by John Glynn | Jun 17, 2014 | Porsche News, Race and Rally
There was no mistaking the familiar form of Matthias Müller at Le Mans last weekend. While most CEOs and directors sat in air-conditioned marketing suites, entertaining guests and playing with their phones, the Porsche CEO was in the pitlane with the drivers and mechanics, supporting his team and its efforts.
Not only was Matthias in the pitlane, but he was wearing full team garb, right down to the Adidas shoes. Can you imagine the Ferrari chairman in a mechanics outfit? Luca in a Shell-badged workshirt, jumping in and out of the cameras? Not how Herr Müller played it – he was low key all weekend and seemed to spend most of Saturday and early Sunday morning in the pitlane.
Porsche Racing Tradition
This is the Porsche tradition of old: Ferry Porsche sitting amongst drivers, sharing the highs and the lows. No doubt Matthias and Co – including Klaus Bischof and a visit from Norbert Singer – had their share of the lows last weekend, but such is the nature of racing. With five rounds remaining in this year’s WEC series, anything can still happen. Porsche now has ten weeks or so to take the 919 a step further and further develop the areas flagged in last weekend’s racing.
It’s also worth remembering that Le Mans was twenty-four hours on track, while the rest are no more than six at a time. Six hours into Le Mans, Porsche was sitting very pretty. Let’s see where we end up after racing for six hours in Austin.
WEC Race Schedule 2014
Full details of the remaining races in the FIA WEC race calendar can be found at www.fiawec.com. In a nutshell, you should add these to your diary:
- September 20: 6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas
- October 12: 6 Hours of Fuji
- November 2: 6 Hours of Shanghai
- November 15: 6 Hours of Bahrain
- November 30: 6 Hours of Sao Paolo
Circuit of the Americas is on Singapore Grand Prix weekend. Fuji matches the Russian Grand Prix. Shanghai matches the American Grand Prix, but the rest are all on their own. A busy year of motorsport still to come!
Pic credit: Anyone using Twitter should be following @PorscheRaces, the official Porsche motorsport feed. This Le Mans was a mass of content with some great pics shared online. Follow our own @CultofPorsche feed too.
by John Glynn | Jun 15, 2014 | Porsche News, Race and Rally
Porsche was denied a win at the 2014 24 Hours of Mans today, when the leading number 20 919 LMP1 Hybrid retired in the last two hours of the race.
Mark Webber had just taken over the 919 from Timo Bernhard, who was thirty seconds in front of a charging number 2 Audi. TV cameras picked up Webber as the 919 slowed dramatically, stuck at 60 km/h. The former F1 star showed his class in remaining calm under the extreme pressure of the moment, running through a series of checks, but it was obvious this was a serious issue.
“Misfire, misfire, high oil temperature,” was Mark’s message over the radio as he headed for the pit lane. The car came home and was duly dismantled, but slumped shoulders a few minutes later said it all. Webber slapped his crew chief on the back and that was it: number 20 was out of the race. Partners Timo Bernhard and Brendon Hartley could only ponder what might have been.
Number 14 was still running, now in P4 in the LMP1 class. Marc Lieb was putting useful laps together when suddenly he reported gearbox problems. The car came back into pit lane and the engine cover was removed but again the lack of activity suggested something close to terminal. As mechanics polished the number 14, Lieb stood by with his helmet on, clearly hoping to get back on track for a final classification.
The 14 did get back out for photo opportunities with the chequered flag and appears on the final lap timings, but Eurosport claims it was not officially classified, so we wait to confirm that. Audi had the finish line all to themselves, with a 1-2 finish for cars 2 and 1 in that order. The number 92 Porsche 911 RSR of Fred Makowiecki took third place in the GTE-Pro category, behind Bruni’s Ferrari and Garcia’s Corvette.
Le Mans is disappointing for all fans of Porsche, but of course this is only round 3 of the 2014 World Endurance Championship. We now have almost three months to the 6 Hours of Austin at Circuit of the Americas on September 20th, so plenty of time to consider the data, develop the car further and go for the series title.
No one will hold this disappointment against the Porsche team. They gave the race everything, and 2014 was a great race for motorsport fans. Kudos to Weissach and on to the next one.
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.
