Porsche’s 2014 Le Mans contender: The Porsche 919 Hybrid. [Photo credit: Porsche]
This coming Saturday afternoon, Porsche will be racing at Le Mans in the top prototype class for the first time since 1998. It is perhaps no coincidence that their last appearance was a victory. Porsche has won Le Mans overall a total of 16 times, for in addition to that 1998 victory with the Porsche 911 GT1 98, they also won in 1970, 1971, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1994, 1996 and 1997. Add to their overall wins the myriad of class victories over the years (beginning in 1951) and you can see that Porsche is serious about racing at Le Mans.
Porsche’s Le Mans winning cars are the stuff of legend. All one has to do is recite the three digits of their names (917, 935, 936, 956, 962) and race fans worldwide can visualize the car you are talking about.
It is not just the Porsche cars that are legendary; it is the drivers of those cars who have achieved legendary status as well. Attwood, Herrmann, Marko, van Lennep, Ickx, Barth, Ludwig, Schuppan, Stuck, Bell, Holbert, Haywood, and Alboreto – all have won at Le Mans driving for Porsche. Even Audi legends Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen piloted Porsche race cars to victory at Le Mans.
In recent history Audi has been the dominant force at Circuit de la Sarthe, having won the French endurance classic 12 times since 2000, with the Audi R8, R10, R15 and R18. On paper, at least, you would have to give the edge for the 2014 running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans to Audi. They have had the right car, the right drivers and the right team to dominate the event for quite some time. And they have 3 cars entered, versus 2 each for Porsche and Toyota – one more bullet in the chamber, so to speak.
However, I don’t believe that Porsche decided to enter the FIA World Championship this year and compete at Le Mans as an engineering exercise. Racing is in their blood, winning is in their DNA and I am certain that they will be a formidable foe for both Audi and the very quick Toyota prototypes for the overall honors this year.
The Audis will be reliable and quick, as proven by their past track record. The Toyotas will be very quick, as they have been all season. All the factory teams feature the top drivers in the world and one cannot discount that Audi has 9 time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen going for his record 10th victory.
That being said, Porsche is well armed also, with both innovative Hybrid cars and outstanding driving talent. The Porsche squad consists of Romain Dumas, Neel Jani and Mark Lieb in the #14 Porsche 919 Hybrid, while the #20 car teams up Timo Bernhard, Mark Webber and Brendon Hartley. Drivers who bring a wealth of experience and speed to the team – from past Le Mans winners to a Formula One winner.
With such an outstanding field lining up for this year’s edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, it would be somewhat foolhardy to try and predict an overall winner at this point. Regardless of how qualifying goes, the Porsche, Audi and Toyota squads will no doubt be fighting it out for the entire 24 hours. Le Mans is no longer an endurance contest – it is a flat out 24 hour sprint, with all the drivers and all the cars literally being pushed to the limit, and perhaps beyond, for the entire duration of the contest.
There will undoubtedly be drama, unexpected incidents, mechanical or electrical woes and other things neither I, nor the team managers or engineers, have even thought about at this point. The bottom line is that at the end of Le Mans this year, the winner will have truly earned the right to be called champion.
Regardless of how it turns out for Porsche this year, hats off to them for following their natural path and competing at the top level of motorsport. After all, it is in their DNA.
UPDATE: Porsche 919 Hyrbids qualify 2nd and 4th for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Only 1.119 seconds separate the first 4 cars. The order is: Toyota #07, Porsche #14, Toyota #07 and Porsche #20. Audi took the next three grid spots. Stay tuned…going to be a great race.
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