One race that runs twice around the clock. A marathon for both drivers and cars. The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the toughest and most high-profile sports-car race in the world. With 16 overall victories, Porsche is the most successful manufacturer. Following a break of 16 years, Porsche is now returning to the prototype category on June 14, 2014. This motorsports theme runs through all articles of this edition: Christophorus no. 366 is a racing magazine.
24 hours is 86,400 seconds. But it’s much more than that. Above all, it’s an infinite number of moments. Little episodes. Big successes. The whole range of human emotions coalesces in the fascination that surrounds Le Mans, year after year. Told by those who have experienced it again and again over the years.
Racing directors tête-à-tête. A verbal lead-up to Le Mans with Fritz Enzinger and Hartmut Kristen. One is responsible for the 919 Hybrid, the other for the 911 RSR. Twenty-four responses to the challenge.
What looks like a colossal video game—Porsche Motorsports’ driving simulator at the Weissach Research and Development Center—provides crucial knowledge about the 919 Hybrid. It’s the race before the race.
Endurance racing stands for fighting and nail-biting, tears, cheers, and sweat. That’s what makes the drivers heroes. But it’s not just the people who become legends. Cars do, too.
The numerical progression in their names is not a coincidence—the 918 Spyder and the 919 Hybrid have a lot in common. The high-end road-going sports car heads out onto the terrain of the LMP1 racing car for a foretaste of the 24-hour race in Le Mans with factory driver Marc Lieb.
A very special summit: Four Le Mans winners at one table. The span of forty years between the victories in 1970 and 2010 offers up plenty to talk about, from technology and tactics, feeling and danger, to exhilaration and sporting achievement.
Wolfgang Hatz, executive board member and director of Research and Development, talks about the connection between racing and high-tech developments for Porsche sports cars.
The Porsche 911 RSR and the new Porsche 919 Hybrid will be sharing the course over the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Both are factory racing cars. One stands for evolution, the other for revolution.
The Weissach Development Center is where LMP and GT racing cars are born. Technical specialists in the pits make the final adjustments. Drivers then push the cars to the limits. This is a race-car driver’s dream. And a huge responsibility. For six men with a 919 Hybrid. And six men with a 911 RSR.
On June 14, there will be 56 cars starting at Le Mans in four classes; Porsche will compete in three of them. The new regulations for the top class of prototypes are revolutionary: Pure power is out. Maximum efficiency is key.
