Porsche has revealed it is planning to introduce an evo joker update on its 963 LMDh for next year — at the same time as revealing it has already used one.
The performance upgrades for the German manufacturer’s campaigns in the World Endurance Championship and the IMSA SportsCar next year are focussed on the front suspension, as were those introduced on the 963 prior to its victorious start to the 2024 season at the Daytona 24 Hours in January.
Porsche had previously not confirmed that it had taken one of the five jokers allowed to each manufacturer over the initial five-year lifecycle for an LMDh.
Urs Kuratle, head of the LMDh programme at Porsche Motorsport, explained that the updates planned for next year represent a bigger change than those introduced for 2024.
“It is another step because we didn’t know what we wanted to do at that time — it is a further evolution,” he said.
“From this year to next year there will be some [changes to] mounting points and some hardware; there are more parts involved.
“We need more adjustability in the car, a wider range, more buttons for the engineers to press.”
Urs Kuratle, Head Porsche LMDh
Photo by: Porsche
The changes for 2024 were more subtle, according to Kuratle. He had previously talked about updates to sensors without revealing that they constituted a joker.
Kuratle has now confirmed that Porsche had to take a joker for the changes that included an upgrade of the front brake pressure sensors.
Porsche has yet to get written confirmation from the FIA and the Automobile Club de l’Ouest, which jointly run the WEC and IMSA, to push on with the latest development, Kuratle said.
Should that be forthcoming, the new parts will be on its factory Porsche Penske Motorsport cars and the customer JDC-Miller MotorSports IMSA entry at the US governing body’s official sanction test at Daytona on 15-17 November.
The rule makers do not disclose which manufacturers have been granted a joker nor communicate that information with the other manufacturers.
A change in this policy is understood to have been discussed in the relevant technical working group during the summer.
It is believed that Porsche is the only manufacturer of an LMDh to have played a joker so far.
A major upgrade of the 963’s twin-turbo V8 engine in the pipeline was planned for introduction over the course of this season, but was shelved after its cars, both customer and privateer, successfully came through the Le Mans 24 Hours in June.
Toyota, Peugeot and Ferrari have all undertaken upgrades of their Le Mans Hypercars since their respective introductions in 2021, ’22 and ’23.
There has been no confirmation from Toyota and Peugeot on how many they have used, but it is understood that Ferrari has only invoked one.
This was centred on rear brake cooling and came on stream for this year’s Interlagos WEC round in July.