News

Defending champion Porsche Penske Motorsport completes preparations for the new season

• Porsche completes successful test drives ahead of the 24 Hours of Daytona
• The two factory-run 963 cover a total of 2,390 kilometres over three days
• Updated Porsche 911 GT3 R from customer teams delivers solid results
• Porsche lines up on 24/25 January as defending champion and record winner

Porsche and its customer teams can look back on a successful "Roar Before the 24" at Daytona. During the official test sessions ahead of the 2026 season opener of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the Porsche 963 consistently featured at the front of the top GTP class. In four of the six sessions, a hybrid prototype "Made in Flacht" topped the timesheets. The factory team Porsche Penske Motorsport heads into the upcoming 24-hour race on 24/25 January with confidence as the reigning champion.

Stuttgart. At the 24 Hours of Daytona, Porsche enters its anniversary year, "75 Years of Motorsport", with the successful 963 hybrid prototype. The two GTP race cars from the factory team, each producing around 500 kW (680 PS), together with the Porsche 963 fielded by JDC-Miller MotorSports, completed a total of 637 laps during the three-day test at the Daytona International Speedway. This equates to an overall distance of 3,650 kilometres. Porsche Penske Motorsport is not only competing in Florida as defending IMSA champion: the marque also claimed overall victory at Daytona in both 2024 and 2025.

"We completed the test programme cleanly and were able to focus exclusively on our plan throughout," summarised Urs Kuratle, Director Factory Motorsport LMDh. "The Porsche 963 ran flawlessly, and the drivers delivered strong performances. The results from JDC-Miller MotorSports show that our customer team has also made noticeable progress over the winter. We are ideally prepared for the season opener, although we will only really be able to assess the competitive order during race week."

The bright yellow hybrid prototype of the Minneapolis-based customer team JDC-Miller MotorSports, often referred to as the "Banana Boat", completed a total of 220 laps (1,260 kilometres) on the combination of NASCAR oval and tight infield sections. The team is running the Porsche 963 in last year's specification, while the factory squad Porsche Penske Motorsport relies on the latest updates, further improving vehicle balance and drivability. Since the introduction of the regulations for the 2023 season, the 963 has been the most successful LMDh car on the grid.

#Raceborn: Porsche's brand identity for 75 years
Motorsport is in Porsche's DNA. Even Ferdinand Porsche used competition as a proving ground for new technologies and to push boundaries. From the very foundation of the Porsche brand, cars were entered in motorsport. A class victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1951 with the 356 SL, driven by the two Frenchmen Auguste Veuillet and Edmond Mouche, marked the beginning of a unique success story. For 75 years now, countless victories and innovations have shaped the brand.

GT classes: Updated Porsche 911 GT3 R completes important test mileage
In the two GT categories, Porsche customer teams focused on familiarizing themselves with the latest version of the 911 GT3 R. The highly successful GT3 race car received extensive updates for the 2026 season, including improvements in drivability and aerodynamic stability. In the GTD Pro class, the two 911 from AO Racing ("Rexy") and Manthey ("Grello") completed a total of 373 laps. In the GTD class, where amateur and professional drivers share driving duties, the cars from RS1, Wright Motorsports, Muehlner Motorsport and Manthey 1st Phorm all enjoyed productive test outings.

Further information
Record winner at Daytona: Porsche's success story
All information on the crew: Team Penske
Photos and videos: Porsche at the 24 Hours of Daytona
Results from the Roar: All laptimes from the test

Important links for the 24 Hours Daytona
All entries at a glance: Entry list
Practice, qualifying and race: Event schedule
Where it all happens: Daytona circuit map
The big race in numbers: Daytona statistics

Driver quotes after the "Roar Before the 24"
Matt Campbell (Porsche 963 #6): "The tests ahead of the first race week of the year went impressively smoothly. We had no issues with the car at all, stayed on track at all times and got through everything cleanly - exactly according to plan. After our last test in Daytona in November, we arrived with an extensive to-do list, which we worked through systematically. Now we are all looking forward to race week."

Felipe Nasr (Porsche 963 #7): "It was important and valuable to gather a lot of data and impressions. One focus was on the tires, as Michelin has developed a new specification for the season. The first day was cool, the second significantly warmer, so we were able to learn a lot under different conditions. We head into race week with the same goal as in previous years: we want to win!"

Further information, film and photo material in the Porsche Newsroom: newsroom.porsche.com

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