Proton will run the red, white and black colours of new sponsor F.A.T. International on its customer LMDh car this year, bringing back an iconic Porsche paint scheme to the top echelon of sportscar racing.
The livery entered the racing folklore in the 1980s and 90s when it used to adorn one of Joest Porsche’s works cars on both sides of the Atlantic, competing in classics such as the Daytona 24 Hours and Le Mans 24 Hours.
More famously, F.A.T. International, then a French logistics company, sponsored the Dauer 962 that scored an outright victory at Le Mans in 1994 with Yannick Dalmas, Hurley Haywood and Mauro Baldi.
The Dauer 962 had a radical story behind it, as it was originally conceived as a road car based on the legendary Porsche challenger. Later on, a racing version of the Dauer 962 was developed for the post-WSC era with support from the German manufacturer, bringing the car to a full circle.
The F.A.T. International company, which dictated the livery as part of its sponsorship agreement, is no longer present in the same form, but the brand name has been revived to host events and promote an automotive culture.
It’s this new company that is sponsoring Proton and lending the iconic livery to the squad, which will be one of the two customer Porsche teams on the Hypercar grid this year along with Jota.
Proton competed in the latter parts of the 2023 WEC and IMSA SportsCar Championship season with near-identical WeatherTech liveries.
WeatherTech has been replaced in IMSA by energy company Mustang Sampling, whose signature black and gold colours previously featured on JDC-Miller’s Cadillac DPi cars between 2020-22.
F.A.T. International has now taken the place of WeatherTech on Proton’s WEC contender.
The German team recently revealed its full line-up for the 2024 season, signing new deals with Neel Jani and Harry Tincknell and adding Porsche-contracted Julien Andlauer to complete its line-up.
However, it remains unclear if Tincknell will take part in the full season, as there are two clashes between WEC and his Ford commitments in IMSA’s GTD Pro class.
Proton’s new F.A.T.-sponsored Porsche 963 will first be seen in action at next week’s Prologue test at the Losail International Circuit, before the season gets properly underway at the same Qatari venue on 2 March.
