Penske switches but sticks with Porsche

Penske will remain with Porsche despite coming to the end of its stint as the German manufacturer’s RS Spyder development team in the American Le Mans Series.

That programme, which started in 2004, has “reached a natural end”, according to Porsche R&D boss Wolfgang Durheimer. Penske will now race a Porsche-powered Riley Daytona Prototype in the Grand American Sportscar Series with factory drivers Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhard.

Durheimer thanked Penske for ”remaining loyal despite having other offers”. The loan of Dumas and Bernhard, he said, was the team’s reward.

Penske is planning to run a second Riley-Porsche MkXX in the season-opening Daytona 24 Hours. Ryan Briscoe and Kurt Busch, who race for Penske’s Indycar and NASCAR Sprint Cup teams respectively, are scheduled to be part of the line-up.