Monaco Increase Management’s Formula E World Champion Pascal Wehrlein is embarking upon a fascinating new stage of his successful racing career this weekend in the 63rd edition of the 24 Hours of Daytona, the iconic endurance race taking place at the Daytona International Speedway in Florida.

Porsche factory driver Wehrlein, who is currently in the middle of defending his Formula E title after two rounds of the all-electric series, has teamed up with the Minnesota-based US racing squad JDC-Miller Motorsports for his endurance racing debut in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, one of the toughest and most prestigious sportscar races in the world.

After F3, DTM touring cars (a title he won in 2015), two years in Formula 1 with Manor and Sauber, five seasons as factory Porsche driver in Formula E, the 30-year-old German is now dovetailing the electric championship with the occasional sportscar race.

This weekend he will be at the wheel of the #85 Porsche 963 LMDh in the IMSA GTP category, a car he has piloted once before as official Porsche driver, during a collective development test at Sebring in 2022. His teammates in this new adventure will be the experienced Italian GT and endurance racing ‘veteran’ Gianmaria Bruni, Dutchman Tijmen van der Helm and American Bryce Aron.

Wehrlein, who drove the car, affectionately nicknamed ‘Yellow Submarine’, for the first time in December and also put in more useful mileage in last weekend’s pre-race ‘ROAR before the 24’ test session, will start from fifth place on the grid for Saturday’s race after designated driver Bruni lapped in today’s 15-minute Qualifying with a time of 1m34.374s.

With the starting-grid now locked in, Pascal will have three more Free Practice sessions to familiarize himself with the #85 Porsche 963 before the race gets underway at 1.40 pm (Eastern Time) / 19.40 (CET) on Saturday 25 January.

Photos: Courtesy of Porsche