RE: Porsche to quit LMP1

RE: Porsche to quit LMP1

Friday 28th July 2017

Porsche to quit LMP1

Another motorsport great joins Formula E!



After yesterday's news of Mercedes leaving DTM to focus its efforts on F1 and Formula E, Porsche has made the announcement this morning that its LMP1 venture is over. The 919 Hybrid will cease competing at the end of this season and its motorsport strategy will focus on the 911 RSR and Formula E from 2019. 

The last race will be Bahrain...
The last race will be Bahrain...
The announcement is in line with Porsche's Strategy 2025 which will see the car maker build GT cars and fully electric sports cars like the Mission E. Does make you wonder about all those hybrids though, taking inspiration from the world of motorsport...

International GT racing is apparently still a priority for Porsche though, with the 911 RSR  being used in the GT class across the World Endurance Championship and the American IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship racing. Michael Steiner, Member of the Executive Board for R&D at Porsche said, "A diversity of manufacturers and the quality of both WEC and IMSA have led us to strengthen our commitment and concentrate our energies on using the 911 RSR. We want to be number one. To do that, we must invest accordingly". 

Porsche plans to enter Formula E for the 2019/20 season, by which time BMW will also be competing as well as Mercedes and the other teams like Jaguar, DS and Renault who are already involved. With the regulations also allowing manufacturer designed powertrains now - as opposed to the standardised units originally employed - Formula E looks set to rise in prominence. Will you be watching to see Porsche battle Mercedes in electric vehicles?

Author
Discussion

Arbs

Original Poster:

143 posts

174 months

Friday 28th July 2017
quotequote all
I wasn't too fussed about LMP1, never really go it! Much prefer the lower classes that actually resemble road cars, hopefully more focus will be shifted to them now! Last Le Mans showed the most exciting racing was in them catagories!

Output Flange

16,793 posts

210 months

Friday 28th July 2017
quotequote all
It's a shame whenever someone pulls out of the top class.

It's also a bit of a problem for the series, as they would have been putting a significant amount of money into it. Just look at Le Mans this year, and the noticeable absence of Audi's sponsorship.

Maybe it's time to bring in the hybrid supercar class - McLaren P1 GTRs vs LaFerrari FXX vs Porsche 918s, etc.

MrGeoff

645 posts

171 months

Friday 28th July 2017
quotequote all
This is a shame. I just can't, and I've tried, to get excited about Formula E.

Superhoop

4,676 posts

192 months

Friday 28th July 2017
quotequote all
With the poor reliability of the Porsche and Toyota LMP1 cars, and with Audi missing this year, that surely is the final nail in the coffin for the LMP1 class.. It's hardly a great way to win at Le Mans when the class is only being contested by 1 manufacturer...

A shame really, as they are awesome machines, but it was actually more exciting this year that an LMP2 car almost took the outright win at Le mans

Output Flange

16,793 posts

210 months

Friday 28th July 2017
quotequote all
Superhoop said:
A shame really, as they are awesome machines, but it was actually more exciting this year that an LMP2 car almost took the outright win at Le mans
Agreed, but that was in the context of an LMP2 car taking the outright win against LMP1s. Take the LMP1s away and so goes that excitement too.

JohnoVR6

690 posts

211 months

Friday 28th July 2017
quotequote all
Superhoop said:
With the poor reliability of the Porsche and Toyota LMP1 cars, and with Audi missing this year, that surely is the final nail in the coffin for the LMP1 class.. It's hardly a great way to win at Le Mans when the class is only being contested by 1 manufacturer...
ACO said when Audi pulled out they needed two manufacturers for it to remain a Championship. Can't see Toyota happily pouring £200m+ in to a series with no silverware at the end of it for long...

Still, LMP1 - rather than LMP1H - will be back with Ginetta, Dallara etc from 2018...be interesting to see how long that format is sustainable for.

WonkeyDonkey

2,333 posts

102 months

Friday 28th July 2017
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Shame, was a brilliant few years with 3 close teams all with different ideas on how to go fastest.

Ive tried formula e. At the moment I can't get into it, monumentally slow single seaters that need to swap entire chassis midway through the short race.

61GT

578 posts

179 months

Friday 28th July 2017
quotequote all
WonkeyDonkey said:
Shame, was a brilliant few years with 3 close teams all with different ideas on how to go fastest.

Ive tried formula e. At the moment I can't get into it, monumentally slow single seaters that need to swap entire chassis midway through the short race.
In fairness to Formula E it is still very much in its infancy, with the all the manufacturers now joining I'm sure it will be a case of racing/competition improving the breed.

As far as Le Mans/WEC is concerned it will now need to take a long hard look at where it wants to position itself relative to other formula/series and what particular benefits it now offers.


Loyly

17,990 posts

158 months

Friday 28th July 2017
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This is sad news. Formula E is deathly dull. It is the crappest motorsport around.

blearyeyedboy

6,252 posts

178 months

Friday 28th July 2017
quotequote all
61GT said:
In fairness to Formula E it is still very much in its infancy, with the all the manufacturers now joining I'm sure it will be a case of racing/competition improving the breed.
This is a silver lining on the cloud. There was a time when Motorsport really did improve ICE cars, and we have teaching to thank for many developments on our roads cars today. Manufacturers vying to compete in a field of technology where further development is needed might genuinely benefit electric road car and battery technology.

Perhaps I'm overly optimistic, but the next couple of decades might be exciting to watch.

Where does that leave Le Mans and endurance prototype racing though? While it won't be the first time that classes have changed, died off or evolved, the march of the electric era- and the challenge of currently limited range of electric vehicles- will make it harder for ICE endurance racing to remain relevant in a couple of decades. I can't imagine that spectators will enjoy watching all the entries for the 2027 Le Mans race plugged in for hours at a time on recharge... For that reason, I suspect we're not completely done with hybrid racers, but they may not return for a few years.

Edited by blearyeyedboy on Friday 28th July 11:18

ChilliWhizz

11,990 posts

160 months

Friday 28th July 2017
quotequote all
I've not watched any formula E, do they do pit stops to change batteries?

smile

Paul Dishman

4,676 posts

236 months

Friday 28th July 2017
quotequote all
ChilliWhizz said:
I've not watched any formula E, do they do pit stops to change batteries?

smile
No, they do pit stops to change cars

m444ttb

3,160 posts

228 months

Friday 28th July 2017
quotequote all
I really want to like Formula e, but 5 minutes into a race and I'm bored. My tolerance is quite high for boredom as a long-time F1 fan too. I'm not sure if it's that the cars don't look fast (which of course they aren't) or the tracks. Perhaps if they were 50% quicker and racing round Spa etc it might be more interesting. Still, it'll be interesting to see how the manufacturer arms race takes it between now and mid-next decade.

WCZ

10,492 posts

193 months

Friday 28th July 2017
quotequote all
manufacturers quitting race series to join something that no one watches or cares about, the london train announcments changing to non-binary

the world is going mad!

Jay_87

1,051 posts

203 months

Friday 28th July 2017
quotequote all
Never been too fussed by LMP1. I prefer to watch the ELMS where LMP2 is the top class. The racing is much better and the cars sound much nicer.

I've watched a few FE races as well but only when nothing else is on. Its a bit boring and the idea of swapping cars mid race is a complete farce but...

If battery technology is the future of motoring then the manufactures need to get involved in it and there is nothing more guaranteed to drive it forward than motorsport and competition.

Edited by Jay_87 on Friday 28th July 12:40


Edited by Jay_87 on Friday 28th July 12:41

Dale487

1,334 posts

122 months

Friday 28th July 2017
quotequote all

Not a massive surprise, LMP1 looked dead in the water at Le Mans. But the car are amazing from an engineering prospective - better than F1 cars.

I'd like to see a full grid of road based GTE machines at Le Mans next year.

Dave-f28iw

14 posts

104 months

Friday 28th July 2017
quotequote all
The whole point of racing is to allow manufacturers to compete against their different configurations and engineering beliefs.

Four, five, six, eight cylinders, flat 6, V6, V8, front engine, mid engine, rear engine etc etc. The different engineering beliefs being played out on the track etc. It made it compelling and allowed us the fans to be involved.

The problem with Formula E is that it will be a fairly fixed setup with battery power. Yes, slight technical differences and reliability issues will come into play but it may as well be one model of car with different drivers. I've watched some of the Formula E and been disappointed. A similar thing has happened with F1.

Disappointing to see this happy but it is not a surprise.

The Surveyor

7,576 posts

236 months

Friday 28th July 2017
quotequote all
The LMP1 cars were breath-taking to watch, newbies at Le Mans are always taken aback when they see the speed differential between the merely fast cars, and the very fast LMP1 cars.

One of my lasting memories is seeing the older diesel powered Audi Hybrids silently fly around the Porsche curves at dusk leaving the noisy Panoz and Corvettes standing. The Porsche this year had the same effect when it accelerates past the LMP2 cars out of the corners.

The loss of the LMP1 class that this will result in is a sad day for Le Mans, but the writing was on the wall as the cars got more complex, and more expensive. cry

L500

597 posts

237 months

Friday 28th July 2017
quotequote all
Yes this is sad news. Toyota haven't exactly declared long term intentions either, although I suspect they'll enjoy this news. Who's their competition next year? Manor!? Is this the beginning of the end for LMP1?

PhantomPH

4,043 posts

224 months

Friday 28th July 2017
quotequote all
Loyly said:
This is sad news. Formula E is deathly dull. It is the crappest motorsport around.
This.

I've genuinely given FE a chance, but it does absolutely NOTHING for me. Perhaps I am not the demographic it appeals to. I am the dinosaur.