Official: 2015 Porsche 919 Hybrid LMP1

The covers have just been lifted on the 2015 Porsche 919 Hybrid LMP1 car before this year’s World Endurance Championship gets underway. While the 2015 919 Hybrid looks remarkably similar to last year’s model, it does benefit from an array of upgrades.
Most significantly, the 2015 Porsche 919 Hybrid LMP1 roles to the eight-megajoule category with power from its energy recovery systems rising. What this means is that the 2.0-litre turbocharged V4 engine delivers 500 hp of its own accord with this power sent to the rear wheels. The electric motor drawing power from the two energy recovery systems provides an additional 400 hp to the front wheels. A liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery is also part of the powertrain.

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Beyond the powertrain advancements, the 2015 Porsche 919 Hybrid is more rigid than last year’s entrant and also adopts a number of suspension and aerodynamic tweaks. Two 919 Hybrid’s will be fielded throughout the season but a third example will race at Spa-Francorchamps on May 2. The first of the three will be driven by Timo Bernhard, Brendon Hartley and Mark Webber, the second by Marc Lieb, Romain Dumas and Neel Jani and the third by Earl Bamber, Nico Hulkenberg and Nick Tandy.

Discussing the improved car and the LMP1 program generally, board member for research and development at Porsche AG Wolfgang Hatz said “The LMP1 programme at Porsche focuses on extensively networked cooperation between the engineers who work on our innovative drive system concept.
“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,” Hatz said.