Porsche Penske Motorsport has announced the final two drivers, who are part part of the racing programmes in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship og FIA World Endurance Championship for 2023.
That will be two very familiar Porsche faces – Frederic Makowiecki and Nick Tandy.
Mako has been part of the development of the new Porsche 963 LMDh car since the beginning – actually he drove the very first meters in the car before Christmas 2021. He has since been part of their testprogramme which has surpassed 20.000 kilometers of testing during this year.
Tandy will return to Porsche, where he and the German brand previously celebrated so much success. The Brit chose to move to General Motors, when his contract with Porsche ran out after the 2020 season, and Porsche pulled out of the Northamerican IMSA scene as a works team. He has raced two full seasons at Corvette Racing, where 2021 was in IMSA, and 2022 was the FIA WEC with their C8.R. He was surely hoping to be part of the Prototype outfit, but that didn’t happen, plus he has a huge passion for NASCAR, that has hasn’t been able to try, despite Chevy being very active there too.
Tandy was part of the first overall Le Mans winning crew for the Porsche 919 model in 2015, when he shared the car with Earl Bamber and Nico Hülkenberg. He won Petit Le Mans the same year in a GTLM car, in a race with huge downpour, where their tires, plus the slightly less powerful cars, made them beat all the Prototype cars.
Photo: Porsche Motorsport
The team consists of the full 10 drivers, who hasn’t official been split into IMSA and FIA WEC competition. But 10 drivers is exactly what you need, to race a full season in those series – 6 full season drivers in FIA WEC, and 4 full season drivers in IMSA. There is a need for extra drivers at the 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring, and the 10 hour finale at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
It is still unclear, if Porsche Penske Motorsport will run more than two cars at the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2023, since the entries surely will come in thick and fast for the 2023 race, which is the 100 year centenary of the very first race.
The 10 Porsche Penske Motorsport drivers are:
Dane Cameron
Matt Campbell
Michael Christensen
Kevin Estre
Mathieu Jaminet
Andre Lotterer
Frederic Makowiecki
Felipe Nasr
Nick Tandy
Laurens Vanthoor
