Team Penske Bails on LMP2 After Le Mans

Penske switches gears, ending it’s LMP2 racing for the season after Le Mans, to focus on the Porsche LMDh program.

Team Penske’s plans to contest all FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) stops on the 2022 calendar, racing in the LMP2 category have changed. The team announced that this year’s 24 Heures du Mans, the Le Mans 24-hour race, will be its final 2022 LMP2 engagement on this worldwide tour.

The rationale is to place all the team’s energies on its entry into next year’s WEC and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with the team’s Porsche Penske Motorsport LMDh (GTP) program. Team Penske intends to race in both series next year and has developed an intensive testing program in both the United States and in Europe. The intent, by testing at such a feverish pace, is to ensure Team Penske’s four-car effort is ready and fully prepared to compete at the season opener, the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January of 2023.

Two of the Porsche Penske Motorsport LMDh prototypes will compete in the IMSA series while two are dedicated to WEC, with crossover when possible. In the first two races of the 2022 WEC LMP2 season, Team Penske’s WEC program, with drivers Dane Cameron, Felipe Nasr and Emmanuel Collard secured an eighth-in-class result at the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring and fourth-in-class finish at Spa-Francorchamps.

“We are very appreciative of our time in WEC this year, and we have been able to make the most of our time on track this season,” said Tim Cindric, Team Penske president. “As an organization, we didn’t have a lot of experience within WEC, so running the races in 2022 has allowed us to learn the tracks, the rules and understand how a race weekend operates.

“We were able to gather a lot of feedback and information over the first two races,” Cindric acknowledged, “and we expect to learn even more at Le Mans. Fortunately, our LMDh program is progressing quickly, so we need to focus that to ensure we are prepared to start the 2023 season.” Team Penske competes in its final LMP2 race of the 2022 FIA WEC season at The Sarthe circuit in France during the June 8-12 24 Hours of Le Mans.