Category: WEC

Categories
Audi Porsche Toyota WEC

Toyota wins 2014 6hrs of Silverstone

2014 6 Hours of Silverstone

The 2014 WEC season got off to the best possible start overnight after Toyota claimed a dominant 1–2 victory in a rain affected 6 Hours of Silverstone. Two laps behind the winning #8 Toyota TS040 (Davidson, Lapierre, Buemi) was the #20 Porsche 919 (Bernhard, Hartley, Webber). That result marks a promising return to the LMP1 category for Porsche.

“The team did a fantastic job all weekend,” said Anthony Davidson after the victory. “It looked like it would be an epic fight with Audi and Porsche if it had stayed dry, but we knew the rain was coming and we had set our car up for wet conditions.

“We made the right call on tyres, the strategy was just perfect; that’s how you win races.”

Defending champions Audi had a race to forget with both the R18s crashing out of contention. Luca di Grassi was at the wheel when the #1 R18 went out early in proceedings, while the #2 car lasted until mid-race distance having lost time due to a separate incident in the first hour.

The #14 Porsche 919 also went off-track briefly, although no major damage was done. However, its race came to an end early in the second hour due to a “technical problem”. This highlights how valuable the third place for the #20 car was, enabling the team to gather valuable track time and experience in addition to championship points.

In a three horse race, with two established rivals and a new kid on the block, this set of results builds anticipation for the 6 Hours of Spa in two weeks.

The Audis have shown they have raw pace, setting the fastest single lap in both qualifying and the race, and with multiple championships behind them they’re unlikely to repeat the double blunder we saw here at Silverstone.

Toyota has built on its LMP1 experience and this result will give them confidence to carry its momentum to Spa. While Porsche has shown it can have the reliability it needs to keep its more fancied rivals honest.

“It’s been a brilliant day for us,” Mark Webber siad post-race. “I’m happy to have played a small role in the effort that’s gone in from the team and everyone back at the factory to get to this point.

“Timo and Brendon drove exceptionally as well. It was unfortunate for the other car, but it wasn’t their day. It was a tough race for all the drivers with tricky conditions, and drizzle on slick tyres is never easy. We managed to dodge a few bullets and survived some of the tricky phases.

“It was a great experience for me, I learnt so much today in the race. We were spot on with the pit stops in terms of the tyre strategy.”

Official race reports and photos from Toyota, Porsche and Audi can be viewed after the break.

Continue reading “Toyota wins 2014 6hrs of Silverstone”
Categories
Porsche WEC

Stuck in a job going nowhere?

Mark Webber FIA WEC promo

Mark Webber and his Porsche 919 buddies make their competition debut in the 6 Hours of Silverstone this weekend. Australian readers can watch the race live and exclusive on Foxtel’s Speed TV channel.

To remind you of that fact Speed TV has come up with a very cool and quite amusing promo which you can see after the break.

Race coverage begins at 9pm on Sunday and runs through until 4am on Monday (AEST). If you don’t have Foxtel or can’t park yourself in front of a telly you can tune into Radio Le Mans for audio coverage.

Continue reading “Stuck in a job going nowhere?”
Categories
Porsche Video WEC

The glorious sound of a Porsche V4

Porsche 919 Hybrid

The good people from Drive went along to Paul Ricard recently and captured some audio of the Porsche 919 Hybrid. This is good because it gives us a great opportunity to hear what its petrol-powered V4 engine sounds like. It’s not the best sounding engine you will ever hear, but it’s not too bad.

Continue reading “The glorious sound of a Porsche V4”
Categories
Formula 1 Porsche Red Bull Racing Video WEC

Mark Webber talks about career, past and present

Mark Webber

The chaps at XCAR films managed to get Mark Webber to spend some time in front of the camera during last week’s WEC test at Paul Ricard. They got him talking about his career and a few other bits and pieces.

We learn how Mark got started, hear about his departure from Formula 1 and what he’s looking forward to with Porsche.

One thing we were surprised to learn is how low Mark’s heart rate is during race conditions, especially in the 919. He is ice cool!

[Thanks to Tiaan for the tip]

Continue reading “Mark Webber talks about career, past and present”
Categories
Bathurst 12 Hour Formula 1 Motorsports WEC

Racetracks of the world to scale

Racetracks of the world to scale

In this graphic you’re looking at 95 famous racetracks from the world, all compared alongside each other in scale. It’s been prepared by a guy appropriately named Matt Dunlop. Thanks Matt, this is great work!

Some tracks are pretty obvious to make out, such as the Nürburgring, Circuit de la Sarthe, Silverstone, Suzuka, Mount Panorama, Phillip Island and so on. If you want to identify more tracks simply click on the image above for the full-sized 3450x2400px version and all will be revealed.

For example, what’s the massive track running around the outside of the graphic? It’s the 60.73km Snaefell Mountain Course, best known for hosting the Isle of Man TT.

[Source: imgur | Thanks to Micky for the tip]

Categories
Porsche Video WEC

Porsche factory drivers talk about the 919 Hybrid

Mark Webber

Porsche made sure its drivers did more than lap the Paul Ricard circuit over recent days by asking them to tell the world how wonderful the new 919 Hybrid really is. This is what they came up with. That V4 engine sounds alright, too.

Continue reading “Porsche factory drivers talk about the 919 Hybrid”
Categories
Audi Porsche Toyota WEC

Porsche fastest at two-day WEC Prologue

Porsche 919 Hybrid

The Porsche 919 Hybrid headed the field after the WEC’s official two-day Prologue test at Paul Ricard on the weekend. The #20 car of Mark Webber went fastest during the Friday evening session when Brendon Hartley posted a lap time of 1:41.289.

Hartley’s teammates, Timo Bernhard and Webber, also broke the 1:42 barrier on the first day of testing. The #2 Audi R18 with Andre Lotterer at the wheel set the next best time of the weekend when he went 1:42.073 on Friday afternoon.

Romain Dumas, driving the #14 919, recorded the third quickest lap with a best time of 1:42.126. Toyota’s fastest lap in the TS040 of 1:42.356 came during the Friday afternoon session.

There were two sessions run on Saturday, which were slower overall. The best times were in the 1:43s and were set by the #1 and #2 Audi R18s of Tom Kristensen and Marcel Fassler.

With the more open nature of the new LMP1 regulations it’s difficult to compare like with like. Aside from the different engine configurations found in the three factory LMP1 teams the Audi R18 can use up to 2MJ of recovered energy per lap, while the Porsche 919 and Toyota TS040 can use up to 6MJ. This means the regulations employ a complex measure of how much fuel each car can use per lap in order to try and keep performance as even as possible.

It’s probably best just to worry about which car is fastest against the clock and, if you care enough, then start looking into the reasons why. Needless to say all three teams were claiming success after the Prologue, saying that testing went to their pre-arranged schedules. It seems everyone’s a winner. For now.

The real winner will be known in a few weeks when the flag drops and the bullshit stops when racing begins in earnest at the 6 Hours of Silverstone on 20 April.

Speaking after the Prologue Mark Webber explained just getting through the team’s program was a bonus for Porsche: “This test here was a big milestone. To enter two cars for the first time was a tremendous amount of hard work for the crew on the operational side.

“Smooth running was a well-deserved award and a good tonic for the guys after a long week. Every day we run we find more areas to improve, which is very encouraging. The track lay-out at Paul Ricard seems to suit our car very well. I’m curious to find out how we can perform in Silverstone.”

Continue reading “Porsche fastest at two-day WEC Prologue”
Categories
Porsche WEC

Porsche 919 ready for Prologue test

Porsche 919 Hybrid

Later tonight the 2014 WEC season has its first official preview when the two day Prologue test begins at the Paul Ricard Circuit in France. In preparation Porsche has put the final touches on its 919 Hybrid ahead of its first genuine test against the competition from Audi and Toyota.

Officially this will be Mark Webber’s first earnest hitout in the 919 as well, so we’ll be very keen to see how he goes.

Earlier this week the 919 was on track at Paul Ricard for three days of testing. It was the first time all six of the Porsche LMP1 drivers were on hand. Despite a few technical dramas Porsche say they have accumulated valuable experience in the 4,756km of completed testing so far.

“This test was a very challenging one for the entire crew,” explained Team Principal Andreas Seidl. “For the first time we were running two cars at the same time, which was demanding in terms of logistics and team coordination.

“The other target was to simulate a race weekend in order to prepare for the two six-hours races that are coming up. This was a very important experience for us. The test taught us that we have to improve in terms of reliability.

“With regards to the way the crew and drivers worked together as a team, we are going in the right direction. The next two days of testing here in Paul Ricard, during the Prologue, will be used to fine tune both the car’s set up, as well as the race specific processes.”

A reminder, too, that you can keep up to date with the Porsche 919 program via the @PorscheRaces twitter account.

Continue reading “Porsche 919 ready for Prologue test”
Categories
Toyota WEC

Toyota TS040 Hybrid revealed

Toyota TS040 Hybrid

Toyota Racing has launched its 2014 challenger, the TS040 Hybrid. The team will continue to run a two car program with the same drivers as before, although the pairings have been slightly rearranged.

As in Formula 1 new regulation changes have been introduced for the 2014 season. Two of the main changes include a 100mm reduction in width of the cars and they must now use 25% less fuel compared with last year.

Despite the need to reduce fuel use these LMP1 cars have some serious grunt. The TS040 has a combined maximum power output of 736kW (1000PS). That power is produced thanks to a 383kW normally aspirated 3.7 litre V8 and 353kW of “all-wheel drive hybrid boost”.

There’s a video animation below which illustrates how the new all-wheel drive system works in the TS040, along with a bunch of pics and a brief press statement from Toyota Racing.

An official two day pre-season test session for all WEC cars begins later tonight.

Continue reading “Toyota TS040 Hybrid revealed”
Categories
Formula 1 Porsche WEC

Porsche would have returned to F1 if…

2014 Geneva Motor Show

We all know Porsche is making a much heralded return to LMP1 racing in 2014, with an assault on outright victory at Le Mans in June being the highlight.

However, under different circumstances Porsche might have been readying itself for the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne this weekend. Indeed once Porsche had decided to return to top-line motorsport talk of an F1 return was discussed openly inside Porsche back in 2010.

Wolfgang Hatz, Porsche research and development boss, explains: “There were only two options—F1 or LMP. But Le Mans is our second home.

“What could have influenced it was if someone in the group had said ‘Yes, but Audi is there and you cannot compete with Audi’.

“If someone from senior management had said this is not possible, we would have had no other alternative [but F1].”

Porsche has committed to a three-year program with its LMP1 operations. A decision on any longer-term future is expected to be made in 2015.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s Porsche competed in F1 with a factory-backed team without any real success. Dan Gurney managed three second places in 1961 and a single third place finish in 1962.

Success was achieved in the role of engine supplier under the McLaren-TAG arrangement in the mid 1980s when Niki Lauda and Alain Prost won the drivers’ world championship in 1984 and 1985 respectively. McLaren won the constructors’ championship in both years as well.

Porsche last supplied F1 engines in 1991 to the Footwork Arrows team. Results were poor and the team swapped over to Ford engines part way through the season.

[Source: Autosport]

Categories
Motor Shows Porsche WEC

Geneva 2014: Porsche 919 Hybrid & 911 RSR

Porsche 919 Hybrid

Porsche has now released preliminary details for the 919 Hybrid, following the earlier leak. Not much else to add except to invite you to check out the images and information after the break.

Pics are also included for the 2014-spec 911 RSR which will fight for Porsche in the GTE Pro class during the FIA World Endurance Championship.

The full press kit from Porsche at the Geneva Motor Show is available below as well.

Continue reading “Geneva 2014: Porsche 919 Hybrid & 911 RSR”
Categories
Porsche WEC

Porsche 919 Hybrid images leaked

Porsche 919 Hybrid

Porsche will be officially unveiling its 919 Hybrid LMP1 challenger at Geneva in the next 24 hours, but as is the way these days images have already surfaced online.

We thought there might have been some Red Bull livery somewhere on there with the arrival of Mark Webber to the team. As yet that’s not the case.

Power for the 919 comes thanks to a 2.0 lite V4 petrol engine and a whole bunch of electric gubbins harvesting, storing and releasing power. It will make its race debut at the 6 Hours of Silverstone on 20 April.

Oh yeah, there’s also the new 911 RSR, which looks massive alongside the 919. We’ll bring you more when Porsche says we can.

[Source: Autocar]

Continue reading “Porsche 919 Hybrid images leaked”