Porsche is ready to chase titles in 2022 WEC and Formula E
Porsche is set to start the 2022 motorsport season with ambitious goals. Primary focus will be on the works entries in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship and the FIA World Endurance Championship. The expansion of customer team activities and intensive preparation for the new works LMDh programme have now also been added to the busy schedule.
“Motorsport has always had a special role to play in Porsche’s corporate strategy,” said Oliver Blume, Chairman of the Executive Board of Porsche AG. “For more than seventy years, we have used the racing stage as the testing grounds for our latest technologies. Of course, Porsche faces great challenges today, in both sporting and organisational terms, but we are determined to play an active role in shaping the automotive future, while ensuring the Porsche brand retains its motorsport DNA,” he added, referencing the racing world’s switch to electrification and the need for Porsche to stay ahead of its rivals.
The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship Series will be starting its eighth season in 2022. The TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team has set itself an ambitious goal for the next sixteen world championship events: the 99X Electric is expected to turn its great potential into a series of successes. “There is absolutely no doubt we have what it takes to win races. The highlights of the past season have made this very clear,” says Thomas Laudenbach, the man who took over the management of Porsche Motorsport from Fritz Enzinger in October. “Over the past few months, our development team has made modifications permitted by series regulations and we are firmly convinced the 99X Electric will be capable of leading the pack.”
The TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team is putting in faith on continuity in the two cockpits: works drivers André Lotterer and Pascal Wehrlein will return to the grid. Should one of the two drop out, Simona de Silvestro or Le Mans winner, Neel Jani, will be ready to jump in. The new season is scheduled to start on 28th January 2022, with two races held in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia.
In the World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC), Porsche will again field two examples of the 508bhp 911 RSR. The duo will enter the upcoming six races with an updated driver crew: Gianmaria Bruni and Austrian Richard Lietz will again share driving duties in the no.91 car, but in the no. 92 sister car, Kévin Estre will swap seats with the experienced Dane, Michael Christensen. The pair had taken a class victory competing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans three years ago, as well as picking up the 2018/2019 WEC title. The first race of the new season is billed to take place on 18th March in Sebring and, on 11/12th June 2022, the two 911 RSRs will compete in the ninetieth edition of the French endurance classic, supported by works drivers Frédéric Makowiecki and WEC stalwart, Laurens Vanthoor.
FUTURE SHOCK
Preparing for the rollout of LMDh (a class of racing prototype to be used in the Hypercar class of the FIA WEC alongside Le Mans Hypercars), Laudenbach is very upbeat. “We are working all-out with our technical partner, Penske, on the development of the new Porsche LMDh prototype, and we collaborate closely with the chassis manufacturer, Multimatic, at all times.” Landing for the 2023 season, the Porsche LMDh prototype will be entered in both the FIA WEC and the North American IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. This means, for the first time in thirty years, it will be possible to compete for overall victories in the endurance classics at Le Mans, Sebring and Daytona with cars of identical construction. Fingers crossed.