Tag Archives: Thomas Laudenbach

IMSA Petit Le Mans – Cadillac, Corvette, Porsche Win in Finale

Posted on 13 October 2025 by Ken Zino

IMSA says that 241 race transporters as well as the cars and trucks that carried in thousands of week-long campers and daily ticket holders to the Road Atlanta infield where the 10-hour Petite LeMans was scheduled to run was at capacity by early Thursday afternoon. Local landowners then rented their properties to IMSA to create additional parking areas outside the 2.54-mile circuit for the season ending series finale.

“We had a complete sellout,” said IMSA President John Doonan. “We had to stop selling tickets because we couldn’t fit any more people in. From the attendance to the racing, it was truly an epic weekend.” Continue reading →

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Porsche Dumps World Endurance Cup!

Posted on 7 October 2025 by Ken Zino

Porsche AG (P911.DE)* said this morning will in future focus on two factory projects in motorsport. Porsche Motorsport will run the Porsche 99X Electric in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship. Porsche will also run 963 in the North American IMSA WeatherTech series SportsCar Championship. The surprise move abandons some racing that Porsche was long involved with. Porsche Penske Motorsport will end its involvement in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) at the end of the current season. (However, the cost of new model introductions as well as Trump’s tariff wars and formidable Chinese competition on EVs, dividends for shareholders no doubt weighed heavily on the retreat – AutoCrat.)**

“We very much regret that, due to the current circumstances, we will not be continuing our involvement in the WEC after this season,” said Dr Michael Steiner, Deputy Chairman and Member of the Executive Board Research and Development, Porsche AG. Steiner has been at Porsche since 2002 after leaving Daimler AG. Continue reading →

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Porsche Mourns Jochen Mass Death

Posted on 9 May 2025 by Ken Zino

Porsche AG (P911.DE) said this week that it mourns the “death of one of the family – with gratitude, respect and deep affection.” Jochen Mass, the  former works racing driver died on 4 May 2025 at the age of 78 in Cannes, France.

“We are very saddened by the news of his death. Jochen Mass was a driver with depth. One who could understand the car like few others”, said Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President Porsche Motorsports. “He had an excellent feel for technology and for everything that makes a team strong. We are losing a remarkable driver and a trusted companion who was with us for many years. His legacy extends well beyond his success – it lives in memories, in stories and in his way of thinking about motorsports. Our thoughts are with his family.” Continue reading →

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Porsche Penske Motorsport Wins – Rename the 963 to 967?

Posted on 8 November 2024 by Ken Zino

The 2024 season was one of the most successful in Porsche’s long-distance racing history as the Porsche 963, won seven of eight possible titles together with the works team Porsche Penske Motorsport. Maybe it should be call 967 to honor the success in only the second year of racing the 963. The overall result of the 2024 season in the FIA World Endurance Championship WEC and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship was six out of six possible titles in North America, as well as the world championship crown for the works drivers Kévin Estre from France, André Lotterer from Germany and Laurens Vanthoor from Belgium in the FIA WEC. Porsche missed the manufacturer’s title in the world championship with the 963 this year by two points.

‟ ‘Nobody’s perfect’ – we already used this slogan in 1983, when only one third-party manufacturer appeared in the top 10 of the 24 Hours of Le Mans,” said Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President Porsche Motorsport in a release celebrating the season today. It turns out that 41 years ago, Porsche publicized the Le Mans result under the ‘Nobody’s perfect’ on a now well-known poster. It depicted the racing cars from Stuttgart in the first eight places in the overall classification and in tenth place, with a Sauber BMW in between in the ninth spot. In AutoInformed’s view it also is just another example of Porsche’s sense of humor – counter the false stereotype on the lack of German humor. Remember the pink pig Porsche 917 endurance racer at Le Mans in 1971with the cuts of ham stenciled on the car? Continue reading →

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IMSA – Porsche Virtually Shows LMDh Car

Posted on 23 December 2021 by Ken Zino

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. Continue reading →

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