The board of Porsche AG has decided to continue the Porsche 919 Hybrid programme until the end of the 2018 season. The Porsche 919 hybrid packs a downsized turbocharged engine mated to a strong energy recovery system, which also serves as a research laboratory for Porsche’s future racing plans.
Chairman of the Executive Board of Porsche AG, Matthias Müller said, “Motorsport is an important part of Porsche’s brand identity – but not an end in itself. Racing has got to help the technology of future road going sports cars. It was the revolutionary efficiency regulations that convinced us to return to top-level motorsport for the 2014 season. That we have managed to take the crown jewels of endurance racing in only our second year, with a one-two result in Le Mans in 2015 with our highly innovative and complex 919, is an outstanding testimony to the people in the Weissach research and development centre. The competition bears fruits and we see further potential for future synergy between the racing and road car programmes. This is why we have extended the programme.”
For class one of the Le Mans prototypes (LMP1) entered by car manufacturers, the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) regulations specifies hybrid systems and limit the amount of energy in terms of fuel and electricity available per lap.
Member of the Executive Board, Research and Development, Wolfgang Hatz, said, “Porsche sets bench marks in the WEC. The two-litre V4-cylinder turbo charged petrol engine with a performance of over 500 hp is the most efficient combustion engine we have built so far. Our energy recovery systems are the most powerful ones on the entire grid. Up until now no other manufacturer is able to provide eight megajoules of electric power for the distance of one lap in Le Mans. It is easy to detect that the challenge provided by the sport pushes our engineers to extreme performances.”
Vice President LMP1, Fritz Enzinger, concluded by saying, “Back in 2012 we began in Weissach with a handful of people, literally a white sheet of paper, high expectations and a strong amount of courage. I’m very proud of this team of 230 employees and I’m pleased for each of them that from now on we can plan securely for three more world championship seasons and Le Mans entries.”
