The debut of the Porsche 963 Le Mans prototype at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Porsche has not competed in Le Mans since 2017, but on Friday Porsche unveiled a car that marks the brand's return to the big road race: the Porsche 963.

The 963 prototype racing car was unveiled for the first time at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in England, where the 963 will compete in the LMDh (hypercar) class of the FIA World Endurance Championship as well as the new GTP class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship It will compete in.

The hybrid powertrain begins with a twin-turbocharged 4.6-liter V-8 based on the engine of the hypercar 918 Spyder. According to Porsche, the engine's DNA can be traced back to the RS Spyder race car it campaigned from 2005 to 2008. It features hybrid components from Bosch, Williams Advanced Engineering, and Extrac, and delivers a maximum output of 680 hp.

To comply with LMDh regulations, the car is based on the current WEC LMP2 class chassis. The chassis was developed by Multimatic, a Canadian company that manufactures Ford GT supercars.

The design of the car was influenced by the 956 and 962 racers of the 1980s, but also features a continuous lighting strip at the rear like the current 911.

Porsche Penske Motorsports will build four cars to compete as factory racers. The factory cars will adopt the white, red, and black paint scheme of current Porsche racing cars. Factory works drivers and experienced sports car drivers will team up to pilot the cars in the WEC and IMSA series. The drivers will consist of Dane Cameron, Michael Kristensen, Kevin Estre, Mathieu Jaminet, Andre Lotterer, Felipe Nasr, and Laurens Vansoor. Additional drivers will be added for endurance events including Le Mans, Sebring, Daytona, and Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.

The 963 has been tested for 4,900 miles, including at the Porsche Motorsport headquarters in Weissach, Germany. However, Thomas Raudenbach, vice president of Porsche Motorsport, said more work is needed. Porsche Penske Motorsport plans to make its circuit debut at the WEC season finale in Bahrain in November, where the 963 will be tested in a non-competitive class. According to Porsche, the car is expected to be homologated by this fall.

The official first race will be next January at the Daytona 24 Hours in IMSA's GTP class.

The 2022 Goodwood Festival of Speed will take place June 23-26. For more information, see the dedicated hub.