PORSCHE RETURNS TO LMP RACING
18-time Sebring Winner Plans 2014 Debut
Porsche returns to Le Mans with a works-run LMP1 sports prototype. The first outing of the completely new developed race car is planned for the year 2014. With 16 overall victories, Porsche is the most successful manufacturer at Le Mans. Porsche also has 18 wins at Sebring, America's greatest sports car race.
"Motorsport was always an essential part of the Porsche brand," emphasises Matthias Mueller, President of the Executive Board at Porsche AG. "So for us it was only a matter of time before we returned as a factory to the top league of racing. Porsche's successes in Le Mans are unrivalled. We want to follow up on this with the 17th outright victory."
With the RS Spyder sports prototype that was run with great success from 2006 to 2008 by the factory-backed Penske Racing team in the USA and to 2010 by several customer teams worldwide, Porsche has set the benchmark recently in the LMP2 category. With the RS Spyder we proved that our motorsport engineers in Weissach are at the forefront, says Wolfgang Hatz, Board Member for Research and Development at Porsche AG. For instance, we were the first to run a high-revving race engine with direct fuel injection, DFI, setting new standards in performance and efficiency. Recently, with the 911 GT3 R Hybrid, we adopted a completely new drive technology for racing purposes and achieved a considerable reduction in consumption.
Hartmut Kristen, Head of Porsche Motorsport, is already prepared for one of the most challenging development programmes in the companys history. Were looking forward to the task of developing new technologies and to continue on with the success of the Porsche RS Spyder. After the conclusion of our works-supported sports prototype programme in the American Le Mans Series we have kept up with the latest technological advances.
Now we will begin with detailed research in order to evaluate the various concept alternatives for our new car. These obviously depend on how the regulations for the year 2014 look in detail. In principle, these regulations are interesting for us because the integration of our hybrid technology in the vehicle concept is one possible option.
Porsches first win at Sebring came in 1960. The most recent Sebring win was in 2008, when Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas and Emmanuel Collard drove a Penske Porsche RS Spyder to victory.
