This should become a great racing class.
Porsche is set to start the 2022 motorsport racing season with ambitious goals and extensive international programs. The prime focus will be on the two factory entries in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship and the FIA World Endurance Championship. However, the bigger news might be in 2023. At Porsche’s annual Night of Champions toasting the German marque’s global motorsports accomplishments for 2021 – held virtually due to the ongoing pandemic – Porsche showed images of its 2023 LMDh racer.
They were the first images of an actual race car from any of the five manufacturers committed to competing in the IMSA WeatherTech Championship’s new top-tier prototype class – LMDh – when it debuts in 2023. Porsche is partnering with Team Penske and chassis maker Multimatic on the project as Porsche Penske Motorsport. The team will compete in both the WeatherTech Championship and the FIA World Endurance Championship. For the first time in some 30 years, it will be possible to compete for overall victories in the endurance classics at Le Mans, Sebring and Daytona with cars of identical construction. The 500 kW and 680 PS (or ~670 hp that they admit to – Autocrat) hybrid racing car is scheduled to complete numerous test runs in 2022. (AutoInformed: Corvette Racing Goes Global – IMSA, FIA WEC in 2022) The new team – with formidable business and track records – will have a pair of championship-winning drivers at their disposal with Dane Cameron and Felipe Nasr as factory drivers for the project.
Cameron, a 33-year-old from Newport Beach, California, is a three-time champion in the WeatherTech Championship. He won the GTD title in 2014 with Turner Motorsport, the 2016 Daytona Prototype international (DPi) crown with Action Express Racing and the 2019 DPi championship driving for – guess who – Team Penske. He has 15 career IMSA race wins.
Nasr won DPi championships for Action Express Racing in 2018 and 2021. The 29-year-old from Brasilia, Brazil, who also raced in Formula One in 2015-16, has seven career IMSA victories. He is ready to get started on his Porsche journey, beginning with the upcoming season with Team Pfaff. Nasr will join the No. 9 “Plaid Porsche” for the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup races during 2022.
“I’m very excited to be joining the Porsche family and team Pfaff ahead of the 2022 season,” Nasr said. “I always love going to Daytona and having a shot of winning the Rolex 24; this time will be completely new to in the GTD PRO class. Hopefully, it will a smooth transition and a fast-learning process with the help of my well-experienced teammates Matt and Mathieu.”
“We are working all-out with our partner Penske on the development of the new LMDh prototype and collaborate closely with the chassis manufacturer Multimatic at all times,” said Thomas Laudenbach, the head of Porsche Motorsport “In January, we will begin intensive testing to ensure that we are optimally prepared for our 2023 competition debut.” The management of these endurance racing activities for Porsche will be led by the experienced Swiss national, Urs Kuratle.
Stuttgart 24 Feb 2022 – Volkswagen AG has decided to examine the possibility of listing Porsche AG on the stock exchange. Porsche AG’s Executive Board welcomes this decision. It underlines the very successful development of the company.
Oliver Blume, chairman of the Executive Board of Porsche AG, says: “We welcome this decision of Volkswagen AG. Porsche is a strong brand with a robust business model and a worldwide fan community. We also pursue ambitious sustainability goals. For example, Porsche plans to achieve a neutral CO2 balance in 2030. Porsche and Volkswagen can continue to benefit from joint synergies in the future.”
The decision on a stock exchange listing of Porsche AG lies solely with Volkswagen AG’s executive bodies. Porsche AG is therefore unable to provide any further details at this time.