[WEC] Porsche GTP / Hypercar: factory and customer

[tomcug]

Hanson fastest of all drivers on top 40 and not much behind Vanthoor on top 20 and top 10. No wonder he was flying at the 6 hours of Glen. Great job, thanks.

[Articus]

Originally Posted by Adam43

I don’t understand this, even with a winkie. Whether rain, SC, or dogs on track that is why I show top 10, top 20, …

Even just top 10 (of fastest) he’s not within 1.5s. Did he get any completely dry running?

Which should help his lap times making sure in the end he was on the right tyres but not the overall stint performance.

I don’t think we are any closer to understanding why

Obviously it could be not so much dry runnin for this data, but they clearly kept his laps down.

Lotterer has said it himself that he doesn't know how to get the maximum out of the car. He's used to much more downforce with the Audi R18 and Porsche 919. The LMDH cars have much less downforce, and the grip breaks away much more easily and suddenly.

The hypercars drive like high power GT cars. This is why it suits the GT drivers from Ferrari and Porsche so much.

[Articus]

Originally Posted by Adam43

Thanks for letting us know

[Articus]

Originally Posted by Adam43

I am worried that we don't have enough data and we haven't covered the other Porsches.

Average Lap time

Jenson Button has been a bit of a disappointment for me. He just hasn't had the pace of his teammates all year. I guess when they switch to the Cadillac he might change teams or retire again altogether.

[Articus]

https://www.autosport.com/imsa/news/...imsa/10641208/

An article on what has improved for Porsche since last year

[Adam43]

Thanks.

Honing the car. Top drivers. Working on the tyres.

I’ve seen them say elsewhere that they are looking forward to Road America because they think it suits their car, but not Road Atlanta.

[Articus]

2025 963 to receive EVO updates targeted at opening up the setup window.

https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/...for-next-year/

“I would say it’s more of opening the setup window of the car and being more consistent over a large number of tracks,” he explained.

“Although we’ve improved the performance of the 963 considerably, we still struggle at places like COTA, for example. We struggled to be competitive there, and with the same exact car two weeks later, we showed [to be] competitive [at Fuji].

“That’s what we’re really trying to do.

“We’re evaluating various things. There’s obviously production timelines and things like that so it’s not like we’re bringing a new chassis or huge components.

Porsche wants to win Le Mans, so maybe they will try to reduce drag.

[FIRE]

Originally Posted by Articus

2025 963 to receive EVO updates targeted at opening up the setup window.

https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/...for-next-year/



Porsche wants to win Le Mans, so maybe they will try to reduce drag.

Porsche 963 Langheck

[PhilipR]

Originally Posted by Articus

2025 963 to receive EVO updates targeted at opening up the setup window.

https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/...for-next-year/



Porsche wants to win Le Mans, so maybe they will try to reduce drag.

Good to see teams pushing forward for updates and not relying just on BOP

However the concerning element of that article is BMW not going for any EVOs. The car has not been as consistent and successful as the other cars and while it has speed it seems like a handful which might impact on their tyre wear. I do think WRT is a better team than RLL so maybe the lack of results in IMSA is also due to the team but I am just concerned BMW is trying to do this on the cheap and rely/complain about BOP

[KlBD]

Originally Posted by PhilipR

Good to see teams pushing forward for updates and not relying just on BOP

However the concerning element of that article is BMW not going for any EVOs. The car has not been as consistent and successful as the other cars and while it has speed it seems like a handful which might impact on their tyre wear. I do think WRT is a better team than RLL so maybe the lack of results in IMSA is also due to the team but I am just concerned BMW is trying to do this on the cheap and rely/complain about BOP

There's an article on S365 from a few months ago where Andreas Roos elaborates on BMW deciding to not pursue jokers yet, it sounded like they want to take a wait and see approach regarding how the BoP shakes out, as well as getting some more experience with the car before deciding if any issues would require a joker to address.

[tomcug]

https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/d...ction-at-indy/
So they were running new wiring loom config without homologating it first. Way too amateurish for a team like Penske...

[flatlandsman]

The same team that cheated like hell in Indy-car,! Every team does it if they can get away with it. Some do it better than others.

[PhilipR]

Originally Posted by tomcug

https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/d...ction-at-indy/
So they were running new wiring loom config without homologating it first. Way too amateurish for a team like Penske...

Also sounds like number 7 had same wiring loom but that one did not lose their position due to not being investigated by the officials

[airbusA346]

Porsche Penske driver line ups for 2025 announced...

WEC:
#5: Michael Christensen & Julien Andlauer (+ Mathieu Jaminet for longer races)
#6: Kevin Estre & Laurens Vanthoor (+Matt Campbell for longer races)

IMSA:
#6: Mathieu Jaminet & Matt Campbell (+ Kevin Estre for longer races)
#7: Nick Tandy & Felipe Nasr (+ Laurens Vanthoor for longer races)

Cameron, Lotterer dropped from the factory line ups and Makowiecki no longer a Porsche factory driver.

[PhilipR]

Originally Posted by airbusA346

Porsche Penske driver line ups for 2025 announced...

WEC:
#5: Michael Christensen & Julien Andlauer (+ Mathieu Jaminet for longer races)
#6: Kevin Estre & Laurens Vanthoor (+Matt Campbell for longer races)

IMSA:
#6: Mathieu Jaminet & Matt Campbell (+ Kevin Estre for longer races)
#7: Nick Tandy & Felipe Nasr (+ Laurens Vanthoor for longer races)

Cameron, Lotterer dropped from the factory line ups and Makowiecki no longer a Porsche factory driver.

Interesting element of this is they have Nasr and Tandy on the side for Le Mans. So if they want to enter a 3rd car they will need a 3rd driver. Will this be Andre or Dane or someone else, or will not bother with a 3rd car? They will also need a reserve driver as well

Makowecki I can see him porbably going to a different manufacturer. He has previous ties with Aston Martin from 10 years ago but this is just speculation at this point

Also Dane and Andre go to JDC or Proton or completely out of it?

[J Jay]

Originally Posted by PhilipR

Interesting element of this is they have Nasr and Tandy on the side for Le Mans. So if they want to enter a 3rd car they will need a 3rd driver. Will this be Andre or Dane or someone else, or will not bother with a 3rd car? They will also need a reserve driver as well

Makowecki I can see him porbably going to a different manufacturer. He has previous ties with Aston Martin from 10 years ago but this is just speculation at this point

Also Dane and Andre go to JDC or Proton or completely out of it?

Lotterer doesn't seem like he's one to quit, and he's never (?) done an IMSA season - might be a last hurrah for him. Or maybe Porsche do a da Costa on him and shove him back in Formula E...

I don't think Porsche will do a third car given the driver changes, but Cameron woul be my pick for the third if it was required - he already gels well with Tandy/Nasr.

Edit - Lotterer to Vanwall for 2026, WEC entry already granted. After a 15-year absence, he finally reunites with Kolles on the grand stage - you heard it hear first!

[PhilipR]

[QUOTE=J Jay;4231972

Edit - Lotterer to Vanwall for 2026, WEC entry already granted. After a 15-year absence, he finally reunites with Kolles on the grand stage - you heard it hear first! [/QUOTE]

For 1 euro payment as well :P

[joeb]

Originally Posted by PhilipR

Interesting element of this is they have Nasr and Tandy on the side for Le Mans. So if they want to enter a 3rd car they will need a 3rd driver. Will this be Andre or Dane or someone else, or will not bother with a 3rd car? They will also need a reserve driver as well

Makowecki I can see him porbably going to a different manufacturer. He has previous ties with Aston Martin from 10 years ago but this is just speculation at this point

Also Dane and Andre go to JDC or Proton or completely out of it?

I can't seem to find it now, but thought I read in the past week that a 3rd car for Le Mans is happening again. hrug:

[PhilipR]

Originally Posted by joeb

I can't seem to find it now, but thought I read in the past week that a 3rd car for Le Mans is happening again. hrug:

Yeah I saw that today! So maybe they will use the final spot for Seb Vettel or give a go to another driver like Alessio, Heinrich, Preining. Someone they rate highly from their GT ranks

[J Jay]

Just seen it reported on Autosport; decision likely but will be delayed, so no driver news will come about a probably third car for a while.

Preining/Picariello are the best picks, it's a little early for Heinrich/Guven but they'll be in consideration soon.