Starting in 2023, LMDh cars will constitute the new top category of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Both competitions are of great importance to the Stuttgart sports car manufacturer.
Porsche was very pleased when the organizers of the ACO / WEC and IMSA events jointly announced the launch of a new category of hybrid prototypes. These competition cars, which will weigh about 1,000 kilograms, will be powered by a hybrid system with an output of 680 hp (500 kW).
Ready for the battle
“The new LMDh category allows us to fight for overall victories with a hybrid system at the Le Mans, Daytona and Sebring classics – without breaking the bank. The project is extremely attractive for Porsche. Endurance racing is part of our brand’s DNA,” explains Oliver Blume, CEO at Porsche AG.
Michael Steiner, Board Member for Research and Development at Porsche AG also added: “In the medium term, Porsche focuses on three different drive concepts: fully electric vehicles, efficient plug-in hybrids and emotional combustion engines”.
“We want to represent this trilogy in both the development of our cutting-edge road cars and in motorsport. We use the all-electric drive to contest the FIA Formula E as part of our works commitment, and the highly efficient and emotional combustion unit in GT racing.”
The brand executive assured “the LMDh class closes the gap for us. There, powerful hybrid drives – like the ones that are mounted in many of our brand’s models – go up against each other. If the regulations eventually allowed the use of synthetic fuels, then that would be an even greater incentive for me in terms of sustainability.”
