Monday, February 8 2016
Porsche and the 919 Hybrid title defenders in the WEC and at Le Mans
After the successful 2015 season when it took overall victory in Le Mans and won the constructors’ and drivers’ World Championship titles, Porsche finds itself in the role of the title defenders in 2016. Accordingly, the two Porsche 919 Hybrids with around 1,000 hp will carry the starting numbers 1 and 2. This was confirmed at today’s press conference in Paris by the Le Mans organizers, the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO), and the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC).
Back in November, Porsche announced the driver line-up that goes back to 2014 would remain unchanged: World Champions Timo Bernhard (Germany, 35), Brendon Hartley (New Zealand, 26) and Mark Webber (Australia, 39) will share the number 1 car. The number 2 sister car will be in the hands of Romain Dumas (France, 38), Neel Jani (Switzerland, 32) and Marc Lieb (Germany, 35).
The WEC will make one stop in North America in 2016, September 17 at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA). This race runs in conjunction with the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The six-hour race follows the Six Hours of Mexico on September 9.
Andreas Seidl, Porsche 919 Hybrid Team Principal said: “Competing with the starting numbers 1 and 2 is an honor and a challenge at the same time. We expect even stronger competition in 2016, but still want to be able to fight for race victories and try to defend our titles. In February our intensive test and training program kicked off in Abu Dhabi.”
Porsche 919 Hybrid Harbinger of Porsche to Come
For Porsche’s third season since the return to the highly sophisticated top category of Le Mans prototypes, the cutting-edge 919 Hybrids have been significantly developed with the basic chassis structure and the powertrain concept remaining the same.
By offering exceptional technical freedom, the regulations for Class 1 Le Mans Prototypes (LMP1) place strong demands on engineers. The hybrid system of the 919 combines cutting-edge downsizing turbo technology with efficient fuel direct injection for the two-liter, four-cylinder combustion engine, and uses a lithium-ion battery to store electricity from two different energy recovery systems (brake energy from the front axle and exhaust energy). The 919 Hybrid produces a system with power of almost 1,000 hp and provided Porsche with many important inspirations for the development of future road-going sports cars. The latest example is the 800-volt technology for the purely electrical powered Mission E concept car. The high voltage technology allows for extremely short charging times. The four-door concept sports car will go into production at the end of the decade.
Fritz Enzinger, Vice President LMP1: “Independently from our sporting targets, our most important task is to gather know-how for Porsche for future technologies. The WEC’s unique efficiency regulations, with the huge technical freedom, is the right platform for the company to develop and test innovations for road going sports cars.”
Bamber Returns Down Under to Bring Home Prestigious Bathurst Title
Porsche factory driver and overall winner of the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans, Earl Bamber, took a class victory at the Bathurst 12 Hour on February 7. The native of New Zealand traveled to compete in the classic Australian GT race following a podium finish at the Rolex 24 at Daytona with team Porsche North America the preceding weekend.
Bamber, the only Porsche ‘works’ driver in the race, drove the No. 4 Grove Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car to the Group B class victory. It’s the team’s second win at the Mount Panorama Motor Racing Circuit endurance event since 2014.
Bamber will return to North America for the 64th running of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, round two of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, on March 19.
