24h Le Mans
Porsche Penske Motorsport came within a whisker of victory at the 93rd 24 Hours of Le Mans, eventually settling for a hard-won runner-up spot. Despite a solid strategy and the absence of technical hitches, the #6 Porsche 963 was eclipsed by the #83 Ferrari 499P of AF Corse.
Porsche’s dream of a 20th outright victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans so very nearly came true. After completing 387 laps of the fabled circuit, Porsche Penske Motorsport’s #6 Porsche 963 of Kévin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor and Matt Campbell crossed the finish line in second place, just 14.084 seconds behind AF Corse’s #83 Ferrari 499P. A tiny margin as befitted a race that was high on intensity from the moment Roger Federer waved the French national flag.
Relegated to the back of the Hypercar grid following an infringement in qualifying, the #6 Porsche wasted no time in rectifying the situation. On the very first lap, Kévin Estre overtook seven rivals to move his 963 up into the shadows of the leading group. And in less than two hours, the Hypercar that triumphed at the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring at the beginning of the season figured among the contenders for outright victory. A swift pace and perfectly controlled pitstops kept the #6 Porsche in touch with the leading Ferraris through to the chequered flag.
“We delivered an absolutely perfect race and virtually had one hand on the biggest trophy – you don't often come that close to such a triumph. What a pity!” said a disappointed yet realistic Laurens Vanthoor. This runner-up spot is nonetheless the best result achieved by Porsche since the manufacturer’s return to the top class with the 963, and underlines the progress made by the hybrid prototype developed in partnership with Multimatic.
The German stable’s overall performance was quite remarkable with three factory Porsche 963s in the Top Ten. The #5 driven by Julien Andlauer, Michael Christensen and Mathieu Jaminet even took the lead at the beginning of the race before a puncture and several penalties threw a spanner in the works. The trio finished with a frustrating yet promising sixth place, one lap down on the winner.
The #4 prototype shared by Felipe Nasr, Nick Tandy and Pascal Wehrlein was eighth. Rookie Wehrlein, the 2023-2024 Formula E world champion, was delighted with his race. “We lost all chance of success relatively early on due to a penalty and bad luck with a yellow flag phase,” he said. “However, I personally had a lot of fun – it was a great new experience. I learnt a lot and got faster and faster.”
Notably, the three Porsche 963s all completed the race without any technical gremlins. Although the #6 crew showed superb consistency and strategy, the car occasionally lacked pure pace to threaten the winning Ferrari over the long haul. “We got the absolute maximum out of our #6 Porsche and certainly have nothing to hide,” said Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President of Porsche Motorsport. “Of course, we also look back on the result with a teary eye: in the end, we were just 14 seconds short of overall victory. But the joy and the thanks to everyone who was involved outweigh this.”
Porsche will therefore have to wait at least another year to clinch a 20th outright 24 Hours of Le Mans success. The Stuttgart-based firm still leads the all-time manufacturer wins table ahead of Audi (13) and Ferrari (12).
Beyond the sporting arena, Porsche continues its commitment to those less fortunate through its Racing for Charity initiative, donating 500 euro per completed lap to two children’s charities. With the three cars achieving a mammoth total of 1,159 laps, the manufacturer will hand over €579,500 to Interplast Germany e.V. and Kinderherzen retten e.V. The ACO once again hailed this commitment by awarding the President’s prize to Porsche at the Sustainable Endurance Awards by DHL.
