Porsche’s New LMDh Prototype, Put Through Its Paces On The Circuit De Catalunya

Lapping with flying colours, the new LMDh prototype from Porsche Penske Motorsport has secured its first test on an international stage.

Porsche Motorsport’s vice president, Thomas Laudenbach, expressed, “The successful tests in Barcelona were an enormously important step. During our first laps on our test track in Weissach, it was critical to ensure that the basic functions of the LMDh prototype worked. In Spain, we saw the entire scope of development, the endurance runs, setup work and, very importantly, the optimisation of the interaction between all partners involved in this project. I found it very impressive how quickly the employees from Porsche, Penske, Michelin, Multimatic and others came together as a unit.”

Trialled on the Circuit de Catalunya close to the Spanish metropolis of Barcelona, the prototype covered more than 2,000 km.

“We completed the first tests on a ‘real’ racetrack and managed to more than double the previous mileage of the new Porsche LMDh to over 2,000 km. This shows that we used the time after the planned but cancelled tests very well for this intensive preparation. Including our partners, more than 70 people were at the track. From an organisation viewpoint, that was another challenge. We’ve made major progress not only with the car but with the operational cooperation and processes within Porsche Penske Motorsport. But we still have a long way to go before we’re where we want to be,” remarked Porsche Factory Motorsport LMDh’s director, Urs Kuratle.

Mainly, the focus of the trials was to set up the systems, develop the tyres and optimise the interaction between the V8 Turbo engine and the hybrid elements as prescribed by the regulations. 

“We made great progress from day to day during these tests. The feedback from the drivers, the engineers and the team were consistently positive. We’re the first to put an LMDh vehicle through its paces in test mode. This gives us the chance to systematically sort out every aspect over the coming weeks and months, and to take on the competition in 2023 with the best possible preparation,” said Porsche Penske Motorsport’s managing director, Jonathan Diuguid.

The new Porsche works drivers Felipe Nasr (Brazil) and Dane Cameron (USA) were among those who drove the 500 kW (680 PS/671 hp) prototype, over several days of testing.

“I climbed into the LMDh car for the first time a while ago in Weissach. That was primarily about functional tests. The progress that’s been made up to our first laps at Barcelona is impressive. During the test days, we made consistent progress. Each day we managed to cover more mileage and the performance improved noticeably. Of course, at this early development stage, it’s not about pushing to the very limit. On the contrary, our approach is very conservative. Based on this, my impression is extremely positive, because there is still an incredible amount of potential to further improve our new car,” commented Porsche works driver, Dane Cameron.

Currently, on different racetracks in Europe and North America, Porsche is avidly continuing its development programme with the new LMDh prototype.

That said, the car will be homologated in autumn, followed by the first race outing in January 2023 at the 24 Hours of Daytona.