Porsche to defend title in the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2016
Porsche will be defending its title as last year’s champion in the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race and the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) with 919 Hybrid. The race will be held on the weekend of June 18 to 19, 2016.
With its 17 overall victories since 1970, Porsche is also the record holder on the Circuit de la Sarthe and leads in both the manufacturers’ and drivers’ classifications of the 2016 World Championship. The pressure is tremendous, and the Porsche racing strategists need maximum control of the two highly complex prototypes of Timo Bernhard (DE), Brendon Hartley (NZ) and Mark Webber( AU) with start number 1 and the sister car of Romain Dumas (FR), Neel Jani (CH) and Marc Lieb (DE) with number 2.
The 919 Hybrid is not a typical Porsche. That’s because of the strict FIA WEC regulations on vehicle design. As a result, the latest racing car has the futuristic look of a Le Mans Prototype.
The WEC regulations presents many different challenges. They lay down strict requirements pertaining to efficiency, safety and sustainability in motor sports. In short, vehicles that are designed for the future.
Porsche’s choice of combustion engine was born out of an efficiency-optimized approach: a highly compact, turbocharged four-cylinder 2.0-liter engine with direct fuel injection. The combustion engine is supported by two energy recuperation systems. Years of experience in designing Sports Cars helped to reduce the weight of individual components even further. The sports prototype is made mainly of carbon. In addition, the engine made of high-strength aluminium and the use of magnesium and various titanium alloys also helped to achieve the ideal system weight.