While the No. 99 Proton Porsche 963 has had a difficult start to the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship, long-time endurance racing standout Neel Jani believes that the privateer team’s improvements since last year have been masked by issues with the car, pointing out their performance with a bold comparison to the manufacturer-led Penske Motorsport outfit.
Neel Jani Bemoans Porsche Pace Problems For Penske and Proton Ahead of 24 Hours of Le Mans
“I think overall we are better than last year, but you just can’t see it because in general the Porsche is slower,” Jani bemoaned, as quoted by Sportcar365.com. “The Penske cars only scored six points [prior to Spa]. So we can’t show how much we improved compared to last year.”
“But I think we have closed the gap to Penske,” Jani continued, comparing the speed difference from the No. 93 Proton Competition entry in the 2025 FIA WEC to the pair of factory-backed Porsche Penske Motorsport cars. “Let’s hope at Le Mans that the Porsches are a bit quicker!”
Jani has already proven adept at piloting a Porsche at pace around the famous Circuit de la Sarthe. A regular in the World Endurance Championship after a single-seater career that concluded with the abolition of the A1 Grand Prix series, the 41-year-old Swiss national won the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans driving the factory Porsche 919 Hybrid LMP1 car.
He joined the Proton Competition team in 2023, taking part in three races for the customer Porsche team before piloting the No. 99 car through a whole campaign in 2024. Although there were some struggles and the team finished the season ranked 24th in the Hypercar class, they managed a top 10 finish in Qatar and Spa, finishing fifth in the chaotic Belgian WEC round.
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However, this season has gotten off to an inauspicious start. The No. 99 Proton, driven by Jani, Nicholas Pino, and Nicholas Varrone, limped to 15th in the season-opener in Qatar, improved just one spot at the 6 Hours of Imola, and one year after coming in fifth at Spa, failed to finish at the latest round of the FIA World Endurance Championship.
As Jani points out, it hasn’t been plain sailing for the factory Porsche Penske Motorsport team in the 2025 season.
A year after winning the Hypercar World Endurance Drivers’ Championship with Kévin Estre, André Lotterer, and Laurens Vanthoor, the Porsche 963 has struggled to keep pace with the all-conquering Ferrari 499P. Estre, Lotterer, and Matt Campbell finished eighth at Imola, a season-high for the Porsche Penske Motorsport team.
When you dig beyond the overall results, Jani’s comments about No. 99 Proton closing the gap to the Penske-run cars ring true. At Spa, the No.6 Porsche set a fastest race lap of 2:05.276, while Pino piloted the Proton to a 2:05.531 within the 22 total laps the car ran before running into technical problems and an early conclusion to their weekend.
Meanwhile, in qualifying — the ultimate test of one lap speed — Varrone catapulted the No. 99 around the Belgian circuit in 2:01.837, just 0.325 seconds behind the No. 6 of Estre and sandwiching the No. 5 Porsche Penske in the hands of Julian Andlauer. The Proton’s pace with the factory car is comparable, but both teams were over a second slower than the Ferrari.
At the 24 Hours of Le Mans, pace and performance aren’t always prerequisites for a win. The legendary endurance race requires consistency, reliability, and the experience to handle everything that the Circuit de la Sarthe can throw at you during two complete journeys around the clock and over 2,500 miles of flat-out, pedal-to-the-metal racing.
Entering his 15th attempt at the historic race across multiple teams, cars, and classes, there are few more experienced drivers at the 93rd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. After a problematic first attempt at conquering the 38-turn behemoth with Proton last fall, Jani is banking on that experience to guide the No. 99 to its best result of the season.