by John Glynn | Jun 15, 2014 | Porsche News, Race and Rally
Headlines this hour in the Ferdinand Magazine live blog from Le Mans: Porsche retakes lead at Le Mans with the 919 LMP1 Hybrid and is lapping well with Timo Bernhard at the wheel.
When Tom Kristensen’s number 1 Audi stopped on track for a full electrical reset, a misfire appeared which brought the leader back into the pit box. The car is still in the garage, with mechanics rushing to put it back together.
Porsche number 20 slipped into the lead with Audi number 2 really charging hard. There are some interesting radio messages coming off the Audi pit wall – will the car stay reliable?
We’re a long way from the chequered flag, but what a turn around for Stuttgart. On board footage from the 919 shows notable vibration, and the last few corners before the 20 car’s most recent pit stop seemed to suggest a misfire, so who knows what the next three hours have in store.
Podium for the 919 would be an awesome result. Outright win for the 919: can you imagine it?!
by John Glynn | Jun 14, 2014 | Porsche News, Race and Rally
Almost seven hours into the 2014 Le Mans 24-Hour and night’s drawing in over Circuit de la Sarthe. Following a crazy first quarter, Porsches have run at the front of each category they are competing in, but are now slightly further down the order.
“We struggled at the beginning in the high ambient temperatures,” said 919 pilot, Neel Jani, who was mesmerising through his opening stint in pursuit of the Audis, dicing for position at 200 mph. “We a small problem with a 20p screw coming loose in the fuel pump, which dropped fuel pressure and took us a while to sort out, but now we are back up to speed and trying to get places back.”
Rain played a big part in this afternoon’s racing. Two huge rainstorms brought the safety cars out and Porsche pulled places back by playing it smart. Dempsey Racing in GTE-Am took the lead by staying on slicks. The team now runs down in fourth position, but its best lap is 3:58.4 versus 3:55.7 for the P2 Aston. Beating that ultimate pace could be a big ask.
The RSRs have been battling hard, with Holzer v Bergmeister very close at one stage. Were they holding each other up? Bruno Senna seemed to think so, as he threw the 97 Aston in between them before making quick work of Marco and shooting off into second place, in pursuit of the leading Ferrari. Then again, Senna isn’t carrying a 25-kilo ballast penalty or a smaller intake restrictor.
Porsche 919 Hybrid goes off at Le Mans
As I started to write this, Brendon Hartley’s 919 went off at Arnage. Looked like a lock up, but then he struggled to find reverse in the car. Pushed back on track, he came in the pits for service and driver change to Mark Webber, with quite a lot of animation in the garage.
“I locked up the front,” said Brendon afterwards. “I felt we had a puncture in the stint before, so we changed tyres and got back on it. We had a bit of a balance shift half way through that stint, which we need to look into, but it all seems to be running fine. I feel like I’ve done a good job for my first stint with Porsche on its return to Le Mans.” Having watched the race for six hours solid, I would not disagree.
Still such a long, long way to go. Porsche is P4 and P6 in LMP1 with Webber and Dumas going well. Richard Lietz and Nick Tandy run P5 and P6 in GTE-Pro, but their bast lap times are down on the leading Corvette. Corvette looks like a winner, but another safety car has killed their lead gap. The GTE battle is not a long gap – they will be driving these cars flat out to the finish.
by John Glynn | Jun 12, 2014 | Porsche News, Race and Rally
Qualifying continued at Le Mans today, with the final two sessions before Saturday’s 24-Hour race start. Entering today’s first session as polesitter, super-quick Brendon Hartley said there was more time to come from the Porsche 919, but Porsche’s morning PR declared they would do no more big runs.
“For Thursday’s qualifying sessions, Porsche intends to limit the number of laps. In order to give the crew some rest on Friday before the start of the 24-Hours on Saturday, the Porsche team will prepare the cars on Thursday for the marathon, and so doesn’t want to put too many miles on the parts to be used in the race.”
When the flag dropped, Toyota went for broke and chased hard for pole position. Porsche’s times also tumbled. Hartley thought a 3:21 was in the car – if not more – and Timo Bernhard soon clocked a 3:22.9. Romain Dumas went two-tenths quicker, and later managed a 3:22.146. Ultimately, there was no stopping Toyota, as Nakajima set a 3:21.789 and clinched pole position.
Elsewhere in the sessions, there were crashes galore, with the Porsche Curves claiming even more carbon fibre. Audi number 1 was back on track after landing on its roof in the Porsche Curves yesterday, Loic Duval was on his way home with Marc Gene replacing him.
With Audi 1 back on track and all its drivers needing time on the board, Lucas di Grassi had a sizeable moment and shoved Audi 1 head first into the barriers. Keeping it moving and limping back to the pits, he tripped up the Pegasus Morgan, which got onto the grass at speed and ploughed across the track, straight into the concrete.
James Calado in the 71 Ferrari had a big accident, which left him concussed and out of the race. The 458 was obliterated, so AF Corse summoned a new car from Maranello, and a replacement driver: Pierre Kaffer. Life as a works team.
The 911 RSRs had their share of fun. Slowing down for track position, the number 92 RSR took a Ferrari in its side at the final chicane and headed back to the pits for a rebuild. The Corvettes looked quick all day, but Bruni/Fisichella set the fastest time in GTE-Pro. If the Ferrari stays together, it must be the favourite.
The night sessions were interesting, as the race director tested slow zones, where cars run into yellow flag areas on the pit lane speed limiter. A noticeable number ignored the warnings and their dash lights, running straight through the speed restrictions with all guns blazing. This is not the way to win a race: no doubt there will be penalties.
Porsche missed pole position, but no one gives trophies out on Thursdays at Le Mans. There’s a long race ahead and it’s not over until the fat fräulein sings. She’s due to do that on Sunday afternoon.
by John Glynn | Jun 11, 2014 | Porsche News, Race and Rally
The Porsche 919 LMP1 Hybrid cars finished first qualifying for the 2014 Le Mans 24 Hour at the top of the timesheets. Who would have predicted that?!
This was the second of today’s track sessions, both of which were interrupted by red flags due to accidents on track. Today’s free practice was interesting for the 919s, which spent quite a bit of time testing cooling setups. Starting at 16:00hrs in high-20s ambient temperatures, Marc Lieb was first out in the number 14 car, with Webber taking the early laps in the number 20. Tandy took the number 91 911 RSR to start, with Marco Holzer running number 92.
As Toyota topped the times in their super quick TS040s, Audis followed on and Porsches brought up the rear of the LMP1 hybrid class. The Weissach prototypes were in and out of the garage, engine covers on and off and noses being swapped. Holzer’s 911 slung a driveshaft after less than half a lap, and was soon back in the pits. Quick Nick “Mr T” Tandy seemed to have no trouble, going second fastest in class as the session progressed.
The big news from practice was a huge accident for the number 1 Audi of Loic Duval. Eurosport’s pictures briefly showed the wreckage at the start of the Porsche Curves: it looked properly destroyed from the angle we saw. Spectators reported the car flying through the air and hitting the armco roof-first: yet to be confirmed. Audi has just confirmed that Loic has grazed his leg but is otherwise said to be OK, and the number 1 Audi should be rebuilt by tomorrow. Amazing!
At the halfway point in tonight’s two-hour qualifying session, the course was closed yet again by red flag, as Stéphane Sarrazin’s number 7 Toyota – third quickest overall – stopped early on a lap straight out of the pits. Stephane was refusing to get out of the car, but the tractors have now lifted it off the track, so I presume they crowbar’d him out of it.
While this was going on, Fernando Rees’ Aston had a big smash – again in the Porsche Curves – which completely destroyed one side of his car and damaged the barriers too heavily for the session to continue. Qualifying was cut short, and the Porsches finished on top.
The quickest Toyota has clocked a 3:25.313 in this night time session, but the Porsches are flying. Number 20 (Webber/Hartley/Bernhard) tops the times on a 3:23.1 (woohoo – great job by Brendon who is bloody amazing) with the 14 car up its chuff, eight tenths behind. Tomorrow is another day, but what a perfect start!
![Le Mans Weather Forecast and TV Coverage]()
by John Glynn | Jun 10, 2014 | Porsche News, Race and Rally
Weather forecast for the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2014 this weekend shows no sign of rain at the start. A high of 26 degrees on Saturday should give moderate track temperatures, so tyre wear will be interesting. Overnight temperatures of 11 degrees will be a relief for drivers after the heat of the day.
Sunday is forecasted to be warm and slightly overcast. Rising humidity could be a risk, as rain threatens towards the finish. Cars in tight competition running close behind another for hours on end and pushing reliability might face engine and brake temperature issues in muggy weather. No doubt it will be a real test for the drivers to manage their cars to the finish. Tom Kristensen puts it into perspective:
“Le Mans takes the best out of everyone: it’s such a big and great event in motorsport. You do more kilometres in that one race than Formula One does in a season, and probably a higher average speed. We average about 220km/h including pit stops, and cover nearly 5,000 kilometres.”
I think F1 may cover more distance this year, but F1 teams strip and rebuild the cars after every two hour race. Le Mans is a tough event.
TV Coverage of Le Mans 24 Hours 2014
Eurosport will be showing the full race live. Not sure if this is HD: I doubt it. You can follow the 24 Hours of Le Mans live online with the Michelin-sponsored Le Mans live website. The ACO website will have a full data feed available, so my viewing will be commentary by Radio Le Mans, pics by Eurosport and timing from the organisers. I’ll blog a bit during the race for sure and you can follow the Ferdinand: Cult of Porsche Twitter feed to keep up with Porsche progress.
Porsche Le Mans Track Schedule
Porsche has a busy Le Mans schedule this week (see below). Are you in Le Mans? Share your experiences on the Ferdinand Facebook page or email us at mail@ferdinandmagazine.com.
Tuesday, June 10:
2:00-2:30 pm Porsche team photo (LMP1) at start/finish line
2:30-3:00 pm Meet the team (LMP1), team and media hospitality
5:00-6:30 pm Autograph session, pit lane
Wednesday, June 11:
2:30-3:00 pm Meet the team (LMP1), team and media hospitality
4:00-8:00 pm Free practice
10:00 pm-midnight Qualifying
Thursday, June 12:
3:30-4:00 pm Meet the team (LMP1), team and media hospitality
7:00-9:00 pm Qualifying
10:00 pm-midnight Qualifying
Friday, June 13:
10:00 am – 8:00 pm Pit walk
1:00-2:00 pm Porsche press conference in the large guest hospitality area
5:30-7:30 pm Driver parade in the downtown area
Saturday, June 14:
09:00-09:45 Warm-up
2:22 pm Beginning of race start ceremony
3:00 pm Start of race
![Le Mans Weather Forecast and TV Coverage]()
by John Glynn | Jun 9, 2014 | Porsche News, Race and Rally
Some great facts and figures surround the works Porsche Le Mans experience. Check this out:
- 812 Porsche cars have raced at Le Mans, scoring 16 overall victories
- Porsche 919 LMP1 Hybrids are numbered 20 and 14: 2014 is the year of Porsche’s return
- Hans Stuck holds the qualifying lap record: 251.815 km/h, or 156 miles per hour AVERAGE
- In normal racing mode, the Porsche 919 LMP1 Hybrid must refuel every 13 or 14 laps
- The 919 LMP1 may only use 1.67 kilowatt hours of electricity as boost per 13.6 km lap of Le Mans
- The core Porsche racing team for Le Mans numbers 86 personnel, not including marketing etc
- Porsche Motorsport will use more than 1,000 team shirts through the full Le Mans week
- The shopping list for Porsche catering and hospitality includes 1,100 loaves of bread, 2,000 eggs, half a tonne of fish and 1.2 tonnes of meat
- ACO expects a quarter of a million spectators at Le Mans this year
Porsche Le Mans 919 LMP1 Hybrid Energy
The 2013 Le Mans winner drove 348 laps. Over this distance, the Porsche 919 LMP1 Hybrid would generate 581.2 kWh from its energy recovery systems. This electrical energy could:
- Power a 60w light bulb for 9,687 hours
- Power a Volkswagen E-Golf 4,576 kilometres: the distance from New York to Los Angeles
Current WEC Championship Standings before Le Mans
Porsche (36 points) is P2 behind Toyota (84 points) and ahead of Audi (28 points) after two of eight rounds. Twice as many points are awarded at Le Mans compared to the other 6-hour events.
Le Mans Driver Rest/Sleep
Team members grab sleep in the pits whenever they can. Drivers have beds in containers behind the pit garages, but they would more usually sleep from exhaustion. It’s not an easy place to drift off in peace.
I don’t know how you’re feeling, but I have no idea how Porsche expects people to get any work done this week. I’m nervous already and it’s only Monday. Roll on Saturday afternoon!
