Snapshot
- Porsche 963 LMDh prototype racer unveiled at Goodwood
- Powered by a 500kW petrol-electric hybrid V8 from the 918 Spyder
- Set to officially start racing at the 24 Hours of Daytona in January 2023
UPDATE, June 28: Aussie Matt Campbell joins Porsche 963 factory drivers’ team
Young Aussie Matt Campbell has been announced as one of the factory drivers selected by Porsche for its new Porsche Penske Motorsport program.
The news follows the Porsche 963 Prototype having been unveiled this weekend at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
The 27-year-old from Warwick, Queensland, has enjoyed a stratospheric ascension through local motorsport, taking part in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge in 2014 before graduating to the Carrera Cup Championship – finishing third in his debut season.
He won the 2016 Carrera Cup Series the following year, before moving to Europe in 2017 to take part in the Porsche Supercup and subsequently making the leap to international WEC with Proton-Dempsey Racing and IMSA.
Campbell joins the new Porsche Penske operation and will make his prototype racing debut with the new 500kW Porsche 963, battling for outright honours on one of motorsport’s biggest stages.
Speaking to MOTOR today, Campbell revealed the vehicle which debuted at Goodwood is, in fact, the only one up and running – with the other three factory cars due to be completed later this year.
Testing commenced earlier in 2022, and Campbell has already turned wheels in Porsche’s latest Prototype. With plenty of European and American racing experience under his belt already, Campbell admits the step change from GT cars to Prototypes isn’t as big as he’d initially imagined.
“The Prototypes are a lot heavier than the GT Cars… but there’s a lot of experience to draw from my time driving 911 RSRs. The steering wheel layout, the controls – there’s a lot that’s similar,” he said.
“It hasn’t been as big of a step as I’d thought.”
When asked what his biggest specific challenge is in graduating to Prototype racing, Campbell replied simply: “It’s learning all the systems”.
Harnessing a Bosch motor-generator, Williams Advanced Engineering battery and a seven-speed Xtrac gearbox, the high-tech Porsche 963 is far removed from the RSRs and GT3 Rs Campbell has raced for the past few years in WEC and IMSA.
The 27-year-old Aussie is well placed for success on some of motorsport’s most esteemed stages, but was the prospect of topping the podium at the greatest endurance racing events ever a dream for young Campbell when he started out in Formula Fords locally?
“Probably not at that point, to be honest,” admits Campbell.
“But as soon as I joined the Porsche program, Cup Challenge and Carrera Cup here in Australia, then on to Supercup in Europe, this was always the goal.”
Matt Campbell joins fellow works drivers on the Porsche Penske roster, including; Kevin Estre, Michael Christensen, Andre Lotterer, Laurens Vanthoor and Mathieu Jaminet, as well as noted sports car drivers Dane Cameron and Felipe Nasr.
With Campbell’s selection for the Porsche Penske program, he joins an exclusive club of Australian Porsche works drivers. He can’t yet answer when his official competitive debut will be, but we’ll be keeping our eyes peeled for the young Australian’s Prototype debut.
The story to here
June 25: Porsche unveils 963 Prototype at Goodwood
Porsche has uncovered its prototype endurance race car at the 2022 Goodwood Festival of Speed.
The 2023 Porsche 963, run by Porsche Penske Motorsport, will compete in next year’s FIA World Endurance Championship and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in the United States.
Built to LMDh specifications, the Porsche Penske 963 is based on the LMP2 category, with its chassis developed on a new design by Canadian engineering company Multimatic.
A 4.6-litre twin-turbocharged V8 petrol-electric hybrid engine borrowed from the 918 Spyder is fitted to the 963, producing 500kW of power – the maximum limit under LMDh regulations.
Four examples will be produced, with two set for use for each championship.
For the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the Porsche-Penske team will be based in Mooresville, North Carolina, while the FIA World Endurance Championship squad will run out of Mannheim in Germany.
Porsche says each ‘high-tech’ centre will be able to transfer data in nearly real-time to ensure the teams across both sides of the Atlantic are kept up-to-date.
Thomas Laudenbach, vice president of Porsche Motorsport, said the team had completed 7889 kilometres of testing in the first half of 2022, but further work is required before the commencement of the next season.
“I’m positive that we’ll be well-positioned when it comes to technology and we’ve also created the relevant team structures to set us up for wins in the thrilling competition between many manufacturers and different concepts,” he added.
Porsche and Team Penske have a rich history, with the powertrain taking inspiration from the RS Spyder race car, which achieved many victories for the pair between 2005 and 2008.
Finished in the German marque’s iconic white, black and red motorsport livery, the design of the 963 is influenced by the victorious 956 and 962 from the 1980s.
In addition, Porsche has fitted quad-LED running lamps at the front and a continuous light strip across the rear, in a nod to the Taycan and 992-series 911.
The drivers across the two championships include Australian racer Matt Campbell, with the full line-up – including for endurance races at Daytona, Sebring and Road Atlanta – to be announced in the coming months.
Officially, the Porsche Penske 963 will make its racing debut in January 2023 at the 24 Hours of Daytona in the United States; however, Porsche Penske is planning to hit the track for a non-competitive run at the final race of the 2022 season in Bahrain in November.
Additional races will include the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 12 Hours of Sebring in 2023.
Keyword: Aussie Matt Campbell secures Porsche 963 Prototype drive for new Porsche-Penske program