Pascal Wehrlein will join Felipe Nasr and Nick Tandy for Le Mans this year in the third Porsche, the #4 car — and he could help the two complete an endurance racing first.
Porsche's reigning Formula E champion raced the JDC Miller Motorsports customer Porsche at Daytona and impressed with his pace. He's now been 'promoted' to a factory seat for Le Mans, as well as continuing his Formula E campaign.
Wehrlein's 'dream come true'
This year, then, will mark Wehrlein's Le Mans debut, in a Porsche. What could be better?
'Competing for Porsche Penske Motorsport at Le Mans is a dream come true for me,' said the Formula E world champion.
'I'm looking forward to this major challenge because, unlike in Formula E, I have to share everything in the Porsche 963 that I would normally tailor specifically to myself: seating position, setup, strategy, and more.'
'Of course, I want to add major titles in other series to my Formula E World Championship victory, but my primary goal is to do a strong job for the team and learn as much as possible. Porsche has such an iconic motorsport heritage; I am extremely grateful for this opportunity.'
First ever single year triple crown winners?
Looking at the wider implications of this, it seals in the ability for three drivers to achieve a historic first.
Tandy and Nasr won at Daytona and Sebring, alongside Laurens Vanthoor, the biggest two races in the IMSA Sportscar Championship calendar.
All three now have a unique opportunity to win Le Mans in the same year — something that's never been achieved before. Ken Miles came close in 1966 but lost Le Mans by 20 metres, due to Ford's oversight of the rules (or political meddling — whichever version of the story you choose to believe).
However, all three of them cannot achieve this historic first. Whereas Tandy and Nasr are full-time IMSA drivers and only race in the FIA World Endurance Championship each year at Le Mans, L. Vanthoor is a full-time WEC driver, and only competes in the longer Endurance Cup events at Daytona, Sebring, and Petit Le Mans.
The Belgian will continue with Kevin Estre and Mathieu Jaminet in the full-time #6 car at Le Mans, which means he'll be against Tandy and Nasr to achieve this historic first.
It's hard to say who has the 'better' opportunity to do this, out of Tandy/Nasr and L. Vanthoor. The latter has an upper hand in that he's a full-time WEC driver for Porsche Penske, so is familiar with the series and team that runs the car in Europe.
But, Tandy and Nasr are hugely competent drivers — wins and championships that outnumber the vast majority of their competitors — so getting up to speed won't be hard for them in June.
And, they'll have a former F1 driver and FIA world champion in the car during the race. On the other hand, L. Vanthoor will have Kevin Estre and Mathieu Jaminet, again two hugely competent race drivers.
It's a toss up, and will be a fascinating battle to watch.
Da Costa in LMP2
The other piece of news here is that António Félix da Costa will return to LMP2 for his seventh assault on Le Mans. He missed 2024 – the first Le Mans he's missed since 2018 — due to Porsche wanting him to focus on Formula E.
It's not yet clear what team he'll be racing for — Porsche say he'll race an Oreca prototype but given the French manufacturer's dominance in LMP2, this doesn't give much away.
'I am very happy to be back at Le Mans after one year absence,' said the 33-year-old.
'In my last LMP2 appearance, I won the class. That’s my goal again this year. I can’t wait to attack alongside my teammates in June.'
Wehrlein 'convinced' Porsche
Meanwhile, Porsche's motorsport chief says Wehrlein has convinced them of his speed and ability, enough for them to give him a chance in a factory car at the biggest race of Porsche's year.
'The Porsche driver roster is absolutely top-tier and incredibly deep. It only makes sense to leverage our strong personnel from the Formula E factory team for the third Porsche Penske Motorsport entry at Le Mans," said Thomas Laudenbach, Porsche's motorsport vice president.
"Pascal Wehrlein has fully convinced us with his performance in testing and his participation in the 24 Hours of Daytona. As the reigning Formula E World Champion, he has earned his Le Mans debut at the wheel of a Porsche 963.
'António Félix da Costa, making his seventh start in France, will undoubtedly be among the fastest LMP2 drivers once again.'
Feature image: Porsche
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