The opportunity to represent Porsche at Le Mans fulfils a dream for Roger Penske, owner of Team Penske, which runs the Porsche factory team in both IMSA and WEC competition.
“I started my racing career with a Porsche Spider back in the 60s,” Penske told Motorsport Week.
“So to see the growth of the brand, from a dealership and a customer perspective, and then to see the commitment in motorsports, as we’ve gone through the years — the 917/10, the 917/30, which you saw on the screen today and then be able to be here.
“To be representing Porsche, as a factory team, is a dream come true.”
Penske, as an individual, raced at Le Mans once, in 1963, in a Ferrari 330 TRI/LM for the North American Racing Team (NART), alongside Pedro Rodriguez, but retired after 113 laps. However, he’s more known as the Team Penske, or Penske Racing, owner, which has 20 overall victories in the Indianapolis 500.
However, the team has never won Le Mans. They first raced here, partnered with NART, in 1971, with David Hobbs and Mark Donohue in a Ferrari 512M, retiring with 58 laps done.
The team did not return until 2022 with an Oreca 07-Gibson in the LMP2 class, as preparation for the following year and the partnership with Porsche. In 2022 they finished fifth in class and ninth overall.
In 2023 they competed in Hypercar with the newly-formed Porsche Penske Motorsport, but were unsuccessful in their first year with the Porsche 963.
However, Porsche and Penske are back this year, getting things off to a good start with Kevin Estre taking pole in the #6 Porsche 963.
“I think the results yesterday were outstanding and we’ve got good cars. We won the 24-hour at Daytona. We know how to win with these cars. Now, it’s a matter of execution,” said Penske.
And, when asked by Motorsport Week how he thought the race would pan out, Penske believed it was going to be tight.
“I think it’s going to be everyone. I mean BMW and Ferrari. Obviously Toyota, they’re all in the game. The Cadillacs obviously are strong too, so we’ll see,” concluded the 87-year-old.
