{"id":29769,"date":"2022-09-18T13:22:09","date_gmt":"2022-09-18T17:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=29769"},"modified":"2022-09-18T13:22:09","modified_gmt":"2022-09-18T17:22:09","slug":"penske-and-porsche-united-two-motorsports-superpowers-one-le-mans-goal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2022\/09\/penske-and-porsche-united-two-motorsports-superpowers-one-le-mans-goal","title":{"rendered":"Penske and Porsche united: Two motorsports superpowers, one Le Mans goal"},"content":{"rendered":"

aytona Beach, Fla.<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 Roger Penske\u2019s race cars have been in the winner\u2019s circle of the world\u2019s most storied tracks \u2014 including the Indianapolis 500 18 times, NASCAR\u2019s Daytona 500 three times, the 24 Hours of Daytona, the 12 Hours of Sebring, even Australia’s legendary Bathurst 1000.<\/p>\n

But there is one title that has eluded Metro Detroit\u2019s most famous car guy: the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France, the world\u2019s premiere sports car endurance race. So Penske has teamed with Le Mans\u2019 winningest sports car brand, Porsche, to realize his ambition at the age of 85.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like having a new baby. I don\u2019t want to miss it taking its first steps,\u201d said Penske, who came here Sept.\u00a02\u00a0to watch the sleek, red-and-white Porsche cyborg take its first test laps around Daytona Motor Speedway\u2019s high bankings.<\/p>\n

\"Bucket
Bucket list: at 85, Roger Penske has teamed with Porsche to win both the Daytona and Le Mans endurance races.HENRY PAYNE, THE DETROIT NEWS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>

On the road to Le Mans next June, the 24 Hours of Daytona will be the first test of the Porsche 963. For \u201cThe Captain\u201d \u2014\u00a0as his loyal troops at Team Penske call him \u2014\u00a0capping his illustrious\u00a0career with a Le Mans win would be just desserts given that his racing days\u00a0began behind the wheel of a Porsche RSK in 1958.<\/p>\n

Penske long ago stepped out of the driver\u2019s seat to run not only one of the world\u2019s most successful racing programs. He sits atop\u00a0a business empire that includes Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the IndyCar series, Penske Truck Leasing, and auto dealerships that employs 64,000 people across nine countries and four continents.<\/p>\n

And yet, his passion for winning races \u2014 and for Porsches \u2014 is still at the heart of it all.<\/p>\n

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Roger Penske talks about his racing team’s relationship with Porsche at Daytona<\/div>\n
Racing legend and team owner Roger Penske talks about his team’s racing and business relationship with Porsche during test runs at Daytona.<\/div>\n
THE DETROIT NEWS<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Under the banner Porsche Penske Motorsport, the formidable pair are teaming up again for an assault on the record books (Porsche is going for its 17th overall Le Mans win) at a time when the automotive world is in turmoil as government climate policy increasingly\u00a0forces the industry to go all-electric.<\/p>\n

Racing is not unaffected by the electrification push: the so-called LMDh (Le Mans Daytona hybrid) class that the Porsche 963 prototype has entered bows to the trend with a hybrid, 680-horsepower, twin-turbo V-8 that includes electric-motor assist.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s the 4.6-liter V-8 that will do the heavy lifting in brutal 24-hour endurance races where cars crest 200 mph, and thrill crowds with their thunderous internal combustion-engine sounds.<\/p>\n

\n
Roger Penske, in Daytona to personally watch the Porsche 963 take its first test laps on the high banks<\/figcaption>
It\u2019s like having a new baby. I don\u2019t want to miss it taking its first steps.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\"The
The Porsche 963 is the third collaboration between Team Penske and Porsche Motorsports after the 917 Can Am and RS Spyder racers.HENRY PAYNE, THE DETROIT NEWS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>

\u201cWe didn\u2019t buy the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to run around there with electric cars,\u201d smiled Penske who packed nearly 300,000 fans into IMS last June to see 33 V-6-powered IndyCars take the green flag at full squawk. By contrast, the electric Formula E race series has struggled to gain fans. Penske says that electric racing is a long way off even as production luxury vehicles like the electric, $100K-plus Porsche Taycan EV\u00a0in his showrooms have flown off the shelves.<\/p>\n

Of more immediate interest is adding to his trophy case, a passion that creates a standard for the rest of his companies.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the first (racing program) that is destined for the 24 Hours of Le Mans,\u201d said Porsche 963 team director Jonathan Diuguid, 39, who has been with Penske since he graduated from the University of North Carolina as an engineer in 2005. \u201cAs you can see here, Mr. Penske is at the test, which doesn\u2019t happen very frequently. It’s definitely something he is focused on, and it carries extra weight for that reason.\u201d<\/p>\n

Porsche first teamed with Penske in 1972\u00a0on the ferocious 917 Can-Am car\u00a0that dominated North America\u2019s fastest sports car series. With drivers George Follmer and Mark Donahue, Penske dominated the 1972-73 seasons before a similar era of government intervention forced performance changes on auto racing.<\/p>\n

\"Porsche-Penske
Porsche-Penske dominated Can Am in the early 1970s with the Porsche 917-30.JUERGEN TAP, PENSKE<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>

The two titans teamed up again in 2006-08 with the Porsche RS Spyder, a nimble, efficient racer that was a giant killer \u2014\u00a0challenging more powerful competition with better reliability and tactics. The bond the two teams share is rooted in decades of success \u2014\u00a0but also in the larger-than-life personalities behind the racing brands: the Porsche family and The Captain.<\/p>\n

Respect for Penske in the Daytona pit was\u00a0palpable.<\/p>\n

He walked\u00a0among his charges, talking to each individually. He is\u00a0low-key but extremely well-briefed, says Urs Kuratle, Porsche Motorsports chief. Kuratle worked with Penske at Le Mans this year when the team entered a special, non-Porsche prototype entry to learn the Le Mans ropes.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was up for 36 hours at Le Mans, on the radio, asking questions,\u201d said the Porsche team boss. \u201cHe knows the open points list as well as our engineers. To me, the man is from another planet.\u201d<\/p>\n

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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Penske teams with Porsche to take on Le Mans<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Patrick Long was the only North American driver on that team, a stint that launched him on a career as one of the world\u2019s best race drivers.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrowing up racing in the United States, I watched Roger Penske. He was the guy,\u201d said Long, 41, who retired from racing last year and was on hand for the 963 test. \u201cHe called my races in 2008 (meaning\u00a0each driver has a tactician in his ear during a race). Team Penske provided all the resources you could hope for, and in return was the expectation that you would win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Californian Dane Cameron is one of the hot shoes who tested the 963 in Daytona. Like Long, he is family \u2014 having won an IMSA title previously for Penske in 2019 when the team ran Acura\u2019s program.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s quite an honor to drive for Roger,\u201d Cameron said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s quite an honor to join Porsche with their motorsport heritage. For me, that marriage is perfect and really something I wanted to be involved in.\u201d<\/p>\n

The car he will co-drive is at the summit of current automotive technology.<\/p>\n

\"Roger
Roger Penske, right, sits on the pit wall as the Porsche 963 comes into the Daytona pits after an extended test session.HENRY PAYNE, THE DETROIT NEWS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>

Taking its engine from Porsche\u2019s legendary 918 hybrid supercar, the 680-horsepower 963 then adds an electric motor between the mid-mounted engine and seven-speed gearbox. A sophisticated aerodynamic chassis incorporating a Formula One-like front keel wing sucks the car to the ground enabling neck-straining cornering speeds.<\/p>\n

As part of an 800-volt electric platform (similar to the Taycan electric road car), the electric current brings new challenges to drivers and tracks. If an incident occurs, the driver is trained to exit the cockpit by standing on the sill \u2014\u00a0then jumping as far from the car as possible to guard against electric shock.<\/p>\n

Prior to the test, corner workers and fire safety teams are brought by the garage and debriefed on how to handle the car if it is involved in a crash. Key is a light in the front windshield that indicates if the electrical system is OK (green) or compromised (red, or no light at all). If the latter, then responders are not to touch the car until a special team from\u00a0Porsche arrives.<\/p>\n

\"Front
Front and rear wings provide tremendous downforce on the Porsche 963.HENRY PAYNE, THE DETROIT NEWS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>

While hybrids advertise efficiency in their road cars, they promise parity in auto racing, making for close competition that manufacturers covet.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe LMDH regulations allow for all kinds of engine architectures: Cadillac normally-aspirated V-8, Porsche-and-BMW turbo V-8s, Acura twin-turbo V-6,\u201d Diuguid said. \u201cAll engines have a different power curve shape (but) the hybrid system fills in holes and dips in the power curve so everyone is making the same power.\u201d<\/p>\n

This promise of parity, cutting-edge tech \u2014\u00a0and the tantalizing prospect of winning Daytona and Le Mans in the same calendar year \u2014\u00a0has attracted a who\u2019s who of performance brands to the prototype class.<\/p>\n

Porsche Penske Motorsport will compete in the years ahead against teams from Cadillac, Acura (both of which were at the Daytona test), BMW, Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Toyota.<\/p>\n

With the track record of Penske and Porsche combined, there is no doubt who is the favorite.<\/p>\n

Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

aytona Beach, Fla.\u00a0\u2014 Roger Penske\u2019s race cars have been in the winner\u2019s circle of the world\u2019s most storied tracks \u2014 including the Indianapolis 500 18 times, NASCAR\u2019s Daytona 500 three times, the 24 Hours of Daytona, the 12 Hours of Sebring, even Australia’s legendary Bathurst 1000. But there is one title that has eluded Metro […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29769"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29769"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29769\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29770,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29769\/revisions\/29770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}