Porsche’s glittering 919 Hybrid WEC memories

This weekend will see the final race for the Porsche 919 Hybrid, the most successful LMP1 model in recent WEC history.

A hat-trick of FIA WEC Drivers’ and Teams’ titles since 2015 has underlined a stellar campaign for the LMP1 Hybrid design and all of its notable achievements over the last four racing seasons.

Having gone through an exhaustive testing and development programme in 2012 and 2013, the first Porsche factory prototype campaign since 1998 began its racing life in 2014.  June 2013 was the first time that the test car turned a wheel, with the car making a first run at the manufacturer’s private test track in Weissach.

By the end of the first season a debut victory was forthcoming at Interlagos for Neel Jani, Romain Dumas and Marc Lieb.

The 2015 season saw a plethora of victories as Mark Webber, Brendon Hartley and Timo Bernhard swept all before them, with wins at Nurburgring, COTA, Fuji and Shanghai.

The success continued in 2016 as the other trio of Porsche drivers took their turn in the limelight. Jani, Lieb and Dumas took an unforgettable win in the dying moments at Le Mans and then sealed the Drivers title towards the end of the season.

The final successes came this season with a third straight Le Mans triumph for Hartley, Bernhard and their new teammate, Earl Bamber. The Drivers’ and Teams’ titles were also claimed with a race to spare at Shanghai earlier this month.

Porsche brought a clinical and professional approach to the Porsche 919 Hybrid program and it is one which showcased ground-breaking technology.
Above all though, the Porsche 919 Hybrid brought some tremendous battles with Audi and Toyota; fights that are sure to go down in history as among the most entertaining and thrilling of any sportscar era.

It may be farewell to Porsche LMP1, but let’s not forget that Porsche will remain with the WEC as one of the contenders in the equally competitive GT category.  

Thank you for the great memories Porsche LMP1!