This year, Proton will race its customer LMDh car in the red, white, and black colors of new sponsor F.A.T. International, bringing back an iconic Porsche paint scheme to the pinnacle of sportscar racing.
When Joest Porsche’s works cars competed in legendary races like the Daytona 24 Hours and Le Mans 24 Hours, the livery was adopted and became part of racing lore in the 1980s and 90s.
Notoriety arose when the Dauer 962, driven by Yannick Dalmas, Hurley Haywood, and Mauro Baldi, won the Le Mans race in 1994 with the support of F.A.T. International, a French logistics company at the time.
The Dauer 962 has a unique backstory because it was initially intended to be a road car inspired by the venerable Porsche Challenger. Later, the German manufacturer helped develop a racing version of the Dauer 962 for the post-WSC era, completing the circle for the car.
Though it is no longer in existence in its original form, the F.A.T. International company, which stipulated the livery as part of its sponsorship , has resurrected the brand name to host events and encourage a culture surrounding cars.
Along with Jota, this new company is sponsoring Proton and providing the squad with the iconic livery. Proton will be one of the two customer Porsche teams competing in the Hypercar grid this year.
Using nearly identical WeatherTech liveries, Proton participated in the latter stages of the 2023 WEC and IMSA SportsCar Championship seasons.
In the IMSA, energy company Mustang Sampling has taken the place of WeatherTech. The company’s iconic black and gold colors were previously used on JDC-Miller’s Cadillac DPi cars from 2020 to 22.
Proton’s WEC competitor, F.A.T. International, has now replaced WeatherTech.
The German team recently unveiled its entire roster for the 2024 campaign, adding Julien Andlauer, who is contracted to Porsche, to the lineup along with new agreements with Neel Jani and Harry Tincknell.
Due to two conflicts with the WEC and his Ford obligations in the IMSA GTD Pro class, it is still unknown if Tincknell will compete for the entire season.
The Prologue test at the Losail International Circuit next week will be the first opportunity to witness Proton’s new F.A.T.-sponsored Porsche 963 in action. The season will officially begin on March 2 at the same location in Qatar.
