Penske Heritage Liveries
Porsche Penske Motorsport Unveils Iconic Heritage Liveries at Road America IMSA Event to Celebrate Racing History
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Key Points
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The No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport entry is driven by Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor, while the No. 7 entry is driven by Julien Andlauer and Felipe Nasr.
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Mark Donohue’s 1973 Road America pole lap was 1:57.51, making him the first driver to break the two-minute barrier at the circuit.
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The RS Spyder achieved an overall victory in the 2007 American Le Mans Series at Road America, with Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas, defeating the LMP1 competition.
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The retro livery campaign omits the original Sunoco and DHL sponsor branding, aligning with the cars’ heritage design while not featuring those sponsor logos.
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The RS Spyder first appeared in the last round of the 2005 American Le Mans Series, with Porsche returning to prototype racing in 2006 and going on to win the 2006 ALMS LMP2 title and the 2007 ALMS overall.
Porsche Penske Motorsport is turning back the clock at Road America, unveiling two heritage liveries for its pair of Porsche 963 LMDh prototypes at the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship's six-hour Motul SportsCar Endurance Grand Prix, according to Porsche Newsroom. The No. 6 car carries the iconic blue-and-yellow Sunoco colors from Mark Donohue's dominant 1973 Porsche 917/30, while the No. 7 wears the bright yellow of the RS Spyder LMP2 that scored a stunning overall ALMS win in 2007.
It is the fourth time this season that Porsche Penske has run special paint schemes on its LMDh cars, reports Motorsport.com. The designs honor two milestones at once: Porsche's 75th anniversary in motorsport and Penske's 60 years in racing.
Donohue's 1973 Record Lap Still Echoes at Road America
The No. 6 car, driven by Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor, pays tribute to one of the most dominant performances in American motorsport history. In 1973, Mark Donohue piloted the 917/30 to a pole lap of 1:57.51 at Road America, becoming the first driver ever to break the two-minute barrier at the circuit, according to Porsche Newsroom.
That feat came during Donohue's stranglehold on the Can-Am series, where the turbocharged 917/30 was essentially untouchable. The Sunoco blue-and-yellow scheme became a symbol of that era. Road America's long, flowing layout made it a fitting place for Donohue to make history, and it is a fitting stage to relive it now, Sportscar365 noted.
RS Spyder Upset the LMP1 World at This Very Circuit
The No. 7 car, driven by Julien Andlauer and Felipe Nasr, celebrates the RS Spyder's remarkable run in the American Le Mans Series. Porsche first raced the RS Spyder at the final round of the 2005 ALMS season. It then won the LMP2 title in 2006, according to Motorsport.com.
The 2007 season brought an even bigger shock. At Road America, Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas drove the RS Spyder to an outright overall victory, beating the faster LMP1 machines outright. That win was a landmark moment — a prototype built for the LMP2 class had defeated the top class, as Yahoo Sports reported.
Fourth Special Livery of the Season, but No Retro Sponsors
Porsche Penske has made heritage designs a running theme in 2024. This Road America reveal is the fourth special livery package of the season. The team has used these paint schemes as a rolling celebration of both brands' racing legacies, timed to landmark anniversaries, Motorsport.com reported.
One notable detail: the retro cars do not carry the original Sunoco or DHL sponsor logos. The heritage designs focus purely on the color schemes themselves, without recreating the full commercial branding of those earlier eras, Sportscar365 noted. The six-hour format at Road America gives the cars extra track time to showcase the throwback look.
A Partnership That Spans Five Decades of Motorsport History
The Porsche-Penske relationship stretches back more than 50 years. It covers Can-Am dominance in the early 1970s, a return to prototype racing with the RS Spyder in the mid-2000s, and now the GTP era with the 963, according to Porsche Newsroom. Road America has been a key venue throughout that shared history.
The 963 itself has carried on the tradition. Estre, Vanthoor, Andlauer, and Nasr now race cars that link directly to those earlier chapters. As Yahoo Sports put it, the throwback liveries are hiding a bigger story than mere nostalgia — they represent a living timeline of what both Porsche and Penske have built together on track.
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