Porsche calls for “action outside of our organisation” after disappointing Spa WEC result
One of the WEC’s most prestigious marques makes a thinly-veiled attack on the BoP process.
Porsche has highlighted a “massive need for action outside of our organisation” after another disappointing result for the factory Penske squad in the Spa round of the World Endurance Championship.
The comments from Porsche’s motorsport boss Thomas Laudenbach hint at the German manufacturer’s dissatisfaction with the Balance of Performance adjustments for Saturday’s 6 Hours of Spa, where it managed a best finish of ninth in the Hypercar class.
Despite finishing no higher than eighth in the opening two rounds of the WEC, Porsche received a double BoP blow for the Belgian race, with the minimum weight of the Porsche 963 LMDh increased by two kilograms and the maximum power allowed below 250km/h simultaneously reduced by 9kW.
This was partially compensated by a 2.2 per cent increase in stage-two power above 250km/h.
The changes meant the 963 among the heaviest and the least powerful cars at Spa, with only the LMH machines from Ferrari and Toyota carrying more weight and having less power than the Porsche.
The BoP for the Spa race was determined based on the previous three WEC rounds, counting this year’s Qatar and Imola races as well as last November’s Bahrain finale, where Porsche clinched the drivers’ titles.
‟That was another disappointing result for us and not what we expected,” said Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President of Porsche Motorsport.
‟The team put in another good effort, even if we may not have done everything perfectly. Still, the drivers and the crew fought until the very end, and I want to thank them very much for that.
“Quite simply, we need to acknowledge that the conditions for a better result weren’t there. As always, we will analyse why, especially since the 24 Hours of Le Mans is up next.
“But I think there is also a massive need for action outside of our organisation. The race speaks for itself.”
The #6 Porsche 963 shared by Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor and newcomer Pascal Wehrlen finished in ninth place at Spa-Francorchamps on Saturday, more than a minute off the race-winning #51 Ferrari 499P of Antonio Giovinazzi, James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi.
The other factory Porsche of Julien Andlauer, Michael Christensen and Nico Mueller wound up outside the points in 12th place after Andlauer was spun around at the start by the #38 Jota Cadillac V-Series of Sebastien Bourdais, an incident for which Bourdais was hit with a drive-through penalty.
Earlier in qualifying, neither of the two Porsche 963s made it into Hyperpole, ending up 12th and 13th on the grid with lap times that were 1.4s off the pace.
Heading into June’s Le Mans 24 Hours, Porsche sits a distant sixth in the manufacturers' standings on 14 points, while Ferrari heads the order on 136 points after a clean sweep of victories across Qatar, Imola and Spa.
