In honour of its 75th anniversary and the 100 years of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Porsche unveiled three 963s sporting wild liveries with 15 stripes in seven different colours that extend from the front of the vehicles and flare out towards the back. Fins on the engine cover of the three Le Mans racers are coloured black for the No. 5 vehicle, white for the No. 6, and red for the No. 75 racer. On the eve of the Le Mans dress rehearsal in Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium for the FIA World Endurance Championship WEC, Porsche debuted the unique foil cover. The 963 LMDh participates in the top Hyperclass racing in the World Endurance Championship, which features the Le Mans race as its showcase event. Cadillac will also be represented at Le Mans this year by sending three V-Series.R LMDh race cars. With the 499P LMH, Ferrari will also be returning to the elite class of the Endurance Championship.
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Porsche 963 Special Livery Explained
The designers chose the hue orange for the outside. This is a tribute to the renowned Gulf design of the Porsche 917 from the 1970s. The pink stripe pays homage to the "pig" - the legendary Porsche 917 from 1971. This paint scheme was revived in 2018 on the Porsche 911 RSR, which went on to win the GTE-Pro class at Le Mans. The green and light blue 917 from 1970, affectionately known as the "Hippie," is also included, as is the classic Martini design, which was painted on the Porsche 936, among others, during its outright Le Mans triumph in 1977. The dark blue pays homage to the Rothmans' paintwork on the Porsche 956 from 1982 and 1983, while the bright red honours the Salzburg-Porsche 917, Stuttgart's first overall victory since 1970. The pattern is completed with a yellow stripe in the centre. It pays homage to the Porsche RS Spyder, with which the Penske team won the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) championship pool in the LMP2 class from 2006 to 2008.
Porsche 963: Engine
While there is some freedom in selecting the combustion engine, the laws are clear that the hybrid components and gearbox must be standard and cost-effective components.
A twin-turbo 4.6-litre V8 engine generates 680bhp at 10,000rpm and is found in the 963. Under braking, the electrical hybrid system recharges a battery by collecting kinetic energy from the back wheels. This stored energy is then released as additional thrust via the seven-speed automatic transmission. This means that the driver has access to a vast array of the vehicle's settings and controls without ever taking their hands off the wheel.
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