Porsche Penske Motorsport announces six new drivers
In April, in Spa, Thomas Laudenbach told us: "We still have time, but we have a group of very successful drivers." And the vice-president of Porsche Motorsport did not lie to us.
“Over the past few months, our people at Porsche Motorsport and Team Penske have grown into an efficient and committed squad – the Porsche Penske Motorsport Team,” acclaims Urs Kuratle, Director Factory Motorsport LMDh. “We’ll have powerful driver crews in the four factory cars.”
The drivers selected for the races in the World Endurance Championship and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship include the experienced works drivers Kévin Estre (France), Michael Christensen (Denmark), André Lotterer (Germany), Laurens Vanthoor (Belgium), Matt Campbell (Australia), Mathieu Jaminet (France) as well as the accomplished sportscar drivers Dane Cameron (USA) and Felipe Nasr (Brazil).
However, the group is still incomplete, as Porsche Penske Motorsport needs a total of ten drivers. And for good reason, the cars will be driven by trios in WEC and by duos in IMSA. We imagine that the third driver for the Endurance Cup will be borrowed from the WEC squad.
Curiously, despite his performance in Le Mans and even more so in view of his dedication to the Porsche LMDh project - which he has developed both on the simulator and on the track - Frédéric Makowiecki has not been selected. For the moment at least... ''In the initial development phase, Frédéric Makowiecki played a key rôle, can we read on the press realease. During the rollout at Weissach in January, the Frenchman drove the first metres in the Porsche 963 and also turned the first laps in the simulator.'' But clearly, he deserves to be one of them.
It is also rumored that a former works driver could make his return. Earl Bamber and Nick Tandy come to mind. Both of them continue to drive 911 GT3 R cars, but are now linked to GM.
The Kiwi is expected to return to the WEC next year, but in the Cadillac of Chip Ganassi Racing alongside Alex Lynn. His British friend still has a strong link with the Zuffenhausen-based manufacturer. And, next year, Corvette will only be able to compete in IMSA as the GTE Pro does not exist anymore. That means that we won't see any C8.R at the start of the edition of the centenary of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
But as the press release indicates, "other driver announcements, including those for the endurance races at Daytona, Sebring and Road Atlanta (Petit Le Mans), will be made at a later date.''
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