Porsche and Team Penske’s year-long anniversary celebrations continue this weekend at Road America, where in Sunday’s six-hour IMSA endurance race, Porsche Penske Motorsport will pay tribute to its shared history with two special liveries for its two factory Porsche 963s.
Though original sponsors Sunoco and DHL have been omitted, fans will immediately recognise the blue and yellow livery on the #6 Penske Porsche 963, and the yellow and red-accented #7 Penske Porsche. They follow up on the 1998 Mobil 1 throwback cars that raced at Sebring, and the 1980s Apple Computers retro liveries from Laguna Seca.
Road America has been the site of some significant history for both Porsche and Penske. The #6 car driven by Kévin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor pays homage to American racing legend Mark Donohue and the infamous 1973 Porsche 917/30, the mightiest car in the history of the Canadian-American Challenge Cup (Can-Am).
In the buildup to the 1973 Road America Can-Am race, Donohue set a lap of 1:57.51 to not only take the pole position, but to become the first driver ever to set a lap time under two minutes around the 6.4-kilometre Road America circuit.
Donohue then went on to dominate the race, taking the win – and eventually the series championship – behind the wheel of the iconic Sunoco Penske Porsche 917/30.
Meanwhile, the #7 Porsche of Felipe Nasr and Julien Andlauer will sport the familiar colours worn by the the factory Porsche RS Spyder LMP2s of the mid to late-2000s.
The first Penske Racing Porsche RS Spyder made its debut in the last round of the 2005 American Le Mans Series, and the factory team would race in ALMS through 2008.
Having already claimed a comprehensive victory in the 2006 ALMS LMP2 Championship, in 2007, the DHL Penske Porsche RS Spyder of Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhard captured overall victory in an American Le Mans Series race, defeating the factory Audi Sport North America R10 TDIs in LMP1 to do so.
That same combination of Dumas and Bernhard would go on to win the four-hour endurance race at Road America later that year en route to the LMP2 Championship. By the end of the Penske Porsche RS Spyder programme’s run in 2008, the team secured three consecutive sets of manufacturers’, teams’, and drivers’ championships.
“Road America has been the scene of special successes in the shared history of Porsche and Penske,” said Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President of Porsche Motorsport.
“In 1973, the Porsche 917/30 dominated the scene. During qualifying, Mark Donohue became the first driver on this track to break the two-minute lap time barrier. Starting in 2006, the RS Spyder marked Porsche’s return to prototype racing across several championships.
“I personally remember the success of 2007: I was there when Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas drove to overall victory against the nominally more powerful LMP1 race cars.”
“Sports car competition has been the foundation of Team Penske since the very beginning,” added Roger Penske, the Founder and Chairman of Penske Corporation. “As we continue to celebrate our team’s 60 years in motorsports alongside 75 years of Porsche Motorsport in 2026, we are excited to honour the heritage and legacy of both organisations. These two iconic car liveries pay tribute to championship-winning eras, legendary cars and the people who helped build our success.
“Team Penske’s partnership with Porsche is one of the most successful and enduring relationships in racing, and we are proud to celebrate our winning tradition together.”
Images © Porsche
