The Porsche Racing team has claimed pole position in LMP1 in the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans: the first works Porsche pole position since Hans Stuck in 1988. Across the three two-hour qualifying sessions for this year’s race, all three 919 LMP1 Hybrids set blistering times that could not be matched by the competition.
Neel Jani laid the gauntlet down early, with a new record lap of the current Le Mans course in the first fifteen minutes of Q1: a 3:16.887. The Jani/Dumas/Lieb number 18 car will start from pole on Saturday, leading team mates Bernhard/Hartley/Webber in number 17.
This evening, Nick Tandy in the number 19 car set a time roughly half a second quicker than his best lap of yesterday, coming good on his promise to go faster today after some holdups in Q1, but third place was where he would finish, driving with Bamber and Hulkenberg.
Bamber was amongst those who had notes home from the stewards on exceeding track limits, but it made little difference to laptimes. All this was huge relief for Jani (below, centre with Dumas and Lieb), who confirmed to reporters at the end of qualifying that he had been expecting to fight his teammates for pole on day two.
“We thought today that we would have to go back out and defend our pole, but it was a good thing that we didn’t have to. I think it would have been a large fight at the end, but I’m happy with that lap record: we’ll take that.”
Porsche’s 1-2-3 quali times, well ahead of arch-rivals Audi, allowed the 919s to focus on race setup through the second day’s sessions. Tyre tests of day and night compounds obviously went well given Tandy’s improvements in pace, but the big question for the 24 Hours is reliability. After that comes tyres and fuel consumption.
“We have speed, but that’s not everything,” said Romain Dumas. “We are better than Audi on fuel: they are better than us on tyres.” “The Porsches are too fast,” said Audi’s Andre Lotterer. “There is no point chasing them in qualifying: we must think about racing twenty-four hours.”
No one seemed too downbeat at Audi when qualifying came to an end. The team has claimed Porsche scalps twice already this year: no reason to believe that La Sarthe cannot be the same. It’s going to be an exciting day’s racing, and that’s not including what happens behind LMP1.
Porsche Motorsport has launched the all-new Porsche 911 GT3 R at the Nürburgring 24-Hour. The new 991 GT3 R joins the current factory race car lineup of 919 LMP1 Hybrid and 991 RSR, and the customer 991 Cup, which is built on the Stuttgart production line.
Based on the 991 GT3 RS, the 991 GT3 R comes with a four-litre flat-six making 500bhp and costs an impressive €429,000 plus VAT: almost $500,000 plus applicable taxes, according to fxtop.com. In comparison, the 991 Cup (GT3 based) with 460bhp from its 3.8-litre engine costs just €181,000* plus tax. So what do you get for your half-million dollars?
“In developing the latest 911 race car, special attention was paid to lightweight design, better aerodynamic efficiency, reducing consumption, improved handling, further optimised safety as well as lowering service and spare parts costs,” says the Porsche press release.
That lightweight design starts with aluminium, carbon fibre and polycarbonate: all the glazing – including the windscreen – is now polycarbonate (EB Motorsport sells a similar polycarbonate windscreen for early Porsche 911s if you’re in the market). The roof, front panels, doors, rear quarters and tail section are all carbon fibre.
Lowering body and suspension weight across the 991’s longer wheelbase (83mm longer than a 997) means an ‘optimised’ centre of gravity has been achieved. I presume that optimised means lower and further forward than the 997: no doubt one of my race engineer friends will fill me in on this over a beer some night.
One big change on the new GT3 R is a move to a centre front radiator. Anyone who has watched Supercup racing at Monaco knows that even a small hit to one front corner can wipe out a radiator and then a race motor too, as the damaged car limps back to the pits with soaring engine temps.
Going to a centre rad (as seen on older Porsche 911 race cars with centrally-mounted oil coolers) helps airflow and aerodynamics too, allowing more control of the hot air beneath the front wings and around the front axle. The 991 GT3 R brings in the same front wing vents from the 991 GT3 RS to reduce front end lift, but then the 997 GT3 R also had front wing vents: not a great deal is different.
Brakes at 6-piston 380mm front/4-piston 372mm rear are the same as GT3 Cup, and the wheels are also the same 310mm width at the rear. Paddle shift of the six-speed sequential transmission, direct injection, variable valve timing, 120-litre fuel cell: it’s all as one would expect from a top-flight Porsche racing car costing £370,000 including VAT.
Deliveries start in December this year, so we won’t see the Porsche 991 GT3 R on race tracks before 2016. How competitive will it be? That depends on who decides to run it, and what the competition does in the meantime. See below for some Porsche video of the new 911 GT3 R in action.
Despite the time, money and technology invested in modern Porsche cars, including the Porsche 918 and 919 LPM1 Hybrid, the Porsche 917 is still the model most frequently seen at the top of “ultimate Porsche” lists. But which is the ultimate Porsche 917?
Porsche built circa 60 variations on the 917 theme, including 917/10 and 917/30 Can-Am models. Iconic liveries included Gulf, Martini and Kremer “Hippie” cars, but the most famous 917 must be the red-and-white short-tail painted in the family’s own Porsche Salzburg dealership colours. This is chassis number 917-023: the car that claimed Porsche’s first Le Mans victory in June 1970.
Legend has it that, like all good race cars, the winning Porsche 917 was sold in the car park after the race, to pay for the next round of racing developments. In fact, 917-023 stayed with Porsche for the rest of 1970 before selling to the Martini Racing team, and then on to famous US collector and engineer, Vasek Polak. It passed through the Matsuda collection and also lived with an American doctor before current owner, Carlos Monteverde, bought it for racing. Much of Monteverde’s collection apparently lives quite near my house, but that’s another story.
Richard Attwood Porsche 917 Le Mans 1970
Richard ‘Dickie’ Attwood drove the car to victory in Le Mans 1970 and was never surprised that Porsche sold the car soon after the win. “Le Mans did not have the same cachet in 1970 as it does now,” Dickie explained to his local paper. “There are more significant races for drivers, but it’s tremendously important for manufacturers.
“1970 was a landmark win for Porsche because it was their first, but my win there was lucky. We only qualified fifteenth fastest – it was more a case of other drivers losing rather than my winning. But, having been leading by six laps in the previous year with three and a half hours to go when the transmission broke, I deserved a bit of luck.
“Winning Le Mans unquestionably helped me in later life. The hero worship of sports stars has now reached stratospheric levels and the significance of that victory seems to grow stronger with the passing of time.”
Despite claiming Porsche’s maiden Le Mans win and being one of the few people who have owned a Porsche 917, Attwood was not the Porsche 917’s greatest fan at the time, noting that Porsche would pay double money to convince drivers to race the “no good” 917 rather than the proven 908, which was still well able to claim the winner’s purse at most races. When Porsche asked their driver what format of 917 he wanted to race in June 1970, Attwood chose a slower 4.5-litre, short-tail car with the 4-speed gearbox on the basis of reliability. He adopted a similar approach to his team mate.
Having raced alongside Vic Elford in 1969, Attwood felt his team-mate had cost them a win by driving the car too hard, breaking the gearbox with three hours to go while the car was six laps in front. For 1970, Dickie chose to drive with Hans Herrmann: one of the factory’s most famous drivers, but a man in his early forties who had already decided to retire.
The pair did no testing before the event: Le Mans was Attwood’s first drive in the car. Qualifying way down the field, a win should have been impossible for Porsche 917-023, but then the rain fell and history was made.
The full story of Porsche 917-023 has now been committed to print in a book by former Silverstone press officer, Ian Wagstaff, which will be released on June 1st. The book tells the story of chassis 023, including hundreds of period pictures, interviews with all surviving drivers of 917-023 and input from one of the most experienced 917 mechanics of the era. Pre-order the book here.
Porsche driver, Mark Webber, had every reason to be disappointed after round two of the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship at Spa-Francorchamps. From a dominant qualifying performance, where Porsche claimed the first three grid positions for the start of the race, Audi outraced the Porsche 919 LMP1 Hybrids to take its second win of the 2015 season.
“Ultimately there were too many own goals that put us on the back foot, like the problem with the rear suspension that cost us two and a half minutes,” Webber told Motorsport.com at the finish. “But that’s how it should be. The level is so high now and the championship is red hot; we don’t want to be gifted any results having not performed at a high level. A two-three for Porsche is good, but we leave here a little bit disappointed.”
Despite disappointment for Porsche fans, Spa was another incredible race. The 919 Hybrids stormed off the grid, setting a strong early pace. In the all-new number 19 car, Nick Tandy outran highly regarded F1 teammate Nico Hülkenberg, clocking the car’s fastest race lap on lap 5 with a 1:58.052. The following lap, the LMP1 cars caught the GTs, who were also enjoying some speed. Enter confusion for Porsche.
As Tandy piled in some increasingly fast laps, fellow Porsche “newbie”, Kévin Estre, was flying in the number 91 RSR. Locked in battle with the Astons, Estre clocked the highest top speed of the GTE-Pro class for the entire race on lap 6, hitting 266.7 km/h (165.71 mph) along Spa’s Kemmel Straight. As the two groups descended the hill towards Pif-Paf, Tandy spotted the hint of a gap between Estre and the apex, and squirted 19 straight towards it.
By the time he arrived, it was gone. The two cars collided with disastrous consequences. Porsche’s LMP1 chief, Fritz Enzinger, described it as “an unlucky accident”, but the stewards thought differently, hitting Estre (below) with a penalty. “Totally undeserved” was the verdict amongst the racers watching the race on my iPhone in the Donington pit lane.
As the race continued, more issues befell the Porsche racers. Brendon Hartley – again the quickest man in Porsche’s LMP1 squad – set the fastest lap of the race early on: a 1:57.972 on lap five. Audi would later come very close to beating that, but Hartley’s early speed would not last forever. Losing the brakes into the final chicane and heading deep into the runoff, Brendon took a sweet little shortcut back to the track, but unfortunately ran too close to the marshals for the race director’s liking. A stop and go penalty with subsequent damper failure put the leading car out of contention.
All hopes then landed on Marc Lieb’s shoulders. The master of understated speed soaked it all up and drove some incredible laps. Now in his sixteenth year as a Porsche driver, Lieb’s early pace proved better than Tandy’s: 1:58.025 on lap 3 was just a few hundredths short of Hartley’s best effort. But the 919 was not kind to its tyres, which Lieb would later point out.
Porsche 919 LMP1 Hybrid Spa: a story of tyre wear
“Because of regulations limiting the supply of tyres, we did a double stint, but it didn’t quite work out with the tyre wear,” said Lieb. “It was a great battle with Ben Tréluyer and quite a moment when he hit me in the rear going down to turn nine, but that’s racing. To strike back we have some work to do in terms of tyre management.”
When the chequered flag fluttered, Audi number 7 (Fässler/Lotterer/Tréluyer) crossed the line in front of Porsche number 18 (Dumas/Jani/Lieb) by less than a quarter of a minute. Audi number 7 had spent a total of 7 minutes 36 seconds in the pits, with Porsche 18 clocking 8 minutes 12 seconds across the same distance. The 919 had shown more than 10 km/h top speed advantage in FP3, but the Audi was sweeter on its tyres, holding on for two and half stints towards the end of the race.
Aston Martin took overall GT victory, but (surprisingly in the dry) the Porsche 911 RSRs matched their top speed and were close on ultimate lap times: fastest 2:19.189 for the winning 99 Aston was just two-tenths ahead of the number 92 911. The Porsche needed one extra pitstop, spending 23 seconds more on pit lane for the race, and losing by just less than 30.
Two Porsches finished on the LMP1 podium, and two more finished in the GTE-Pro top three, but no doubt the winners deserved it. The Macdowall/Rees/Stanaway Aston was on awesome form and what can one say about that Audi, its incredible trio of drivers, a brilliant revised aero package and the supreme race strategies of engineer Leena Gade.
Porsche at Le Mans 2015
While the Porsches lost speed as the race wore on, the Audis set their quickest laps later in the race: lap 49 was number 7’s fastest tour. It was a similar story at Le Mans last year: Porsche’s quickest time was set on lap four, while Audi’s best came on lap 317. The Porsche team will need to find some endurance if it wants to win in France.
Had a great day at Donington yesterday with Mark and James Bates of EB Motorsport, who were racing their 3.0-litre Porsche 911 RS in the Donington 1000kms event. It was not the best day ever for Porsche motorsport on the whole (Spa 6 Hours thoughts to come), but we did enjoy an exciting, well-organised race at a great venue.
Historic racing is an expensive business. Forget about buying and building the cars for a moment: just to take part in a decent event costs upwards of £1000. This covers the entry fee for a car and one driver, but does not always include a second driver, garage space or catering. It does not cover tyres and fuel, it does not cover insurance and it definitely does not include wear and tear or breakages, which on older cars can be highly significant.
The Donington 1000kms was part of the 2015 Donington Historic Festival. Organised by the Swiss-based Historic Motor Racing, the race is one of a series of endurance events run by the company all over Europe. As the EB brothers are putting in a shorter race season this year due to work commitments, more Porsche projects and a new baby for James, the 1000kms schedule of ‘qualify in the morning, race in the afternoon’ was perfect: they could rock up early, get the car ready, qualify and chill out for a bit, then have two and a half hours of racing before heading home.
First job of the day was to scrutineer the car. Slight issue there, as someone forgot the Porsche 911’s FIA Historic Technical Passport. We had a word with the people in charge and, as the car still had its barcodes from the last event, the engine was FIA sealed and the 911 was running in an invitational class and would not score points, we were allowed to take part.
Porsche 911 3.0 RS vs Prototype Racers
Qualifying went well. On a grid packed with prototypes, the single exception – EB’s 911 – went 14th quickest on new post-historic tyres that have only been tried on the team’s yellow 911 RSR for a couple of races so far. While the compound might be a bit slower than previous rubber, the tyres are huge, so the increased width gave excellent grip. We were still almost ten seconds off the pace of the leading Lola T70.
Racing is a very social affair, so there was plenty of craic in the paddock between quali and the race. Our garage was shared with a Chevron B8, Elva Mk8 and a Lola T70 Mk3B. A Lola T70 for sale must be £750k now, Chevron B8 for sale would probably be £200k and similar money for an Elva. Despite there being well over a million quid parked in our garage, the atmosphere was just the same as if all were in cheap track day specials. People dropping in and chatting, bit of banter from previous track outings and one or two compliments for Mark, following his performance in EB’s SWB car at the 73rd Goodwood members meet. He will henceforth be known as “The Sultan of Slide”.
The race was slightly delayed, which gave time for the weather to change and the rain to move in. The boys split the race into two equal parts: James took the start on a slippery circuit and had brought the car up to seventh by the time of his pitstop. With 100 litres of fuel in the tank at the start and the lack of grip keeping speeds and fuel consumption lower than expected, Mark decided to gamble on that being enough to finish the race, avoiding the mandatory 3-minute minimum time for a fuel stop.
As Mark started his stint, the rain stopped and a dry line began to appear. The pace hotted up: 911 lap times falling from the high 1:30s in the wet to an excellent 1:17.9 at one point: quicker than qualifying. Ambient temperatures were very cold, so the rest of the track stayed damp and slippy, leaving a treacherous no-mans-land for anyone who had to go off line to make progress. After two and a bit hours of racing, Mark had no choice: he pitted for fuel and the three-minute stop to go with it. This cost us the best part of two laps and we were out of the top ten.
As the race entered its final lap, we had news that, while fighting for the lead, our garagemate – the beautiful Lola T70 (above) – had passed a backmarker on the damp part of the track through the fast downhill Craner Curves, lost traction and hit the wall at high speed. When the car was brought back, it was not the best sight, but owner/driver Leo was safe and well. At times like this, no one worries where they’ve finished: it’s just good to get home in one piece and live to fight another day.
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