The countdown to one of the most famous and prestigious races in world motorsport – the 93rd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans – is already underway for Monaco Increase Management’s Pascal Wehrlein, who started the week leading up to his debut in the French round of the FIA World Endurance Championship with six hours of track running during the traditional Test Day at the Circuit de la Sarthe on Sunday.
It was the first time ever around the 13.626 km circuit for the 2024 FIA Formula E World Champion, who will be sharing driving duties in the #4 Porsche 963 Hypercar for the factory Porsche Penske Motorsport team with IMSA Sportscar championship regulars and current points leaders in the North-American series, Brazilian Felipe Nasr and Britain’s Nick Tandy.
“It’s incredible to finally be here at Le Mans,” declared Pascal. “I have to learn a lot during practice, especially about unique procedures like Slow Zones. I’m still figuring out how to pass traffic efficiently without losing time or taking risks. I want to improve every lap. My co-drivers Felipe Nasr and Nick Tandy are extremely quick and experienced – I’ll learn a lot from them. We’re a great team.”
It’s not all new for the 30-year-old German however, as he has already competed with the Porsche 963, in the last WEC round at Spa-Francorchamps, finishing ninth overall with Penske regulars Kévin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor. In addition, Pascal finished sixth in the other 24-hour classic at Daytona in January with a JDC-Miller Motorsports 963.
Completing a total of 20 laps throughout the day, Pascal took well over 1.5 seconds off his best time as the track – approximately 66% of which is on public roads – cleaned up and improved from the morning to the afternoon, ending with a best time of 3m28.771s, while the Nasr/Tandy/Wehrlein crew were overall sixth quickest out of the 21-strong Hypercar field.
MIM CEO Salvatore Gandolfo added: “A big thanks to Porsche and to Porsche Penske Motorsport for giving the Formula E World Champion Pascal Wehrlein this fantastic opportunity to take part in one of the greatest motorsport races in the world. So I’d like to wish all the best to Pascal, his whole team and all his Porsche teammates for the race this weekend.”
Track action resumes on Wednesday with Free Practice 1 at 14:00 CET and FP2 at 22:00, split by Hypercar Qualifying at 19:30. Thursday sees two more FP sessions at 14:45 and 23:00, while the crucial Hyperpole valid for the starting grid gets underway at 21:05.
Photos: Courtesy of Porsche
