Vanthoor addresses future with Porsche

Laurens Vanthoor has no plans to race in this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, but stated on Monday that he wishes to continue his decade-long tenure as a Porsche works driver.

“I’ve been dreaming to be part of this project with Porsche and Penske since the beginning,” said Vanthoor, driver of the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. “I don’t think there’s any driver in the paddock who doesn’t dream to be part of two names like this.”

Following Porsche Penske Motorsport’s withdrawal from the FIA World Endurance Championship, new manufacturers like Genesis, McLaren, and Ford have entered or are planning to enter the series, offering drivers a more immediate ticket back to Le Mans.

But although an overall Le Mans victory remains one of Vanthoor’s goals, he expressed his desire to stay at Porsche for the long term.

“It’s, for sure, unfortunate that we stopped racing at Le Mans. But I’m almost now ten years at Porsche, and I will be at Porsche for longer,” Vanthoor declared.

“We’ll see what the future brings if plans change or anything else, but that’s the situation at the moment.”

The Belgian driver nearly completed an unpredecented feat of winning all three Triple Crown of Endurance Racing events – Daytona, Sebring, and Le Mans – in the same calendar year. He, along with Kévin Estre and Matt Campbell, finished second at Le Mans for Porsche Penske.

“I do admit – sorry for the language – it sucks a bit. I was also watching (the 6 Hours of) Imola on TV. Not gonna hide it, I would have loved to have been there,” Vanthoor said.

And although Estre and fellow Porsche Penske driver Julien Andlauer have recently landed one-off LMP2 rides for the 94th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June, such an offer did not appeal to Vanthoor, who is set to miss Le Mans for the first time since 2017.

“I’m not saying that I would trade frames or whatever, but, you know, I’ve been there the last couple of years. Especially Le Mans is something which is very close to my heart, but I’m not planning to go there this year, not in a race car. Maybe I’ll be there for whatever, this sometimes comes last-minute.

“I understand why Kévin does it, and Julien, for example – but I didn’t see the added value for myself. I like to work with a team long-term and build toward that race. And you know, showing up for one event is not easy.

“Without it sounding stupid or cocky, we were that close to the victory last year, and I’ve won it in class in the past. My only dream left is to win it overall, and that’s the only thing I feel I’ve left to achieve there. So unless it’s for that, I don’t see the added value for me to go there.

“I guess I’ll be watching on TV…but that’s the way it goes sometimes.”