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.
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]
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.
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.”
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.
Here’s your second batch of photos from the 2014 Geneva Motor Show, that makes it 155 photos in all. We start part 2 with the very cool Maserati Alfieri concept and end with the very cool Volvo Concept Estate. Cool!
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.
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]
The Porsche Team has taken to twitter to announce the final driver line ups for its two 919 Hybrid LMP1 cars to compete in the 2014 WEC season. As expected Mark Webber will be in car #20 along with Timo Bernhard and Brendon Hartley.
The #14 919 Hybrid will be driven by Romain Dumas, Marc Lieb and Neel Jani.
At the ACO’s 2014 season launch last week Porsche officially confirmed its eagerly awaited return to top flight endurance racing in the LMP1 category.
Known simply as “Porsche Team”, two 919 Hybrids will be entered which will carry the numbers 14 and 20. The drivers assigned as the official entrants are former Le Mans winners Romain Dumas (#14) and Timo Bernhard (#20).
Porsche is yet to rubber stamp the driver lineups for each car, but earlier reports suggest Marc Lieb and Neel Jani will join Romain Dumas, leaving Mark Webber and Brendon Hartley to partner with Timo Bernhard.
Quietly buried in the press release below is confirmation from Porsche the 919 will be powered by a “small capacity” supercharged V4 engine at the rear and an electric motor driving the front wheels. These will be complemented by two energy recovery systems.
Defending its 2013 Le Mans victory in the GTE Pro class Porsche Team Manthey will return with a pair of 911 RSRs which have been revised for the 2014 season. The changes obviously worked too judging by Porsche’s recent class win at the 24 Hours of Daytona.
While we’re firmly in Bathurst 12 Hour mode, put up your hand if you’d like to see LMP1 cars competing in a 12 Hours of Bathurst race?! Of course, that would be truly magnificent and the sight of Mark Webber lapping Mount Panorama in his Porsche 919 would surely attract a crowd to rival the V8 Supercars. Not to mention increased international coverage.
Alas any such suggestions of that becoming a reality are well in the distance and, for now, we’ll just have to make do with Porsche’s latest update showing us some behind the scenes action of their preparations for its return to LMP1 endurance racing.
The Porsche 919 hybrid will use a 16 valve 2.0 litre turbocharged V4 engine, according to Autocar.
V4 engines have inherent balance issues so at first this may seem an odd choice for Porsche. However, a quick glance at the history books shows Porsche has raced at Le Mans with flat-four engines at Le Mans in the 1950s. The spec sheet on these engines described them as have a 180° vee, and perhaps that may be the direction Porsche is taking in 2014.
A 2.0 litre four cylinder engine should help Porsche achieve good fuel economy, which is vital in the new LMP1 regulations. A single conventional turbo will be placed between the two cylinder banks.
We’ve known for some time that Porsche is developing a four cylinder boxer for its road cars and you don’t need to stretch the imagination too far to see some marketing and research opportunities with this V4 race engine.
The regs also allow for a maximum of two energy recuperation systems and Porsche will send the power from both to the front wheels of the 919, while the V4 will power the rear wheels.
The two recuperation systems will be called KERS and ERS, with the former charging a lithium-ion battery via the front brakes and the ERS collecting energy from the turbo’s exhaust gasses.
A third 919 chassis is being built and is expected to have its track debut in the middle of next month when Porsche returns to Bahrain for more testing.
[Source: Autocar]