Looking ahead: June Porsche motorsport preview

The motorsport calendar reaches its climax in June, with the landmark 24 Hours of Le Mans marking the high point of the season. While the World Endurance Championship heads to the Circuit de la Sarthe, that’s not the only event taking place in June. The IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship holds two rounds: first, on the streets of Detroit, on June 1, before heading to Watkins Glen for the Six Hours on June 23. Formula E will also head stateside for its Portland E-Prix double-header on June 29 and 30. Meanwhile, the Intercontinental GT Challenge gets back underway after almost four months off. Next up is the Nürburgring 24 Hours, from June 1-2, before the Spa 24 Hours rounds off the month on June 29-30. The DTM will head to the Netherlands for its Zandvoort round from June 7-9, as the Esports calendar continues with ESL R1 races at Monza, Hockenheim and Atlanta. Here’s a full preview of all the Porsche motorsport activities taking place in June:

WEC: 24 Hours of Le Mans

With June comes the World Endurance Championship’s blue riband event: The 24 Hours of Le Mans. Taking place from June 15-16, the race at the Circuit de la Sarthe marks the midway point of the 2024 WEC season, and offers double points for the title fight. Porsche Penske Motorsport has already experienced success this season, with victory at the season opener in Qatar, plus four other podium finishes, while Hertz Team JOTA took its first Hypercar win at the 6 Hours of Spa. But the biggest prize of the season is yet to come, with victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans the target. It would mark the 20th overall victory at the event for Porsche. The factory team will field three entries, with the #4 car which usually runs in IMSA joining the #5 and #6 Porsche 963s which compete in the full WEC season. Matt Campbell, Michael Christensen and Frederic Makowiecki will drive the #5 car, while Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer and Laurens Vanthoor are behind the wheel of the #6 entry. Mathieu Jaminet, Felipe Nasr and Nick Tandy complete the line-up in the #4. Reserve driver will be Dane Cameron. Hertz Team JOTA will field two entries this year, its usual full-season WEC line-up, while Proton Competition will also field its usual #99 crew with an additional car on the reserve list. Manthey Racing takes on the LMGT3 field with its two regular entries. Read a full recap of the WEC season so far here, and check out our full Le Mans preview here.

IMSA: Detroit Grand Prix and Six Hours of the Glen

IMSA holds its fifth and sixth rounds of the season in June, starting with the Detroit Grand Prix on June 1. Porsche Penske Motorsport currently leads the teams’ standings, with the #7 car having taken victory at the 24 Hours of Daytona, before continuing its podium streak at Sebring, Long Beach and Laguna Seca. It leads the GTP standings with a 50-point cushion over the #31 Cadillac. The #6 car has also tasted victory, taking its first win of the season at Laguna Seca, while they are fifth in the overall standings. Featuring the GTP and GTD Pro classes, the Detroit Grand Prix will be the championship’s first visit to the new 1.7-mile street circuit in downtown Detroit, though sportscar racing has a long history of competing in the Motor City. Team Penske and Porsche have won previously together in Detroit, capturing the overall American Le Mans Series victory at the 2007 Detroit Grand Prix. Later in the month, from June 26-30, IMSA heads to Watkins Glen for its Six Hours of the Glen - one of the five races which make up the championship’s Endurance Cup. Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy finished last year’s dramatic 6-hour race in the lead, but the #6 Porsche 963 was penalised after a post-race technical inspection. The sister car shared by Felipe Nasr and Matt Campbell took the flag in eighth after technical problems and lengthy repairs. Both cars will be back and gunning for victory at this year’s outing as the championship reaches its halfway mark.

Formula E: Portland E-Prix double-header

Formula E returns to the US for the second Portland E-Prix on June 29 and 30, with the double header marking the 13th and 14th races of the season. Portland’s addition to the calendar in 2023 was the first E-Prix on the US West Coast since the 2015 Long Beach ePrix, and the fourth United States location following Long Beach, NYC, and Miami. With just four races remaining including the two at Portland International Raceway, the championship fight is hotting up. Last time out in Shanghai, António Félix da Costa notched up his second win of the season in race two of the double-header, with Norman Nato completing a Porsche double podium with Andretti. Pascal Wehrlein narrowly missed out on securing his third win of the season in race one. After a long stint in the lead, the winner of Mexico City and Misano crossed the finish line in second. Heading Stateside, Wehrlein sits second in the standings, just 25 points behind leader Nick Cassidy.

IGTC: Nürburgring 24 Hours and Spa 24 Hours

The Intercontinental GT Challenge returns in June, with a bumper two-rounds after having almost four months off. Having kicked off its season with the Bathurst 12 Hours in February, the Nürburgring 24 Hours is first up at the beginning of the month, from May 30 to June 2. The 24-hour event on the 25.378-kilometre combination of a shortened Grand Prix circuit and the Nürburgring Nordschleife is one of the largest endurance races in the world, and this year, the popular event counts towards the SRO Motorsports Group’s Intercontinental GT Challenge (IGTC) for the first time. Porsche has taken 13 wins at the event, with the last coming in 2021 when Matteo Cairoli, Michael Christensen and Kévin Estre took victory with Manthey Racing. With a total of six 911 GT3 R, the five Porsche customer teams in the top SP9 class successfully used the two qualifying races on the second weekend in April to prepare for the 24-hour classic. Falken Motorsports won both qualifying races, with drivers Tim Heinemann and Sven Müller taking victory in the first race before Nico Menzel and Martin Ragginger won the second. Many well-known Porsche drivers will compete in the event, including reigning DTM champion Thomas Preining and Porsche Penske Motorsport drivers Kévin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor. The next IGTC round at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps takes place from June 26-30, with the event marking its centenary this year. Porsche has taken eight wins at the event, with the last coming in 2020 when Earl Bamber, Nick Tandy and Laurens Vanthoor took victory for the Rowe Racing team. In addition to the notable drivers taking part in the Nürburgring 24 Hours, they will be joined at Spa by PPM factory drivers Matt Campbell, Mathieu Jaminet and Frédéric Makowiecki in the SSR / Herberth entry.

DTM: Circuit Zandvoort

The DTM heads to the Netherlands for its third round at Circuit Zandvoort from June 7-9. Thomas Preining kickstarted his title defence with Manthey EMA at the Lausitzring, bouncing back from a tricky opening round at Motorsport Arena Oschersleben to take victory in the second race. He started third for Saturday’s rain-affected race, which was red-flagged twice amid poor conditions, but held on on for a podium finish. Preining then took pole for Sunday’s race, before storming to victory to bring home his first win of the season. He now sits second in the drivers’ standings heading into the Dutch round, with six rounds remaining. Ayhancan Güven wrapped up the weekend with 15th on Saturday and 11th on Sunday, and is 16th overall in the standings.

Esports: ESL R1 Monza, Hockenheim and Atlanta

This season of the ESL R1 Esports championship continues this month, with three more rounds of the tournament. The Porsche Coanda Esports Racing Team will take on the iconic Autodromo Nazionale Monza on June 7, before tackling the Hockenheimring on June 21 and Road Atlanta a week later. Monza is the final race for the teams’ championship qualifiers, while Hockenheim, Atlanta and Spa, which takes place in July, are the three tracks for the subsequent drivers’ championship qualifiers. After a challenging first round at Daytona International Speedway, reigning champion Joshua Rogers and fellow drivers Charlie Collins, Mitchell deJong and Dayne Warren will be hoping to bounce back this time out. Read more about the new ESL R1 format here.