The LMP2 category of the WEC has welcomed teams of many carats in the last two years. With the idea of preparing for the future and an eventual jump to the hypercar category with an LMH or LMDh prototype, structures such as Team WRT, Team Penske or Prema Powerteam have landed in the silver class of the World Endurance Championship. Nevertheless, the landing of Team Penske in LMP2 had an expiration datesince it is the only team of the three mentioned that is already part of an LMDh program.
In fact, Team Penske has announced that the team will withdraw from LMP2 competition after the 24 Hours of Le Mansthus giving priority to the preparation of the LMDh program that it has together with Porsche and that will lead Team Penske to manage the prototypes of the German firm both in the hypercar class of the WEC and in the GTP category of the IMSA from 2023. After doing various tests with the Porsche LMDh in recent months, Team Penske wants to intensify tests with the new prototype, both in Europe and in the United States.
Team Penske wants to leave nothing to chance and this testing program collides head-on with the theoretical logistical, human and economic effort that would be involved in playing the last three rounds of the WEC in Monza, Fuji and Bahrain. For this reason, Penske has chosen to leave its LMP2 program behind to ensure the best possible preparation for Porsche’s LMDh program, not least because there is the option to have the four prototypes that will be present in the WEC and IMSA on the grid of the 24 Hours of Daytona in January 2023.
Tim Cindricpresident of Team Penske, has been in charge of announcing the end of the team’s LMP2 project after the 24 Hours of Le Mans: «We greatly appreciate our time and all the experience gained at the WEC this year., since we have been able to take advantage of every minute on the track this season. As an organization we did not have much experience within the WEC, so doing the first races of 2022 has allowed us learn the tracks and understand how a race weekend works in a setting as demanding as the World Championship».
Along these lines, the head of Team Penske added: «I think we have been able to add and collect a lot of data and information in the first two races of the season. Everyone in the team is looking forward to learning even more at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Beyond this, our LMDh program is progressing well so we need to focus on that to make sure we are prepared for the start of the 2023 season.”
Photos: Team Penske