he Porsche 963 (Type 9R0) is an LMDh sports prototype racing car designed by Porsche and built by Multimatic, to compete in the Hypercar and GTP (Grand Touring Prototype) classes in the FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA SportsCar Championship, respectively. The 963 name draws inspiration from the Porsche 956 and Porsche 962 that raced in the 1980s, which also competed in American and European racing series.
The official race debut of the 963 was at the 2023 24 Hours of Daytona, the season-opening round of the 2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship. The car was originally slated for a non-competitive dress rehearsal at the 2022 8 Hours of Bahrain, however, Porsche decided later that they would not race at Bahrain in favour of more private testing time. Porsche later announced that the first customer 963s would not be delivered until April 2023 due to delays caused by supply chain disruptions, forcing customer teams to miss the opening races of the IMSA SportsCar Championship and WEC, something that the teams understood when engaging in talks with Porsche to take delivery.
In the same month, Multimatic was revealed to be the constructor that would supply the chassis for which Porsche would design bodywork, with Enzinger saying that "Multimatic is the most obvious and logical solution for us", and that "We have known this highly respected company and its team of experienced professionals for many years and are absolutely convinced of the quality of their work".
Testing commenced at the beginning of 2022, with the first tests being at Porsche's test track at Weissach, where the car's engine choice was also revealed, that being a twin-turbocharged V8, which is developed from the engine found in the Porsche 918 which in turn was developed from the 3,397 cc (207.3 cu in) V8 found in the Porsche RS Spyder, paired with the standardised hybrid parts provided by Williams Advanced Engineering, Bosch and Xtrac. This was followed by an extensive testing program at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, where the car covered over 6,000 km (3,728 mi).
Hertz Team Jota | Le Mans 2024 | Porsche 963 Hypercar
The official race debut of the 963 was at the 2023 24 Hours of Daytona, the season-opening round of the 2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship. The car was originally slated for a non-competitive dress rehearsal at the 2022 8 Hours of Bahrain, however, Porsche decided later that they would not race at Bahrain in favour of more private testing time. Porsche later announced that the first customer 963s would not be delivered until April 2023 due to delays caused by supply chain disruptions, forcing customer teams to miss the opening races of the IMSA SportsCar Championship and WEC, something that the teams understood when engaging in talks with Porsche to take delivery.
In the same month, Multimatic was revealed to be the constructor that would supply the chassis for which Porsche would design bodywork, with Enzinger saying that "Multimatic is the most obvious and logical solution for us", and that "We have known this highly respected company and its team of experienced professionals for many years and are absolutely convinced of the quality of their work".
Testing commenced at the beginning of 2022, with the first tests being at Porsche's test track at Weissach, where the car's engine choice was also revealed, that being a twin-turbocharged V8, which is developed from the engine found in the Porsche 918 which in turn was developed from the 3,397 cc (207.3 cu in) V8 found in the Porsche RS Spyder, paired with the standardised hybrid parts provided by Williams Advanced Engineering, Bosch and Xtrac. This was followed by an extensive testing program at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, where the car covered over 6,000 km (3,728 mi).
Hertz Team Jota | Le Mans 2024 | Porsche 963 Hypercar
Porsche have pulled the plug on their factory 963 LMDh programme in the World Endurance Championship amidst growing concerns for the German marque’s performance in the global market.
