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  • 5 days 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
00:00Well, it's the Sunday of our return, back to top level motorsport.
00:08The most successful brand ever in endurance racing.
00:11It's a great burden for us to carry, you know, in terms of the history that's gone before us, all the success the guys had.
00:16It's a big return of Porsche in LMP1, so people are waiting for that for such a long time.
00:21In England, you have always great spectators who like a lot of endurance racing.
00:26So, yeah, I think it's a good place for us.
00:29It all depends on the weather, I guess. I hope for some rain, but also in the drier, I think we will be in good shape.
00:34We'll certainly learn a lot today and get ready for spa and then, yeah, Le Mans will be here as well.
00:39Happy Easter.
00:40It's a special day for us, we are back.
00:45Very special atmosphere and for everyone in Porsche as well, it's been a long road to get to this point.
00:49Yeah, earlier I was able to meet Derek Bell and what an amazing guy.
00:53It's great that there's so many people here and so many people here to support Porsche.
00:57Everyone is excited, everyone is watching the return from Porsche in the LMP1 category and it's really, really exciting.
01:05We know that we did a great job and we are at our maximum, that's why.
01:10Now we see what happens during the race.
01:11Our car was quite okay when we had the first problem, the first pit stop, we had to pit again, had some damage on the front left.
01:30The race was over quite early for us, you know, on the other hand, very excited for the team.
01:36One, two, three, three podiums, one, two in GT, three in LMP, which we never expected in the first race.
01:44The performance we showed today I think is very encouraging and I look forward to the next races now.
01:50We finished third overall and the first race of the return of Porsche.
01:53Tough track for us to get everything together and podium.
01:56Yeah, it's brilliant.
01:57Every time we drive this car we're getting quicker, we're learning more.
02:00I'm very confident for the future.
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