Formula E champion Wehrlein will make his Daytona 24 debut in a Porsche LMDh

Reigning Formula E champion Pascal Wehrlein will join Porsche customer JDC-Miller in its maiden race on the 24 Hours of Daytona next month.

The Porsche works driver will share the #85963 LMDh with Tijmen van der Helm and Bryce Aron within the Blue Ribbon round of the IMSA SportsCar Championship on January 25-26, 2025.

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The announcement follows Wehrlein's surprise appearance with JDC-Miller during last month's IMSA-sanctioned testing at Daytona International Speedway, where he had the chance to tackle the winning 963 prototype.

The German already drove a Porsche LMDh when it was still in the event stage in 2022. At the time, it was believed that he would fight for a spot within the World Endurance Championship with the works Porsche Penske Motorsport team, although this never happened.

“I've always wanted to drive sports cars – that's one of my goals as a racing driver,” said the 30-year-old, who began the 2024/25 Formula E season with pole position in the primary race in Sao Paulo.

“Now I even have the chance to prove myself there too. I'm very joyful about it! Test drives with JDC-Miller MotorSports in mid-November were successful.

“The Porsche 963 jogged my memory of the DTM cars of my time – I felt comfortable. I’m currently recovering from an accident in São Paulo. But I would like to get back to full speed in January. “

Pascal Wehrlein, Porsche

Photo: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Images

Wehrlein, who won the 2015 DTM title with Mercedes before moving to Formula 1 and later Formula E, is not going to be the one Porsche driver in Formula E on the Daytona 2025 grid.

His teammate Antonio Felix da Costa will drive the ORECA 07 entered within the Inter Europol Competition within the LMP2 class, sharing driving duties with Tom Dillmann, Bijoy Garg and Jon Field.

Da Costa has extensive sports automotive experience from his time within the WEC, including the 2023 campaign with then-Porsche customer Jota. It can be his first appearance within the Florida endurance classic since 2018, when he drove the ORECA LMP2 prototype for Jota's Jackie Chan DC team.

“I'm very happy to finally be able to attack again at the 24 Hours of Daytona – especially with the team that won the LMP2 championship in the last IMSA season,” he said.

“Inter Europol has achieved great things in recent years. The team is therefore perfect for my return to the LMP2 class. I can't wait to finally start working with the team and my teammates.”

Porsche will likely be represented by 4 GTP cars within the IMSA season opener, with a pair of factory-entered 963 LMDhs, complemented by one entry each from the JDC-Miller and Proton Competition.