Porsche And Penske Join Forces For 2023 WEC Return

Imagine 2023 with a Porsche and Penske joined forces to bring a rather competitive car on the track race. The alliance consists of Porsche getting assistance from the American motorsport powerhouse Penske. Actually, Porsche hopes for a glorious return to top-flight sports car racing in 2023 with the Porsche Penske Motorsport, behind the German new LMDh hypercar for “a number of years".

The team wants to compete in the World Endurance Championship (including the Le Mans 24 Hours) and the North American IMSA Sportscar Championship (the Daytona 24 Hours and Sebring 12 Hours). Porsche and Penske's previous collaborations resulted in the 917/10 and monstrous 917/30 swept through the Canadian-American Challenge Cup (Can-Am) back in the ‘70s. Penske is known for its American Le Mans Series between 2006 and 2008 victory titles with the Porsche RS Spyder LMP2.

“We're delighted that we were able to get Team Penske to form this partnership. For the first time in the history of Porsche Motorsport, our company will have a global team competing in the world’s two largest endurance series. To this end, we will be setting up team bases on both sides of the Atlantic. This will enable us to create the optimal structures we will need to take overall victories at Le Mans, Daytona, and Sebring, for example,” said Porsche Chairman Oliver Blume. 

Porsche has also confirmed its plans to supply customer cars to privateers starting in 2023. According to Michael Steiner, board member for research and development intention, their main goal is to support and shape the new era with LMDh prototypes. It seems like now they will be keeping their fingers crossed not only for its factory cars but also for their customer teams.

Porsche holds the title of the most successful manufacturer at Le Mans, with 19 victorious wins of the 24 Hours starting in 1970. “The new LMDh vehicle will also be entered as a customer car in both series as early as the 2023 season. These partner teams will be given our full support. Whatever insights we gain from our factory effort will also be shared with them.”

On the other end, Penske has 18 records for the Indianapolis 500 and successful competitions Le Mans, Indycar, Nascar, sports car racing, and even Formula 1. Taking a look back at the shared history between Porsche and Penske share a proven track record of titles and this partnership between 2006 to 2008 on what was the American Le Mans Series concept.