After testing the Porsche 963, Porsche Formula E driver Pascal Wehrlein is a candidate for the LMDh cockpit in the Penske works team. According to information from our sister portal, the English-language edition of “motorsport.com”, the former Formula 1 driver took part in a test at Sebring.
At the moment it looks like Porsche still has a vacancy in its line-up of ten drivers for the World Endurance Championship (WEC) and IMSA SportsCar Championship. Wehrlein’s test suggests that Porsche is aiming for a dual program of sports cars and Formula E.
Only eight drivers are known
Of course, it would almost certainly be a WEC commitment, since this avoids Formula E on the date side. The only collision is the Jakarta E-Prix with the Le Mans test day.
Porsche could not confirm Wehrlein’s presence at the four-day test and only says nine drivers drove. A Porsche spokesman responded to the question of whether Wehrlein would be a candidate for the LMDh cockpit: “I don’t want to get involved in speculation.”
Porsche has so far announced eight of its ten drivers for the Penske works team in the two championships, namely Kevin Estre, Michael Christensen, Andre Lotterer, Laurens Vanthoor, Matt Campbell, Mathieu Jaminet, Dane Cameron and Felipe Nasr.
It certainly looks like Nick Tandy has already secured the ninth driver’s spot. Finally, Chevrolet didn’t mention its name anywhere when announcing the 2023 program. The fact that his return to Porsche, for which he has also competed in individual GT3 races in the recent past, has not yet been announced is probably due to the fact that he will still be contesting the WEC finale in Bahrain for Corvette Racing.
In addition to Wehrlein, there are other drivers to consider for the last place in the works team. It is known that Frederic Makowiecki was at the wheel of the car in Sebring. The Frenchman was the first driver to drive the Porsche 963 both in the simulator and on the track. His contribution to the project was officially acknowledged by Porsche when it was announced in June.
Another candidate would be Antonio Felix da Costa, who has been signed by Porsche for the Formula E program. However, he is less suitable for a place in the works team. It looks more like the Portuguese will stay with new Porsche customer team Jota. He has been part of the LMP2 team’s inventory for the past three years and leads the overall standings ahead of the finale in Bahrain.
7,300 kilometers on the mogul slope
Porsche’s Sebring test started with a set-up day on Tuesday, before Penske started the endurance test on Wednesday. Around 7,300 kilometers were unwound over the three days, including a 36-hour test on the material-destroying course in Florida.
The Porsche 963 has now covered 24,500 kilometers since it completed its rollout in January. The Porsche spokesman announced that there had been “no major problem”. Only the “Sebring-typical problems with the bumps” would have led to delays. The test was also a “big milestone” for the team.