre (Porsche 963 #6):“We were hit by bad luck again and again over the 24 hours. A puncture after three hours that cost us a whole lap. We then made a full attack to get back on track, but in doing so I slid into the gravel and into the barriers. The repairs took quite a long time, so the race was over for us. We learned a lot. Our car was fast, that's the good news. I'm proud of our team.”

Michael Wainwright (Porsche 911 RSR #86):“Of course I'm happy for myself personally, but even more so for our team. We've been working towards a result like this for eight years – and of all things, it happened on the 100th anniversary of the Le Mans 24 Hours. It was a lot of fun, although it was pretty wild due to the many incidents. Now we're going to celebrate a little."

Rahel Frey (Porsche 911 RSR #85):“The race went great, we made very few mistakes. Everyone in the team did a perfect job both on and off the track. The crew was strong as an ox and stood behind us 100 percent. Unfortunately, in the end we didn't have the necessary pace to keep a place on the podium. In the end we ran out of brakes. Maybe we braked too much and accelerated too little. We deserved more.”

Results Le Mans 24 Hours 2023
Hypercar class:
1st Pier Guidi/Calado/Giovinazzi (I/UK/I), Ferrari #51, 342 laps
2nd Buemi/Hartley/Hirakawa (CH/ NZ/J), Toyota #8, 342 laps
3 Bamber/Lynn/Westbrook (NZ/UK/UK), Cadillac #2, 341 laps 9
Cameron/Christensen/Makowiecki (USA/DK/F), Porsche 963 # 5, 329 rounds
11. Estre/Lotterer/Vanthoor (F/D/B), Porsche 963 #6, 320 laps
13. Félix da Costa/Stevens/Ye (P/UK/CHN), Porsche 963 #38
DNF. Jaminet/Nasr/Tandy (F/BR/UK), Porsche 963 #75, 84 laps

GTE-Am-Class:
1. Catsburg/Keating/Varrone (NL/USA/ARG), Corvette #33, 313 laps
2. Al Harthy/Dinan/Eastwood (OMN/USA/IRL), Aston Martin #25, 312 laps
3. Barker/Pera/Wainwright (UK/I/UK), Porsche 911 RSR #86, 312 laps
4. Bovy/Frey/Gatting (B/CH/DK), Porsche 911 RSR #85, 312 laps
7. Cairoli/Hyett/Jeannette (I/USA/USA), Porsche 911 RSR #56, 309 laps
DNF. Fassbender/Rump/Lietz (IRL/EST/A), Porsche 911 RSR #911, 246 laps
DNF. Ried/Tincknell/Yount (D/UK/USA), Porsche 911 RSR #88, 170 laps
DNF. Andlauer/Pedersen/Ried (F/DK/D), Porsche 911 RSR #77, 118 laps
DNF. Hardwick/Heylen/Robichon (USA/B/CDN), Porsche 911 RSR #16, 28 laps
DNF. Cressoni/Picariello/Schiavoni (I/B/I), Porsche 911 RSR #60, 28 laps

All results: fiawec.alkamelsystems.com.