PORSCHE 919 hybrid 2015

Cette collection est une adaptation de Porsche Racing collection - Éditeur : Centauria Editore s.r.l.

STARTING WITH A WIN AT LE MANS, FOLLOWED BY TWO YEARS OF SEQUENTIAL SUCCESS.

n 2014, Porsche is the manufacturer with the most participations (and victories) in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The German firm has taken part in the race uninterruptedly since 1951, although it has not contested every season in the top category: missing 1998, the year of the 911 GT1's last victory. The top category is still LMP1, in which the hybrid-powered Audi R18 e-tron has dominated for two years in a row, but its regulations have been revised. This is Porsche's starting point for creating a new car capable of proving its extraordinary potential after a one-year ‘running-in’ period.

Above, the complete Porsche team posing ahead of the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans. On the right is the #19 919 of the winning team of Nico Hülkenberg, Earl Bamber and Nick Tandy. © IXO Collections SAS - Tous droits réservés.

With two cars participating, the 919 Hybrid will debut in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) of 2014, the championship that replaces the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup from 2012, reviving the idea of the world championship for sports prototypes abolished in 1992. The competition is managed by the ACO, the organiser of the Le Mans 24 Hours, which also guarantees the inclusion in the calendar of races in the west of France (‘absent’ in recent decades) and ensures uniformity of regulations.

During this first season, the potential of Porsche's new cars clearly emerged, although they only managed one victory in the final round of the World Championship at Interlagos, which moved the brand up to third place in the constructors' classification behind Toyota and Audi. At Le Mans, where Audi claimed its fifth consecutive victory, third with the R18 e-tron and 13th in the last 15 seasons, both 919 Hybrids were forced to withdraw with less than an hour to go after mechanical problems despite leading the race.

The third 919 Hybrid of 2014, with the number 19, debuted at the 6 Hours of Spa, finishing only sixth, to triumph at the Circuit de la Sarthe a month later. © IXO Collections SAS - Tous droits réservés.

REBIRTH AND VICTORY

In 2014, Porsche decided to completely revamp the car, modifying 90% of its components, with a particular focus on aerodynamics. The results were immediately visible: the 2015 919 Hybrids were the fastest at Le Castellet during the prologue of the racing season, followed by a second place at the 6 Hours of Silverstone and, shortly afterwards, second, third and sixth places at the 6 Hours of Spa. During the latter race, as in the 24 hours that followed, there were three cars on the grid: the two official teams from the previous season, the 919 #17 with Timo Bernhard, Mark Webber and Brendon Hartley and the #18 with Romain Dumas, Neel Jani and Marc Lieb, who were joined by the #19 team with Nico Hülkenberg, Earl Bamber and Nick Tandy.

[THREE WINS IN THREE YEARS WITH CHANGING CREWS].

It was clear from the start that these three Porsches were the best cars, with the first, second and fourth fastest times during the first practice session. Two weeks later, they dominated qualifying, taking the top three grid positions and breaking the track record with Jani. During the race, the duo again clashed with Audi and Toyota, leaving the two German brands embroiled in a battle of accidents and penalties. The result was that Audi, forced into a series of pit stops for repairs, lost its advantage, leaving Hülkenberg free to take victory ahead of Hartley's 919.

From then on, the Stuttgart cars were unstoppable: Webber, Bernhard and Hartley won the next four WEC races, the drivers‘ title and the constructors’ title, results that were repeated in 2016 with Jani-Lieb-Dumas winning both the championship and Le Mans. In 2017, however, it was again Bernhard and Hartley, this time alongside Earl Bamber, who took the world title: their 919 finally beat a Toyota that had become more competitive due to Audi's withdrawal, while at Le Mans, their Porsche beat the surprising Oreca 07 by just one lap.

The second triumph of a 919 Hybrid in the 24 Hours of Le Mans dates back to 2016 with the Lieb-Dumas-Jani team with the car number 2, the fastest car in the field since qualifying. © IXO Collections SAS - Tous droits réservés.

N. Hülkenberg, E. Bamber and N. Tand

The most famous driver of the 2015 Le Mans winning team is Nico Hülkenberg. The German, who holds the record for the most Formula 1 starts where he never made the podium, won the Sarthe marathon during his debut, having previously driven only one race with the 919 Hybrid. New Zealander Earl Bamber, with more experience in endurance racing, won once again at Le Mans in 2017 (again in a 919 Hybrid) after his 2015 victory with Brendon Hartley and Timo Bernhard, with whom he won the world endurance racing title. In 2019, Bamber would become IMSA champion in the GTLM category. Nick Tandy's achievements in 2022 include a number of wins in the WEC World Championship and some 15 successes in the IMSA GTLM championship, but no overall title.