DISCOVERED
track, but fell short by a few kilometres, prevented from continuing by having the incorrect access pass. In 2009, we had the unique privilege of driving a lap of the track in road-going Aston Martins, following a pace driver in an Audi R8. Even then, though, we were required to leave the track a few corners before crossing the start/finish line to complete a full tour. Our group also nearly had a huge coming-together at Arnage with at least two cars having to take to the grass to avoid sending pieces of British motoring excellence all over the place. So I’ve failed to stay awake for the full race, failed to complete a full lap and nearly had a massive accident—and I’ve only been a spectator! For sure, the teams face a much bigger challenge; this was definitely true for our
host contingent, the fine people at Porsche Motorsport. The lure of winning the 100th anniversary race was immense for the brand with 19 overall wins at Le Mans, the most in history. So it was that they entered the Hypercar class with the new Porsche 963, an all-new car built by another epic presence in the world of motorsport, the mad geniuses at Multimatic. The factory cars were also run in partnership with yet another legend of motorsports, Team Penske. Regardless of how much expertise is involved in the build, though, a Le Mans winning car is usually one that’s endured a baptism of fire. The first outing for the Porsche 963 was the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January 2023. Although both team cars showed flashes of brilliance, reliability issues consigned them to seventh and eighth place overall. There
“Here’s the thing about Porsche, though: Motorsports is at the very core of its brand identity.”
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