Porsche puts 2023 LMDh prototype through its paces

The new LMDh prototype from Porsche Penske Motorsport has passed its first test on an international stage with flying colours. On the Circuit de Catalunya close to the Spanish metropolis of Barcelona, the vehicle covered more than 2,000 kilometres over the last few days.

The focus of the test runs was to set up the systems, develop the tyres and optimise the interaction between the V8 Turbo engine and the hybrid elements as prescribed by the regulations. Over several days of testing, the new Porsche works drivers Felipe Nasr (Brazil) and Dane Cameron (USA) were among those who drove the ca. 500 kW (680 PS) car.

“The successful tests in Barcelona were an enormously important step,” recaps Thomas Laudenbach, with the Vice President Porsche Motorsport adding: “During our first laps on our test track in Weissach, it was critical to ensure that the basic functions of the LMDh prototype worked. In Spain, we saw the entire scope of development: endurance runs, setup work and, very importantly, the optimisation of the interaction between all partners involved in this project. I found it very impressive how quickly the employees from Porsche, Penske, Michelin, Multimatic and others came together as a unit. I’d like to thank everyone for the part they played.”

Driver Dane Cameron added: “I climbed into the LMDh car for the first time a good fortnight ago in Weissach. That was primarily about functional tests. The progress that’s been made up to our first laps at Barcelona is impressive. During the test days, we made consistent progress. Each day we managed to cover more mileage and the performance improved noticeably.”

Porsche continues its development programme with the new LMDh prototype on different racetracks in Europe and North America. In autumn, the car will be homologated, followed by the first race outing in January 2023 at the 24 Hours of Daytona before commencing its FIA WEC career.