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Last week, we wrote that Le Mans 2025 could be a make-or-break moment for the Porsche 963.
After a string of underwhelming results in the FIA World Endurance Championship this year, alongside dominant IMSA performances, the WEC programme had to come good at some point in 2025.
The story, ultimately, ended with Ferrari extending its dominance at La Sarthe, this time under the customer AF Corse banner. But while the Prancing Horse took home the Rolexes, Porsche left with something far more valuable: a result to buck their season up.
The #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport entry didn’t win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but it did something just as important. It stood toe-to-toe with the class of the WEC field, out-strategized one of the most dominant teams in the sport, and gave us a final stint that reminded everyone why this brand has 19 overall Le Mans victories to its name.
'Pioneering spirit, courage and sportsmanship are part of Porsche's self-conception. That's why we never gave up and fought with determination right to the end. We did a lot of things right in the final phase. That made it very exciting once again,' said Thomas Laudenbach, Porsche's motorsport vice president.
'We got the absolute maximum out of our number 6 Porsche and certainly have nothing to hide. During the night nobody would have expected us to finish on the podium. We can be very proud of that. Of course, we also look back on the result with a teary eye: in the end, we were just 14 seconds short of overall victory.'
Let’s rewind. In the early hours of the race, it was the #5 Porsche that made the early headlines. Julien Andlauer drove with fire—fearless and opportunistic—and made short work of the sluggish JOTA Cadillacs on the straights to take the lead. Porsche needed a tone-setter, and Andlauer delivered. That car led the opening two hours before handing over to Mathieu Jaminet.
'A fantastic week!' Andlauer said following the 24 Hour of Le Mans.
'Working with the entire team across all three cars was a lot of fun. Our start to the race was good and the pace of the Porsche 963 was really strong. Then we picked up a puncture and a few penalties – that threw us out of the leading group.
'We fought on like lions, but I've never experienced such close competition at Le Mans. The pace was unbelievably high and it was incredibly exciting. Unfortunately, if you have to suffer a setback, you're out of the race. We'll be back on the attack next year!'
It was Estre's opening stint, though, that set Porsche's tone for the race. The Frenchman went from last of the Hypercars at the start to fifth after the first round of pitstops.
'What a race for us,' he told gathered media and journalists in the post-race press conference.
'We we tried to push them all the way. We saw from hour two or three that we didn't have the pace, but we never gave up.
'We did no mistakes and and the car ran well without any issue, no penalty, nothing. So, we can be proud of what we achieved today, but obviously, it's not what we wanted.
Phil Oakley
'We came here to to win. For us, for Penske, for Porsche. And we couldn't get it. Twice in a row. Now it feels a bit bitter. We finished fourth last year. This year was a bit closer, but still, still so far.
'So yeah, that's the way it is. Proud of what to achieve as a team. But definitely quite a lot of frustration and disappointment,' he finished, before repeating in French.
But as the race settled and the rhythm of Le Mans began to take shape, Jaminet couldn’t hold the same pace. A puncture and penalties didn't help their case either.
That shift moved the spotlight to the #6 car—and Laurens Vanthoor didn’t miss the moment. Through the night, Vanthoor's consistency and the car’s long-run pace kept them in the conversation as other entries faltered, spun, or faded out of contention.
'Tomorrow we will look at the result and think that we have achieved more than we could have expected after the practice sessions and qualifying,' said Vanthoor.
'Today, however, the disappointment prevails. We delivered an absolutely perfect race and virtually had one hand on the biggest trophy – you don't often come that close to such a triumph. What a pity!'
By Sunday morning, most of Porsche’s hopes rested on the shoulders of the No. 6 team. The #5 and other Porsche-powered entries had slipped to the fringes of the top ten, never seriously threatening. But the #6 kept digging.
And then came the final stint—the kind that defines a driver’s legacy. Estre, on home turf, found himself in a knife fight with two Ferraris: Antonio Fuoco and Antonio Giovinazzi.
On paper, this wasn’t a battle Porsche was supposed to win. Ferrari had been the class of the Hypercar field not just all race, but all season. Estre was projected to finish fourth, assuming Ferrari executed as expected.
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But racing rarely follows scripts.
An undisclosed issue hampered Giovinazzi’s pace late in the race, opening a window for Estre. Fuoco, in the #50 Ferrari, was still charging hard—the two pitted at the same time, each with equal energy allocation remaining. It was a straight fight: team vs. team, driver vs. driver, second place on the line.
And that’s where Porsche Penske Motorsport executed to perfection.
Estre’s stop was three seconds faster. That’s it. Three seconds. But at Le Mans, three seconds can feel like an eternity. It was the kind of pit stop that championships—and reputations—are built on. Estre emerged ahead of Fuoco and never looked back, bringing the No. 6 Porsche home in second place, just behind the winning Ferrari.
'An absolutely incredible race: it stayed dry throughout, there was almost always a clear run and everyone put the pedal down like crazy,' said Jonathan Diuguid, Managing Director Porsche Penske Motorsport.
'Our three factory cars ran without any technical flaws. We had to take care of car number 6 the least in the pit lane, which is why it achieved the best position within our team. We performed flawlessly, we just lacked a little speed in certain phases of the race. We'll be back even stronger next year.'
It may not have been a win, but it was a definitive statement.
Porsche showed that the 963 can fight—not just circulate. They showed that, under the right conditions, they can match Ferrari blow-for-blow and even beat them when it counts most. More importantly, they avoided the one thing they simply couldn’t afford: irrelevance.
Before Le Mans, we said Porsche needed to walk away from Le Mans with a podium. They did. And they did it with grit, brains, and a little bit of brilliance when it mattered most.
Second place might not satisfy a team with Porsche’s history—but after years of questions, this was the answer they needed to give.
Feature image: Porsche Penske Motorsport
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