Photo: Julien Delfosse/DPPI
Porsche Penske Motorsport has revealed a revamped lineup for its factory GTP effort in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, with Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor set to continue as a driver pairing aboard the No. 6 Porsche 963.
Estre and Vanthoor will form the full season duo aboard the entry, moving across from the now-discontinued FIA World Endurance Championship program.
The former’s inclusion in Porsche Penske’s GTP lineup comes after increasing speculation linking him to the vacant seat in Alpine’s WEC Hypercar effort, which is available afterMick Schumacher left the brand to move to the NTT IndyCar Series with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.
It will be the Frenchman’s first full season in the WeatherTech Championship, although he nearly contested a season-long campaign with Park Place Motorsports in 2014, only missing three races due to clashing commitments with ART Grand Prix in what was then the Blancpain Endurance Series.
Vanthoor, for his part, returns to full-time competition in the U.S. for the first time since his GTD championship-winning season with Pfaff Motorsports in 2021.
The pairing will he joined will be joined at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring and Motul Petit Le Mans by Matt Campbell, who also served as the third driver alongside Estre and Vanthoor in WEC last year.
The Australian, who won last year’s GTP drivers’ title alongsidenew Genesis Magma Racing signing Mathieu Jaminet, is moved to a third driver role as Porsche Penske carries out a significant reshuffle in the driver lineup of its sole-remaining factory LMDh program.
This has resulted in Julien Andlauer also getting a full season seat aboard the sister No. 7 Porsche, where he will be teaming up with 2024 GTP champion Felipe Nasr as Laurin Heinrich slots in for the long-distance Michelin Endurance Cup rounds.
Nick Tandy, who drove alongside Nasr last season, is expected to transition to a GT-only role with Porsche instead.
Heinrich, meanwhile, joins the lineup after making his Porsche LMDh debut in the recent 8 Hours of Bahrain WEC season finale.
No word has been given if the team will deploy fourth drivers for the Rolex 24, which if confirmed, would most likely be Team Penske NTT IndyCar Series stars Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin, who took part in the recent IMSA-sanctioned test at Daytona International Speedway.
Davey Euwema is Sportscar365's European Editor. Based in The Netherlands, Euwema covers the FIA World Endurance Championship, European Le Mans Series and Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS, among other series.
