There were two more special liveries to be revealed for this week’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, from Porsche Penske Motorsport.
Teased yesterday by Porsche, the team revealed this morning its two factory Porsche 963s in a special retro-inspired design, celebrating 30 years of collaboration between Porsche and Mobil 1 – a partnership that began with Mobil 1’s title sponsorship of the Porsche 911 GT1.
An icon of the early years of GT1 racing, the 911 GT1 made its racing debut 30 years ago in the 1996 24 Hours of Le Mans. From then until 1998, Mobil 1 was the primary sponsor of the Porsche AG works team during its time at Le Mans, in the BPR Global GT Series and FIA GT Championship. The blue and red accents on both the #6 and #7 Penske Porsche 963s are inspired by the 1996 Le Mans livery (below).
In its ultimate form, the factory #26 Porsche 911 GT1-98 of Allan McNish, Stéphane Ortelli, and Laurent Aïello won the 24 Hours of Le Mans, outlasting formidable competition from Mercedes-Benz and Toyota.
Even after the end of the factory 911 GT1 programme, Mobil 1 would continue to work with Porsche as a lubricant supplier for future generations of prototype sports cars like the RS Spyder, 919 Hybrid, and the 963; their collaboration also extends to Porsche’s factory Formula E World Championship team, and title sponsorship of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup one-make series.
“The close and highly trusted partnership between Porsche and Mobil 1 has produced countless unforgettable moments and lasting innovations,” said Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President of Porsche Motorsport. “We have always used competition on race tracks around the world to test technologies and push boundaries. Mobil 1 has accompanied us on this journey for 30 years as the ideal partner. This year’s Sebring race and the special livery place this partnership in the spotlight. The anniversary also fits perfectly into our celebrations marking 75 years of Porsche Motorsport.”
Both cars will carry special decals celebrating both the 30th anniversary of the Porsche/Mobil 1 collaboration, and the ongoing 75th anniversary of Porsche Motorsport – an anniversary that began with victory at the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
“Even with the current Porsche 963, we benefit in many areas from Mobil 1’s innovations and expertise,” said Urs Kuratle, the director of factory motorsport LMDh. “In the tightly contested IMSA series, the smallest details make the difference – and recently we have consistently been at the front. The championship titles in the past two years and another victory at the 24 Hours of Daytona in January underline this. Together with all our partners, we want to keep winning in this anniversary year.”
Kévin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor, and Matt Campbell will drive the #6 Penske Porsche with its blue windshield banner and rear deck lid accents, while Daytona winners Felipe Nasr, Julien Andlauer, and Laurin Heinrich will drive the red-accented #7 Penske Porsche.
Porsche will look to celebrate the anniversaries with a record-extending 20th overall win at Sebring, as Team Penske pushes to add another major victory to its 60th anniversary season.
Last year, the #7 Penske Porsche 963 of Nasr, Nick Tandy, and Laurens Vanthoor led a 1-2 overall and GTP class finish, continuing a winning streak for Porsche Penske Motorsport that extended through the sprint races at Long Beach and Laguna Seca.
Images courtesy of Porsche & John Brooks
