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  • 3 months ago
The 6 Hours of Fuji marks a major milestone in the World Endurance Championship this coming weekend: The race in Japan will be the 100th since the FIA WEC’s debut at the start of the 2012 season. Porsche has competed at every round on the world’s premier endurance racing stage. Thanks to 21 outright victories and more than 50 class wins, the Stuttgart sports car manufacturer is among the most successful brands in the WEC.

Riding the momentum of the Porsche 963’s first overall win of the 2025 WEC season in Austin, Texas, the Porsche Penske Motorsport factory team heads into the penultimate round brimming with confidence. The squad has particularly fond memories of Japan: in 2024, Kévin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor and André Lotterer triumphed on Fuji’s Formula 1 circuit, securing their second win of the season and paving the way to the world championship crown. “We’re determined to build on that success and keep closing the gap in the manufacturers’ standings,” says Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President Porsche Motorsport.

The Porsche Penske Motorsport factory team will once again field two Porsche 963 prototypes. The number 5 car will be shared by Frenchman Julien Andlauer and his compatriot Mathieu Jaminet, who replaces Danish driver Michael Christensen. In the sister car, French driver Kévin Estre joins forces with Belgium’s Laurens Vanthoor. The Proton Competition customer outfit will also tackle the top Hypercar class with an identical hybrid prototype. In the LMGT3 category, Manthey 1st Phorm aims to take another step towards the title with the Porsche 911 GT3 R, while the Iron Dames are targeting their first podium finish of the season in another 911.

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Transcript
00:00It's going to be a long 12 hours fighting it out from the front.
00:30Yeah, at the moment it's going well, you know, we're fighting really hard, the car survived
00:39the night now, so, you know, just water to the morning, she's still running really, really
00:42well.
00:43Now Niko's out there, he'll do a fantastic job, so it's still a long way to go, right now.
00:47At the moment we have P3, into the day it's mainly the best part of the race because you
00:53have the fresh air, so the engine is pushing really good, we have a chance for the podium
00:56which would be perfect.
01:00We have a good run, we have good pace, now the, you know, the excitement is so high,
01:08the adrenaline is pumping.
01:10Running pretty smoothly, just a little while ago, we were losing some gearbox oil.
01:17It's about the time that last year, we were also in P2 fighting for the leader, we had
01:22the issue, so I hope we're not a cure.
01:26We just tried to finish the race, we keep the fingers crossed for the LMPs.
01:29To be here making a little bit of history at Le Mans, to be a part of that with these guys
01:39is a tremendous honour.
01:40It's a tremendous honour.
01:41It's not a bad result, 1-2.
01:45Yeah, we're pleased, you could say that.
01:46We're pretty pleased.
01:47We're pleased.
01:48We're pleased.
01:49Fantastic day for Porsche.
01:5017th victory.
01:51Incredible.
01:521-2.
01:53And I'm so happy for Nico and Earl.
01:56and Nick, I mean particularly those guys, I mean, first time here they get the win and
01:57I couldn't be happier.
01:58I mean, I couldn't be happier.
01:59It's not a bad result, it's not a bad result, 1-2.
02:01It's not a bad result, 1-2.
02:06I'm so happy for Nico and Earl and Nick.
02:13I mean particularly those guys, first time here they get the win.
02:24You know, I couldn't be happier.
02:30It's a great moment for our company.
02:33We had to wait 17 years for the 17th since victory,
02:37and now it's a reality.
02:40And it's awesome.
02:42After a long time, it's great.
02:47You have to wait the 24 hours.
02:50Before you're done, maybe happy or sad.
02:55This time, we were happy.
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