Porsche 919 Hybrid LMP1 - FIA World Endurance Champion 2015

Shangai November 1st. Since Sunday November first 17:00 hrs local time in Shanghai Porsche has been World Champion. By bringing home another race win in the penultimate round of the championship at the six hours race in China, Timo Bernhard (DE), Brendon Hartley (NZ) and Mark Webber (AU) secured the manufactures’ title for Porsche. This is despite the team still being regarded as newcomers in what is only Porsche’s second season. After the young squad from Weissach took the endurance racing crown jewels with a one-two victory in Le Mans on June 14th, they have now added to their tally with the first World Championship title for Porsche since 1986.

The ground breaking and highly complex technology of the Porsche 919 Hybrid proved itself on the world’s race tracks in record time – and, even more important, it continues to prove its road relevance.

The 919 was created from scratch with lots of courage instead of copying the competition’s solutions. Its hybrid system combines road relevant downsizing turbo technology with efficient fuel direct injection for the two-litre-four-cylinder combustion engine and uses an entirely new state of a lithium-ion battery to store electricity from two different energy recovery systems – brake energy from the front axle and exhaust energy. The energy recovery from the exhaust is unique in the WEC and makes the 919 also able to generate electrical power when accelerating. The system’s power is almost 1,000 HP.

2015 Porsche 919 Hybrid – proven base was extensively optimised

At the Paul Ricard Circuit in France on March 29th for the WEC Prologue, Porsche presented the second generation of its Le Mans Prototype 919 Hybrid race car as a technical evolution in a three-colour concept. Porsche also confirmed it will switch to the highest of the four energy categories in the LMP1 class. The performance of the energy recovery system was able to be increased by around one-third as compared to 2014. This means the 919 Hybrid is competitive to race in the 8-megajoule category. The new revolutionary WEC regulations, which went into effect in 2014, call for the use of powerful and innovative hybrid drive systems – and this was actually the main reason why Porsche decided to return to the world of top-level motor racing.

Wolfgang Hatz, board member for research and development at Porsche AG, stated the following at the presentation of the LMP1 prototypes in southern France: "The LMP1 programme at Porsche focuses on extensively networked cooperation between the engineers who work on our innovative drive system concept." The WEC regulations are designed to ensure that the most efficient car wins. The automotive industry in general must adopt exactly this approach to remain viable. Porsche already offers three plug-in hybrid production sports cars today. “This sets us apart from the competition and we plan to grow even stronger in this segment," said Hatz. "To this end, we need substantial expertise within the company. The tremendous pressure to perform in the top LMP1 category means our development specialists for production cars learn a lot in a very short time. On the other hand, young engineers receive top-quality training at turbo speed, and this knowledge can later be applied very effectively in series production. Learning from the race track for everyday roads is a tradition at Porsche. Therefore it makes perfect sense to create at least a partial link between our Le Mans prototypes and our motor racing history by means of the colours we use."

Related article : Porsche 919 Hybrid LMP1-H WEC Le Mans 2014

Evolution of the Porsche 919 for the 2015 season: more efficient, more rigid, easier to handle, lighter and more robust

Although the basic concept of the Class 1 Le Mans Prototype (LMP1) was retained in the second generation, virtually every component was refined. The ambitious goals for the next evolutionary stage were to make the vehicle more efficient, more rigid, easier to handle, lighter and yet more robust.

The 919 is equipped with a 2-litre V4 turbocharged petrol engine with an output of more than 500 hp, which powers the rear axle, and an electric motor with over 400 hp that drives the front wheels and gets its electricity from two energy-recovery systems. A liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery temporarily stores converted braking energy from the front axle as well as converted exhaust-gas energy. The reworked drive system is more powerful and more efficient than before. The Porsche 919 Hybrid was homologated for the top energy-recovery category (8 megajoules for one lap in Le Mans) for the first time in 2015.

The vehicle’s lower weight and improved overall rigidity, as well as optimisations made to the suspension and aerodynamics, improved the handling of the endurance racing car. Despite the significant weight reductions, the engineers were still able to make certain key components more robust.

2015 FIA Endurance Championship Results for the Porsche 919 Hybrid LMP1

At the conclusion of the Shangai 6 Hours Porsche LMP1 had a total of 308 points compared to Audi with 238 points and Toyota 137 points.

France Paul Ricard Prologue - Porsche 919 Hybrid finished  in first and second position
1st - N°18 Romain Dumas
2nd - N°17 T. Bernhard
Silverstone 6 Hours  - Porsche finished in second position
2nd - Porsche N°18 Romain Dumas, Neel Jani, Marc Lieb
Spa Francorchamps 6 Hours -  Porsche 919 Hybrid finished in second and third position
2nd - N°18 Romain Dumas, Neel Jani, Marc Lieb
3rd - N°17 Timo Bernhard, Mark Webber, Brendon Hartley
Le Mans 24 Hours - Porsche 919 Hybrid finished  in first, second and fifth position
1st - N°19 Nicolas Hulkenberg, Earl Bamber, Nicholas Tandy
2nd - N°17 Timo Bernhard, Mark Weber, Hartley Brendon
5th - N°18 Romain Dumas, Neel Jani, Marc Liebe
Nurburgring 6 Hours -  Porsche 919 Hybrid finished in first and second position
1st - N°17 Timo Bernhard, Mark Webber, Brendon Hartley
2nd - N°18 Romain Dumas, Neel Jani, Marc Lieb
Austin, Texas America 6 Hours  - Porsche 919 Hybrid finished in first position
1st - N°17 Timo Bernhard, Mark Webber, Brendon Hartley
12th - N°18 Romain Dumas, Neel Jani, Neel Jani
Fuji Japan 6 Hours -  Porsche 919 Hybrid finished in first and second position
1st - N°17 Timo Bernhard, Mark Webber, Brendon Hartley
2nd - N°18 Romain Dumas, Neel Jani, Marc Lieb
Shangai China 6 Hours -  Porsche 919 Hybrid finished in first and second position
1st - N°17 Timo Bernhard, Mark Webber, Brendon Hartley
2nd - N°18 Romain Dumas, Neel Jani, Marc Lieb
Bahrein 6 Hours are expected on November 20th.

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