The last Porsche winner...
Porsche is returning to Le Mans with a works-run LMP1 racer - but don't get over-excited yet, it won't be run in anger until 2014. Oh, and it's going to be a hybrid.
"Motorsport was always an essential part of the Porsche brand," enthused Matthias Müller, President of the Executive Board at Porsche AG, in a press statement yesterday. "So for us it was only a matter of time before we returned as a factory to the top league of racing. The success of Porsche at Le Mans is unrivalled.We want to follow up on this with the 17th outright victory."
"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."
...and one from 1970. Legend!
Hartmut Kristen, Head of Porsche Motorsport is quoted thusly: "We're 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."
So there you have it. If we're lucky the Aston Martin LMP1 car may be sorted by 2014 too, so we can all pile over for a classic Anglo/German confrontation. (Don't tell 'em your names, etc...)
PS. For the benefit of the 'Race What Race' crowd - With 16 overall victories, Porsche is the most successful manufacturer in Le Mans. Hans Herrmann and Richard Attwood claimed the first overall victory for Porsche in 1970 with the legendary 917 short-tail. The 16th and by now last overall win was secured by Laurent Aiello, Stéphane Ortelli and Allan McNish in 1998 with the 911 GT1. In the years 2008 and 2009, the Porsche RS Spyder sports prototype won the title in the LMP2 category.
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