The two Porsche 963 GTP cars of the factory team Porsche Penske Motorsport will run the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 18th with a livery inspired by the colors of Apple Music. The design will be applied to both Porsche units competing in the GTP class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in one of the shortest races on the calendar, lasting 100 minutes.

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Second special livery of the year after Mobil 1 at Sebring

The activation is part of the actions that Porsche Motorsport is developing during 2026 on the occasion of its 75th anniversary, and it arrives at the third round of the calendar after Sebring, where the 963s ran on March 21st with Mobil 1 colors. "The collaboration with Apple Music fills us with pride. The design of our two Porsche 963s looks fantastic," explained Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President of Porsche Motorsport, who placed the activation within the anniversary year and added that he is curious to see how fans will react to the new livery.

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The Apple logo was already at Le Mans in 1980

The oldest precedent between the two brands in endurance racing is at the 1980 24 Hours of Le Mans, when the Dick Barbour Racing team entered a Porsche 935 K3 with the multicolored Apple logo visible on the bodywork. That 935 K3 was one of the most advanced evolutions of the 935 that Kremer Racing developed from the Group 5 911 turbo, a family of cars that dominated endurance racing before the full arrival of Group C prototypes. Apple had been founded only four years earlier, and that appearance was due to commercial and personal connections of the team on the West Coast of the United States.

Porsche Penske leads in drivers and manufacturers

Porsche Penske arrives at Long Beach leading the IMSA championship in both drivers and manufacturers. Felipe Nasr, Julien Andlauer, and Laurin Heinrich share the lead with 755 points in the #7 thanks to the results at Daytona and Sebring, the two endurance races that opened the calendar. The second step of the standings is occupied by Cadillac Whelen with the #31 of Jack Aitken, Earl Bamber, and Frederik Vesti, 80 units behind the leader, and third place belongs to the other factory 963, the #6 of Matt Campbell, Kévin Estre, and Laurens Vanthoor, with 654 points. The 963 also has two previous wins at this venue, in 2023 and 2025, and the event brings together more than 200,000 fans each year, an audience amplified by the simultaneous presence of the Penske group in IndyCar the following week with three cars entered.

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