The Latest Breaking News from Thomas Laudenbach

Porsche has insisted that it is not going into Saturday’s World Endurance Championship finale in Bahrain with a conservative approach as it looks to seal the drivers’ and manufacturers’ titles. 

Three-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner Andre Lotterer has been dropped from Porsche’s factory World Endurance Championship squad as part of a revamp of its 2025 LMDh line-up.

Porsche has finally abandoned plans to introduce a revised engine for its 963 LMDh World Endurance Championship and IMSA SportsCar Championship contender.

 The German manufacturer has been involved in Formula E since the 2019-20 season, and over the last five seasons has so far taken seven victories across Gen2 and Gen3 eras.

Vettel will take the wheel of the 963, which Porsche runs in collaboration with American powerhouse Penske, at a 36-hour test at MotorLand Aragon in Spain.

Thomas Laudenbach, the German manufacturer’s motorsport boss, explained that having Porsche Penske Motorsport masterminding the two factory campaigns has played a key role in the upturn in the fortunes of the 963 LMDh programme that began in the second half of last year and have continued into 2024. 

The German manufacturer has now matched its number of wins at the Floridian sportscar classic to its record tally of 19 Le Mans 24 Hours triumphs.

The WEC is booming following an overhaul in regulations, with no fewer than nineteen Hypercar entered in 2024, representing nine different manufacturers. Never had so many OEMs been involved in WEC's top class since the inception of the series. 

Thomas Laudenbach, head of Porsche Motorsport, made the claim before and after last weekend’s Spa 6 Hours round of the 2023 WEC, after there was no BoP revision for the Belgian race following the opening two events of the season at Sebring in March and Portimao in April.