Porsche has revealed it is planning to introduce an evo joker update on its 963 LMDh for next year – at the same time as revealing it has already used one.

The performance upgrades for the German manufacturer’s campaigns in the World Endurance Championship and the IMSA SportsCar next year are focussed on the front suspension, as were those introduced on the 963 prior to its victorious start to the 2024 season at the Daytona 24 Hours in January. 

Porsche had previously not confirmed that it had taken one of the five jokers allowed to each manufacturer over the initial five-year lifecycle for an LMDh.

Urs Kuratle, head of the LMDh programme at Porsche Motorsport, explained that the updates planned for next year represent a bigger change than those introduced for 2024.

“It is another step because we didn’t know what we wanted to do at that time – it is a further evolution,” he said. 

“From this year to next year there will be some [changes to] mounting points and some hardware; there are more parts involved.

“We need more adjustability in the car, a wider range, more buttons for the engineers to press.” 

Urs Kuratle, Head Porsche LMDh

Photo by: Porsche

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The changes for 2024 were more subtle, according to Kuratle. He had previously talked about updates to sensors without revealing that they constituted a joker. 

Kuratle has now confirmed that Porsche had to take a joker for the changes that included an upgrade of the front brake pressure sensors.

Porsche has yet to get written confirmation from the FIA and the Automobile Club de l’Ouest, which jointly run the WEC and IMSA, to push on with the latest development, Kuratle said.

Should that be forthcoming, the new parts will be on its factory Porsche Penske Motorsport cars and the customer JDC-Miller MotorSports IMSA entry at the US governing body’s official sanction test at Daytona on 15-17 November. 

The rule makers do not disclose which manufacturers have been granted a joker nor communicate that information with the other manufacturers. 

A change in this policy is understood to have been discussed in the relevant technical working group during the summer.

It is believed that Porsche is the only manufacturer of an LMDh to have played a joker so far. 

A major upgrade of the 963’s twin-turbo V8 engine in the pipeline was planned for introduction over the course of this season, but was shelved after its cars, both customer and privateer, successfully came through the Le Mans 24 Hours in June. 

Toyota, Peugeot and Ferrari have all undertaken upgrades of their Le Mans Hypercars since their respective introductions in 2021, ’22 and ’23. 

There has been no confirmation from Toyota and Peugeot on how many they have used, but it is understood that Ferrari has only invoked one. 

This was centred on rear brake cooling and came on stream for this year’s Interlagos WEC round in July. 

Erik Ten Hag’s strategy to bring on board Dutch players, particularly his former Ajax stars, to Manchester United didn’t yield the expected results. With the Dutch manager sacked and 39-year-old Ruben Amorim set to take over, fans of the Premier League side are expecting a season-saving overhaul in the months to come. 

Meanwhile, reports suggest that Amorim, who is currently in charge of the Portuguese side Sporting CP, has already initiated discussing his transfer market strategy with the Manchester United board. Not only has he identified players who are not going to be part of his long-term plans, but the 39-year-old manager has told the board that he wishes to rope in three Sporting players to Old Trafford. 

According to the Manchester United higher-ups,  Alejandro Garnacho, Rasmus Hojlund and Kobbie Mainoo should remain at the club at all costs. While Amorim has no problems accommodating the three youngsters to his plans, he reportedly asked them to sign centre-back Goncalo Inacio and wingers Marcus Edwards and Pedro Goncalves from the Lisbon side.

Sporting trio Amorim wants at Manchester United

23-year-old Goncalo Inacio of Portugal is among the highly-rated defenders of his generation in Europe. The youngster, who also plays as a left-back and CDM for Sporting when asked, is likely to replace Victor Lindelof in the United setup. Amorim has already confirmed that the Swedish star is not part of his long-term plans, TEAMtalk said in a report.

While it will be interesting to see how Amorim stitches the United defence together with recent arrivals Matthijs de Ligt and Leny Yoro in the mix of things, the pertinent question is whether the INEOS and other stakeholders would agree to pay Inacio’s €60m (£51m / $64.8m)-worth release clause.

Goncalo Inacio | Reuters

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The defender is also being tracked by United’s Premier League rivals Liverpool, but Amorim’s presence may help them gain the upper hand in the race should they decide to make a move. 

The second Sporting star on Amorim’s shortlist is former Tottenham right-winger Marcus Edwards, the TEAMtalk report said. The 25-year-old English right-winger, whose current contract runs out in 2026, is likely to replace Antony under Amorim. The Spurs reject also carries the same release clause as Inacio, making his arrival a costly affair.  Manchester United will try to sell or loan out the Brazilian to raise the fund to buy Edwards, the report said. 

The third Sporting CP man Amorim wants at  Old Trafford is Portuguese left-winger Pedro Goncalves. The report labels the 26-year-old the toughest of the three to get as he is a darling of the Sporting hierarchy. 

Marcus Edwards | X

Goncalves could cost Manchester United a bomb as he is too important for the Portuguese side’s domestic campaign as well as European dreams. Under Amorim, Sporting have won all nine games in the league and Goncalves has managed four goals and three assists so far from six outings. His current contract could see him stay at the club until 2027 and has a release clause of €80m. 

Pedro Goncalves | Reuters

With the new manager making his intentions clear, Manchester United is likely to have a busy transfer window in January. 

MotoGP organisers remain keen on staging the 2024 season finale at Valencia but the date of the race could be pushed back, Motorsport.com understands.

Most of the paddock in Sepang at this weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix is waiting to see how the rescue effort in Valencia evolves after the devastating flooding that had already left at least 158 dead by Friday morning, with a large number of people still missing.  

Dorna’s executive leadership is working on various scenarios for the 20th and final stop on the calendar. The race was initially scheduled for Sunday 17 November at Circuit Ricardo Tormo, a venue located in an area badly affected by the storm. 

So far, the only statement that can be considered official was given by Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna, to the AS newspaper on Thursday. 

“In principle the original date [of the event] will be maintained. They are working to fix access and services. The track has not been damaged,” he said. 

FIM president Jorge Viegas spoke briefly on this matter on Thursday, telling Sky Italia: “If we don’t race in Valencia, it will be worse for the Valencian Community and its economy.”

Circuit Ricardo Tormo after flooding

Photo by: Paco Alcobendas

Motorsport.com understands that the priority is to keep the race that would close the season in Valencia, although it is still not clear when the event would take place. 

This is despite the fact that a wide range of alternatives have been rumoured in the last few days, many of them not taking into account important conditions required for hosting the event.

During the first official Moto2 practice on Friday morning, a delegation from the Teams’ Association (IRTA) met with the Ezpeleta to draw up a roadmap, with Valencia as the venue. 

They are not ruling out running the event on the scheduled weekend, although they are also considering delaying the race by seven days, until Sunday 24 November, when, on paper, the track is due to host the final round of the FIM CEV Repsol World Championship. 

MotoGP stakeholders are also not ruling out further postponing the title decider between Jorge Martin and Francesco Bagnaia. 

Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing, Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Whatever option they decide on, it is clear that several initiatives will be organised with the intention of helping the victims of the tragedy. 

There are those within the company itself who believe that postponing the grand prix but keeping its original location will not make much of a difference in terms of the image. 

It is important to note that the final event is not limited to just a grand prix. Among other things, Valencia is due to host the annual awards gala, while a new corporate identity of MotoGP is also scheduled to be unveiled.  

Both the FIM and Dorna are expected to make statements later on Friday. 

During the weekend so far, many of the championship’s most famous riders were not keen on hosting the finale in Valencia, so as not to compromise any resources that could be used for emergency work. 

The most explicit was Marc Marquez, who said: “Ethically speaking, I don’t think the Valencia Grand Prix should be held.”

ALISHA LEHMANN left fans trying to piece together a jigsaw, after strangely tagging Cristiano Ronaldo in a Halloween post.

The former Aston Villa women’s footballer moved to Juventus women in the summer as she followed boyfriend Douglas Luiz over to Turin.

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The Swiss international took is one of the best followed women’s footballers, with almost 17 million fans on Instagram and 380,000 on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Her latest social media post saw her celebrating the spooky season.

Lehmann, 25, was seen wearing a skin-tight black Halloween outfit, complete with a pair of high heels and black glasses.

She captioned the post with a trio of bat, pumpkin and black heart emojis.

However, fans were left confused by Lehmann tagging the official account of five-time Ballon d’Or winner and Al-Nassr ace Ronaldo.

Reacting to the post, one fan said: “Why tagging Ronaldo.”

A second said: “Tagging Ronaldo??”

A third added: “Douglas Luiz seeing her tag Ronaldo instead of him,” with a picture of someone being rained on.

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Another said: “The question is why did she tag Ronaldo?”

Lehmann has scored one goal in seven matches since joining Juventus.

The winger and Luiz, 26, became the first ever “couples transfer” this summer when they both made the switch from Aston Villa to Juventus.

The pair had been dating on-and-off for a while in the UK but took their relationship and footballing talents to Italy.

Speaking at the time, Lehmann said: “For Douglas and me to be together in the same club is a dream.

“We have often played in different cities, so being able to have these great adventures in the same place is something wonderful.”

Despite making the switch together, Lehmann has previously spoken out about the couple’s pay disparity at Juventus.

Luiz, who swapped the Midlands for Turin in a £50million deal, reportedly signed a contract with Juve worth around £100,000-a-week.

While Lehmann’s salary isn’t known, she was believed to be on £200,000-a-year at Villa Women.

The Swiss international told of her dismay at the pay gap in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, she said: “Everyone would like to have the same salary.

“I often speak to Douglas at home about this and tell him it’s not fair. We do the same job, but he gets paid a hundred times more than me.

“It’s something that affects me because I’m a woman. Obviously, there’s still a long way to go on the path we’re on because there may never be equal pay.

“There will have to be a very strong will to make a change in this direction.”

Last month it was revealed the couple were the victims of a burgulary as thiefs made of with £416,000 worth of watches and jewellery.

Ayr have all the credentials of potential title winners, but recent setbacks against top-of-the-table rivals Falkirk and Livingston has slowed down their charge.

The Falkirk defeat was keenly felt as it was probably the only match of the season when performance levels fell into the disappointing category for Scott Brown’s side.

The Livingston loss was slightly different. That was considered to be more about a couple of errors and Ayr were disappointed not to take anything from the game.

There is a sense that the Honest Men are searching for their early season groove, which is made all the tougher as they go into the second of three successive league games on the road.

Two draws, two wins and two defeats exactly mirrors the last six Championship outings for Rovers, but the visitors have the edge of two triumphs over the Fifers already in this campaign.

Both of those came at Somerset Park, with a late August league success quickly followed by Challenge Cup victory.

Garrett Wilson made two spectacular touchdown catches as the New York Jets ended their five-game losing run with a 21-13 comeback win over the Houston Texans.

Star quarterback Aaron Rodgers was also influential, completing 22 of 32 passes for 211 yards and three touchdown passes as the Jets won for the first time since September.

It was also the Jets’ first victory under interim coach Jeff Ulbrich, and moves them up to second in the AFC East.

The highlight was two acrobatic one-handed catches by Wilson in the third and fourth quarters.

His first take early in the third quarter levelled the scores. The second was even more impressive, Wilson leaping split-legged to meet Rodgers’ 26-yard pass at the back of the end zone.

It was originally ruled an incomplete pass because Wilson did not get both feet down in the end zone, but the decision was reversed after a video review.

New York had trailed 7-0 at half-time following a sluggish opening. Rodgers completed just seven of 14 passing attempts for 32 yards – a first-half career low.

Rookie receiver Malachi Corley also had a touchdown ruled out after a video review showed his premature celebration caused him to drop the ball before the goal line.

Joe Mixon scored the only touchdown in reply for the Texans, who stay top of the AFC South despite a third defeat of the season.