Porsche returned to the top echelon of sportscar racing this year for the first time since its wildly successful 919 Hybrid programme came to a conclusion in 2017. And on this occasion, Porsche’s presence goes beyond just a factory team, with a number of privateers running the 963 LMDh in the World Endurance Championship and IMSA SportsCar Championship on a customer basis.
LMDh rules were devised in a way to enable manufacturers to supply their cars to independent teams, and Porsche was very clear from the beginning that it would be a core part of its project. But running a customer car programme is far from an easy task, especially when the factory team takes up so many resources.
Porsche found that out early when supply chain issues meant it had to delay its first batch of customer deliveries. It wasn’t until the end of April that the first two 963s bound for customers were finally handed to Jota and JDC-Miller, a few months into the start of the 2023 season.
However, the cars that Porsche supplied could be entered into a race immediately, without the need for prior testing. That meant Jota was able to debut its 963 at the Spa WEC round in May, with JDC-Miller taking its car to IMSA just a few weeks later at Laguna Seca. Proton joined the fray from July onwards and scored the first podium for a customer 963 at Road Atlanta last weekend in IMSA's Petit Le Mans season finale.
To operate the 963, Jota, JDC-Miller and Proton all receive a handbook from Porsche that contains all the information they could possibly need to run the car. From basic technical know-how to specific details about the changes they are allowed to make, it serves as the go-to guide for teams running the 963 on a customer basis.
“We have a catalogue that we give to the customers,” Porsche’s LMDh director Urs Kuratle told Autosport. “When the customer gets their car the first time, we give them a base set-up so that they do not start on a blank piece of paper. They have exactly the same car [as the factory Penske], exactly the same tools, and they also have access to simulators.”
Source: Autosport