The Porsche 963 Will Compete With Historic Fortunate Numbers In North America

When it competes within the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, Porsche’s 963 race vehicles will compete beneath two historic numbers: 6 and seven.

These fortunate numbers come from Porsche’s final partnership with Penske, with which it collaborated from 2006 to 2008 within the American Le Mans Collection. On the time, the numbers 6 and seven graced its yellow prototypes, the Group Penske Porsche RS Spyder, and the numbers noticed the vehicles to nice success.

“After I see our new Porsche 963 decked out with the race numbers 6 and seven, it evokes fantastic recollections of the glory days with the RS Spyder within the USA,” mentioned Thomas Laudenbach, the VP of Porsche Motorsport. “We received the whole lot there was to win again then. For us, it was about class victories within the LMP2 class, however we nonetheless managed a significant coup: Total victory on the 12 Hours of Sebring. We’re now keen so as to add to those nice and triumphant occasions and struggle for total victory at Daytona, Sebring and different occasions within the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.”

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The quantity 6 automotive was the primary to earn success within the ALMS collection. On the finish of 2005, Lucas Luhr and Sascha Maassen earned the Porsche RS Spyder’s top quality victory at its ultimate check outing at Laguna Seca. The quantity 7 automotive wasn’t far behind, although, and it earned a complete of 16 LMP2 victories over its three years of competitors.

“Thanks to those wins, the quantity seven has was certainly one of my favourite and luckiest numbers,” mentioned Timo Bernhard, who received two championship titles throughout that period.

The historical past of the numbers truly stretches again farther than that, although. As Roger Penske, the proprietor of Group Penske, notes, various Porsche Penske vehicles have sported the numbers on observe.

“Each the quantity 6 and quantity 7 have a wealthy custom and historical past with Group Penske, and we need to construct on that legacy as we start this new journey with the Porsche Penske Motorsport program,” he mentioned. “Automotive No. 6 delivered the very first victory for Group Penske with a category win on the 24 Hours of Daytona greater than 56 years in the past, so we’re excited to hold the custom ahead.”

The Porsche 963 will attempt to show it’s worthy of the historic numbers beginning in 2023. The vehicles will make their official competitors debut on the 24 Hours of Daytona in January.