In 1998 Porsche left the world of big sport scoring a double victory at Le Mans and since that time they have been working hard in the field of civil car industry, cooperating with private teams in GT category from time to time. During this period they have launched production of two large projects — Porsche Cayenne and Porsche Panamera, but nothing can overshadow the popularity of the 911 — it is still the best selling sports car in the world. But evidently a racing DNA cannot disappear completely. And now after so many years of silence Porsche is making a statement about their return to Le Mans races. And moreover they are planning to pit their wits against Audi — the champion of the previous years — and compete with them in hybrid technology in LMP1 category.
The fact that starting form 2014 changes in 24 hours of Le Mans regulations come into force — and they concern hybrid cars in particular — plays Porsche into hands. Also the LMP1 class would be divided into hybrid and standard cars and the hybrid cars will have an additional fuel consumption limit set at 4.5 litres per lap (and it would be equal to a bit more than 13 km applying to the Circuit of the Sarthe) in order to encourage technological development.
The company’s new prototype has already undergone 6 driving tests. But the work still goes on. Not much time is left before the first sport tests of 2014 season — they will be held in March. FIA has the first World Endurance Championship race scheduled for April. It will take place on the Silverstone Circuit in Great Britain. The names of 4 out of 6 pilots who will be behind the wheel of two Porsche cars have already been announced: Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas (both of them scored Le Mans victories), Neel Jani and Formula 1 pilot Mark Webber. Two more names will be announced at the end of the year.
Meanwhile Porsche recalls its previous races and victories and celebrates its heroes who achieved remarkable results behind the wheel of Porsche race cars.
In 1970 the Porsche team scored its first (out of 16) overall victory in the famous 24-hour race — the red No. 23 Porsche 917 KH. Second and third places were also taken by the team’s cars. Furthermore their major competitor was also a company from Stuttgart. Since that time and till 1998 the podium of Le Mans belonged to Porsche.
July 14 was a big day. No. 23 Porsche 917 was driven by Hans Herrmann and Richard Attwood from Porsche Salzburg team. They secured the first overall victory at Le Mans thus giving start to a victorious march of Porsche in the series of famous endurance races.
Le Mans heroes of past years were invited to Hockenheim: Gijs van Lennep, Hans Herrmann, Hans-Joachim Stuck, Richard Attwood, Norbert Singer and others. It was a pleasure for them to recall those glorious days.
Porsche 956 (No.2) was a totally new car which started at Le Mans in 1982 with triple victory and had been winning till 1985. It featured new Formula 1 technologies including the aerodynamic solution which allowed having an incredible speed increase when going through the corners.
Porsche 935/78 “Mobi Dick” got its name after the famous white whale. It was the first race car with water-cooled cylinder heads. It had 6-cylinder 3.2-litre twin-turbocharged rear engine with 4 valves per cylinder. The engine was set to 845 hp for short-distance competitions and they had to “strangle” it down to 760 hp in order to comply with the regulations. The first 6-hour Silverstone race was very successful but at 24 hours of Le Mans the car was not able to repeat the victory achieved a year before and the car was sent to the Museum. Its short biography consisted only of 3 sprints and one endurance race at Le Mans.
Porsche 917 KH Coupe was almost a twin brother of the red podium holder of the previous year. But in 1971 it was driven by Helmut Marko and Gijs van Lennep. In addition to winning that exhausting marathon the car also set an incredible record: it took the pilots 24 hours to go 397 laps covering 5335.313 km with an average 222.304 km/h speed including all pit-stops and long night drives. This record remained unbeaten for 40 years!
Le Mans 1998, Porsche 911 GT1 driven by Laurent Aïello, Allan McNish and Stéphane Ortelli. Well yes, Allan McNish used to be on Porsche side before his cooperation with the Audi factory team.
Porsche 936/77 Spyder. The car was assembled in record-breaking time after the decision taken by Porsche in 1976 to take part not only in the Manufacturers' Championship but also in the World Sportscar Championship (Group 6) which was held at that time. The prototype had 2.1-litre turbocharged engine and eventually it won in the category of turbo cars. The car was updated for the 24 hours of Le Mans in 1977: the weight of the body was reduced, aerodynamics was improved and two turbochargers were installed instead of one according to the new regulations creating 20 hp increase.
Timo Bernhard — Porsche factory driver, multiple winner of endurance races and the ADAC Racing Driver of the Year in 2010. In 2014 Timo will be behind the wheel of one of LMP1 Porsche prototypes at 24 hours of Le Mans. However his team partners have not been announced yet. During the Porsche event held at the Hockenheimring Timo was driving race taxi — Porsche 935 which was created on the base of 911 Turbo 3.0.
Porsche 935 created on the base of 911 Turbo 3.0. This car had been a frequent winner in its category since 1976 till 1981. In 1977 the engine got two turbos instead of one and its output increased up to 630 hp.
P.S. — If you take a look underneath it, you will not be able to find any differences from the 911 :)
Manfred Schurti — Porsche factory driver, European champion and Daytona 1972 winner, multiple prize winner of other famous competitions including 1000 km Nürburgring. Nevertheless Schurti never managed to win at Le Mans. But later he made a significant contribution to further sports victories of Porsche as one of team’s managers.
Gijs van Lennep is a Dutch pilot who was driving Porsche 917 KH and won the marathon in 1971 setting the distance record. He was 39 at that time. Right now he is the brand ambassador of Porsche in Holland. He took part in the last race when a “Le Mans-style” start was applied: one of the pilots was already behind the wheel wearing the safety belt and the second pilot was running across the track in order to insert the key and start the car. It has become a tradition for Porsche since that time to have the key ignition on the left side.
