Porsche Penske Motorsport will contest this weekend’s IMSA SportsCar Championship occasion at Highway America in two particular retro liveries.
The #6 Porsche 963 LMDh shared by Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor will carry the blue-and-yellow Sunoco color scheme made well-known by the Porsche 917/30 within the Nineteen Seventies.
In the meantime, Julien Andlauer and Felipe Nasr will revive the intense yellow livery of the Porsche RS Spyder LMP2 after they take to the monitor within the #7 Porsche 963.
It marks the fourth time Porsche Penske has run particular designs on its LMDh prototypes this season, having beforehand unveiled conventional liveries at Sebring, Lengthy Seashore and Laguna Seca.
2026 is a landmark 12 months for the 2 manufacturers. Porsche is celebrating its seventy fifth anniversary in motorsport, whereas Roger Penske’s eponymous group was based 60 years in the past.
With the Highway America spherical prolonged to 6 hours from the standard two hours and 40 minutes, Porsche and Penske have chosen the occasion to pay tribute to 2 of essentially the most profitable automobiles of their shared historical past.
#6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Kévin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor
Picture by: Porsche
“Highway America has been the scene of particular successes within the shared historical past of Porsche and Penske,” says Thomas Laudenbach, vp of Porsche Motorsport.
“In 1973, the Porsche 917/30 dominated the scene. Throughout qualifying, Mark Donohue turned the primary driver on this monitor to interrupt the two-minute lap time barrier. Beginning in 2006, the RS Spyder marked Porsche’s return to prototype racing throughout a number of championships.
“I personally keep in mind the success of 2007: I used to be there when Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas drove to total victory towards the nominally extra highly effective LMP1 race automobiles.”
Roger Penske, founder and chairman of Penske Company, added: “Sportscar competitors has been the muse of Crew Penske because the very starting. As we proceed to have fun our group’s 60 years in motorsports alongside 75 years of Porsche Motorsport in 2026, we’re excited to honour the heritage and legacy of each organisations.
“These two iconic automobile liveries pay tribute to championship-winning eras, legendary automobiles and the individuals who helped construct our success. Crew Penske’s partnership with Porsche is likely one of the most profitable and enduring relationships in racing, and we’re proud to have fun our successful custom collectively.”
The Porsche 917/30 was the ultimate evolution of the enduring 917 and was launched in 1973 to compete within the now-defunct Can-Am Sequence. The automobile dominated the championship, with Crew Penske driver Donohue going unbeaten within the remaining six out of eight races. The American additionally beat the sphere by three seconds in qualifying at Highway America, making the 6.5km monitor a becoming venue to deliver again the Sunoco livery.
#7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Julien Andlauer, Felipe Nasr
Picture by: Porsche
In the meantime, Porsche and Penske’s RS Spyder made an enormous mark in LMP2 racing within the late noughties, claiming the LMP2 title within the American Le Mans Sequence for 3 consecutive years in addition to two class wins on the Le Mans 24 Hours.
Nevertheless, the automobile’s greatest achievement got here within the 2008 Sebring 12 Hours, the place Bernhard, Dumas and Emmanuel Collard beat the extra highly effective LMP1 prototypes to register the RS Spyder’s first total win within the ALMS.
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