The LMDh cars

On the LMDh testing trail with Porsche

If all goes well, as you read this, a Porsche 963 is circulating Sebring International Raceway for 36 hours, or until it breaks.

Porsche and Penske Motorsports are testing the new LMDh car (pictured at Daytona last month) destined for IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s new GTP class and the World Endurance Championship Hypercar class in its biggest endurance test yet after having accumulated more than 16,000km of testing so far.

“That will be a crucial test for us, because all these all these updates, all these new things are in the car now,” stated Urs Kuratle, Porsche’s director of Factory Racing, LMDh. “And there, we really can see the truth of how far we are at the moment. I’m confident for the test. And we solved a lot of problems, and hopefully we don’t find some new ones.”

Porsche was not present with the other three manufacturers at the IMSA-sanctioned test at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta after Petit Le Mans two weeks ago, choosing instead to focus on this test. But it has been on track with some of the other manufacturers, testing at the same time, and sharing information.

Porsche was the first of the four LMDh manufacturers headed to the grid in 2023 – along with Acura, BMW and Cadillac – to get its car on track. But it was also the one finding many of the issues with the spec hybrid system and working out the bugs with it. As such, Kuratle doesn’t really feel that Porsche has a head start.

“We were testing all the hybrid stuff for all of us. That cost a lot of money, effort and time as well. So do we know much more than the others? Actually not because we had early development phase parts in the car. And this is where we put some laps in and what really will make a difference if you have the race-spec parts available earlier than the others, which is not the case.

“But we are in a close relationship or partnership with all the other OEMs when it comes to standard parts or off-track activities,” Kuratle explained.

Noting the complexity of the cars, Kuratle said he doesn’t begrudge that early testing that benefitted all the LMDh manufacturers, especially since it’s working in all directions.

“If you are testing and if there’s an incident at one OEM, that will be transferred to IMSA and ACO and the hybrid partners like Bosch, Williams and Xtrac. And there are weekly meetings between the OEMs and we discuss those problems and put our heads together and all the engineering power we have,” he said, echoing the position expressed by the other manufacturers trying to get their cars on the grid for Daytona in January and have them running 24 hours later.

Porsche has previous experience with hybrid racecars, having raced and won with the Porsche 919 Hybrid in LMP1 in WEC and at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. But those cars were even more complex and had proprietary hybrid systems instead of spec, common hybrid systems like the LMDh cars have. That is necessary, he says, especially for cars that will be customer cars. Kuratle noted that it’s important that an army of engineers isn’t required to manage the system.

And Porsche is the first manufacturer to commit to providing customer racecars, with JDC-Miller Motorsports in IMSA and JOTA in WEC confirmed as customer programs, possibly joined by Proton in both series. However, as the Roar Before the 24 looms near in less than three months time, it appears increasingly unlikely that JDC-Miller will have their 963 in hand for the start of the WeatherTech Championship season.

“We cannot say a date yet because of the supply chains, and I’m not talking about the standard parts only, but complete supply chains are really difficult situations,” Kuratle said. “That doesn’t even apply only to motor racing, that’s a global thing. We really struggle to produce the cars, all of them, also the works cars. Unfortunately we can’t give the teams that date yet. They don’t like it, which is totally understandable.

But there’s a close and very open dialogue with the customer teams. They do understand our situation, we do understand their situations, we have to make the best of it. I think it’s a big commitment from Porsche to have customer cars in the first year, and we will definitely stick to that.”

IMSA is neck-deep in the homologation process and wind tunnel testing for all the manufacturers at the moment. That process needs to be completed as soon as possible so the teams can be sure they’re testing the parts that will be on the cars come Daytona.

IMSA’s next sanctioned test is at Daytona in December, and all the manufacturers will be required to participate at that two-day test

racer.com/2022/10/18/on-the-lmdh-testing-trail-with-porsche/?utm_source=RACER+%2F%2F+Newsletter&utm_campaign=5024b2122b-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2022_10_18_07_50&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_76623d07b6-5024b2122b-274287873

Well since nobody posted anything yet about the Ferrari 499P:

Ferrari introduces its 499P Hypercar

and

Ferrari 499P Le Mans Hypercar Revealed

Their Photo Gallery is pretty cool.

so somebody help me out here. The Ferrari is a LMH. The Porsche is a LMDH. A bit different. Are they gonna run in the same class? Or are gonna give the slower of the two, prolly the LMDH, a BOP?

Here's the Master Plan for Lamborghini's Ambitious Hypercar and GTP Programs
Former Ferrari GT customer team will run Lamborghini GT cars in 2023, then a new Lamborghini LMDh car in both IMSA and the World Endurance Championship in 2024.


www.autoweek.com/racing/more-racing/a41902972/master-plan-lamborghinis-ambitious-2024-hypercar-gtp-programs/?source=nl&utm_source=nl_aut&utm_medium=email&date=110922&utm_campaign=nl29646325&user_email=446b6c56ba58017468fe5f5a5e2844e072ecd98adc2adbfa9554f2bb161bb9a4&utm_term=AAA%20--%20High%20Minus%20Dormant%20and%2090%20Day%20Non%20Openers

Here's an article I found about the difference between the two:

www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a41336157/spotters-guide-for-the-future-of-prototype-racing/#:~:text=Unlike%20in%20LMDh%2C%20which%20relies,requirement%20for%20a%20hybrid%20system.

So, yes, they will be competing against each other.

Cadillac says its new hybrid race car is almost ready for 24 Hours of Daytona
The V-LMDh has passed key testing and development goals ahead of its competitive debut.



Cadillac Racing says its first hybrid race car is almost ready for the 24 Hours of Daytona event in January after passing critical testing and development milestones. Since July, the V-LMDh has gone through nearly 12,000 miles (19,000 km) of on-track testing, including a 24-hour test at Sebring International Raceway.

Cadillac collected data on nighttime operation and durability on the bumpy 3.7-mile circuit. Program manager Laura Wontrop Klauser claimed Sebring was the perfect testing ground for the V-LMDh ahead of its competitive debut at Daytona. “To complete that endurance test was extra motivation for our team and provided a sense of accomplishment,” Klauser said in a statement. “We still have a lot to do in a short time, but we are at the point where we are fine-tuning many things.”

The car is also slated to take part in the 24-hour race at Le Mans in June. Cadillac plans to run it in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the FIA World Endurance Championship. A final test will take place next week at Daytona as part of mandatory evaluations for all manufacturers intending to take part in the IMSA’s new Grand Touring Prototype class. Cadillac Racing will reveal the final competition version of the three V-LMDh race cars, including liveries (and hopefully a new name), in mid-January.

Cadillac Racing says its first hybrid race car is almost ready for the 24 Hours of Daytona event in January after passing critical testing and development milestones. Since July, the V-LMDh has gone through nearly 12,000 miles (19,000 km) of on-track testing, including a 24-hour test at Sebring International Raceway.

Cadillac collected data on nighttime operation and durability on the bumpy 3.7-mile circuit. Program manager Laura Wontrop Klauser claimed Sebring was the perfect testing ground for the V-LMDh ahead of its competitive debut at Daytona. “To complete that endurance test was extra motivation for our team and provided a sense of accomplishment,” Klauser said in a statement. “We still have a lot to do in a short time, but we are at the point where we are fine-tuning many things.”


www.engadget.com/cadillac-racing-electric-car-24-hours-daytona-competition-210402542.html?fbclid=IwAR3YoN0j-oQ6OlHFOjQXuki6WTAuppjo8qiypFEieo4sFFVWRyTUQvc3f74

BMW: Porsche gained no advantage in IMSA hybrid development tests
BMW’s LMDh project leader Maurizio Leschiutta believes that GTP rivals Porsche did not gain any advantage by its development program with IMSA’s common hybrid system ahead of the 2023 season.

Porsche – along with race team partners Penske and Multimatic – dovetailed its 963’s development program with being the “guinea pig”, according to its project manager Urs Kuratle, for IMSA’s hybrid system.

That program ran throughout this year, at a wide variety of racetracks across Europe and America. The Bosch-supplied motor generator unit is known to have caused major issues during early testing, which powers both the Williams Advanced Engineering battery and the car itself via an Xtrac gearbox.

Leschiutta insists he was “happy” with the testing scenario – even though it was carried out by one its biggest rivals in the automotive market – as it meant his project didn’t have to encounter and overcome these stumbling blocks, so it didn’t impact his compressed timelines with its M Hybrid V8 challenger.

www.motorsport.com/imsa/news/bmw-porsche-imsa-hybrid-development-tests/10415421/?fbclid=IwAR2VIViayd1eJOVWxtFnB6S96F0PP5lS6WYqXLLmdm4zpiqs4cr85ZIn6AA