Planing has been named by the German manufacturer for the World Endurance Championship rookie test following a title-winning DTM campaign with a 911 GT3, and had the chance to test drive Porsche’s prototype racer at the Bahrain International Circuit earlier this month. Obtained.
The 25-year-old completed 82 laps around the Sakhir circuit, which also hosted the WEC final, and set a best time of 1 minute 50.603 seconds in a factory 963 LMDh driven by Penske, faster than regular driver Lawrence. He missed the record by just two tenths of a second. Vanthoor managed to run a short baseline run of eight laps.
This was despite Planing focusing almost entirely on long-distance driving and no low-fuel runs, meaning he finished the test two seconds behind the pace set by Robert Schwartzman in his Ferrari 499P LMH. It meant it was over.
It is unlikely that the Austrian will be able to graduate to the top class of the WEC or IMSA Sports Car Championship immediately next year, but there is a further vacancy in Porsche’s LMDh lineup for 2025, and it is possible that he will be considered a suitable candidate. There is.
Asked if he could imagine himself racing a 963 in 2025, Planing told Autosport: We hadn’t talked much about my future yet.
“I’m still busy this season. I was doing DTM at Hockenheim and then I went to Mexico for F1.
“Right now I’m here and then I’m going to Macau. I’m going to be on the road for a long time, but I need to find time to talk about these things.”
Photo credit: Alexander Trienitz
Thomas Planing, Manthey EMA Porsche 911 GT3-R
He added: [the test] It was always something that interested me.
“Of course, it’s one of my dreams to go to Le Mans or Daytona and try to win. That’s natural. Certainly, this is the way to go.”
Preining won the 2023 DTM title while driving for Manti EMA, an alliance between Porsche’s former works GTE Pro team and Australian GT team EMA.
Manthey has been selected to join Porsche’s official team for next year’s WEC’s new LMGT3 class and will drive two 911 GT3 R’s in next year’s series, the same car that Planing won the DTM title with.
Preining said LMGT3 was “certainly on the table” but nothing has been decided regarding the 2024 program.
He is expected to return to DTM for a third season next year as he aims to defend his title.
“To be honest, I don’t know about the calendar,” he said. “We haven’t talked about LMGT3 yet.
“Certainly up until Hockenheim the focus was on the DTM, but then the focus switched to the DTM and now the focus has switched to Macau. So there’s not much room to think about next year.
Planing rose through the ranks through Porsche’s one-make championships such as the Super Cup and Carrera Cup, and made his big break in 2019 to compete in the ADAC GT Masters.
Photo credit: Alexander Trienitz
Champion Thomas Planing, Manthey EMA
He moved to DTM in 2022 and helped Porsche win the Drivers’, Teams and Manufacturers’ treble in just its second year in the series.
Porsche’s head of motorsport, Thomas Laudenbach, was full of praise for Preining after winning the DTM title, but was modest when asked if he might race a prototype in the future.
“Well done, Thomas Planing,” he said. “He’s one of our factory drivers, which is great.
“It’s really great to see someone grow with us through our one-make series and to be like, ‘Hey, look, he’s winning his first big title with our brand. It makes me really happy to think, ‘I did it.’
“And that is also one of the reasons why we are giving him the opportunity to do a rookie test here. And of course, it is our second season in the DTM, so we hope to win the manufacturers’ title. That is also very important.”
He added: “In general, I see his future in various fields. What next year will be has not been decided yet.”
“But this [test] It has nothing to do with next year’s decisions. We will proceed step by step.
“That’s the good thing about Porsche Motorsport. We have so many activities going on that we can also have some kind of talk with him.”