After its triumph in Qatar, Porsche found the key

Arriving in the World Endurance Championship in 2023, Porsche was unable to compete with Toyota or the other prestigious newcomer, Ferrari, in its first season. The German manufacturer, 19 victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a record, played spoilsport on all too rare occasions (3rd in Portugal and at Fuji for 963 n°6 to Kévin Estre, André Lotterer and Laurens Vanthoor) and especially disappointed in the Race of the Year, in Sarthe, with a 9th place for best result, for No. 5 (Dane Cameron – Michael Christensen – Frédérick Makowiecki).

Results that have “a bit disappointed” To be: – We knew it was going to be difficulthe admitted before the launch of the 2024 season. But we were clearly there to win races and make podiums, and that wasn’t the case. You need to be consistent throughout the season and perform well on all circuits. »

The Frenchman pointed to the youth of the program, which did not prevent Ferrari from winning Le Mans, and also believed that his team and his car had progressed over the winter. To the point of imagining a hat-trick at the start of the season, in Qatar at the beginning of March? Probably not. “We know what we have won, but will it be enough? », he argued. Apparently it was.

A BoP that is not so favorable for Qatar

For at the Losail circuit in early March, the 963 produced a show of strength, with Matt Campbell’s pole in No. 5, and the hat-trick of the race: victory to No. 6 ahead of No. 12 in customer team Team Jota (Callum Ilott – Norman Nato – Will Stevens) and No. 5. What happened for an outsider to become a leader?

In addition to a favorable track, flat and without large vibrators, we could also imagine that the BoP (Balance of Performance) played a major role in this sudden performance gain. No! Between the period after the 24 Hours of Le Mans last season, and the first race of the year in Qatar, the 963 both gained weight (from 1046 to 1048 kg) and lost power (from 514 kW to 505 kW). They were certainly not the heaviest or least powerful Hypercars at Losail, a “privilege” reserved for the Toyota GR010 (1089 kg) and the Cadillac V-Series R (499 kW), but there are therefore also other places we have to look for what is hidden behind this performance.

Work and effort, this is how Thomas Laudenbach, vice president of Porsche Motorsport, summed up the reasons that explain this hat-trick, which was, to say the least, unexpected: ” We worked extremely hard and were rewarded. Everyone involved in the program gave it their all and the drivers were exceptional. »

Roger Pense, the head of the American team working with Porsche on this project, was a little more precise: “We have improved our understanding of the car, for example the braking system. And Porsche worked on the gearbox, the drivetrain. Reliability is also better and we can now focus more on performance. »

It now remains to confirm this result this weekend at Imola – on a track less smooth and bumpier than Losail, which matched the qualities of the 963 -, where the traffic will be very complicated to manage and where Toyota and Ferrari have a best BoP, and especially at Le Mans, in two months’ time (June 15-16), where Porsche will be looking for a 20th success.