What has the Porsche 919 Hybrid in common with the power supply of a village? (Pt1 of 2)

24 fun facts from Porsche on the 24 Hours Le Mans!

1
The initial roll-out of the first 919 was done by Porsche works driver Timo Bernhard on June 12 in 2013 at the Weissach test track. A little over two years later, he became world endurance champion with the further developed Le Mans prototype.

3
Hollywood stars entered Le Mans with Porsche. Steve McQueen’s attempt made it to the cinema in 1971, Paul Newman came overall second in 1979, while Patrick Dempsey also climbed onto the 2015 podium, finishing second in the GTE Am class.

4
Porsche LMP team members were the small delegation visiting Le Mans in 2013 for research purposes one year before the return to the top category. They witnessed the first win of a works Porsche since 1998 when the 911 RSR won the GT class.

8
megajoules from energy recovery systems per lap in Le Mans is the highest category from the efficiency regulations. Porsche was the first – and for a long time – only manufacturer in that category. The trendsetting challenge behind this: the more electrical power the 919 uses, the less fuel it is allowed to burn.

10
At 10pm on 10 June 2015 Neel Jani set off for the first Le Mans qualifying session. He lapped the circuit in 3:16.887 minutes – which remains a record.

12
men were the advance guard that began on 23rd May 2017, almost four weeks before the race, to build up the two-floor steel hall behind the Porsche LMP pit box. On May 30, a convoy of eight semi-trailers arrived containing the race cars and the entire equipment. Everything has to be in place for the test day on June 4.

14
gigabytes of data is sent by each 919 to the pits during the 24 hours.

19.9
kilograms is the weight of a rim with tyre. Mechanic Rainer Mühlhäuser manages to pick up a used wheel and attach a new one by using only one hand respectively. Since he did that at the opening WEC race in Silverstone, others down the pit lane are practicing this truly impressive feat.

20:32
was the time on December 9 in 2013 when Mark Webber, in complete darkness, started his first ever lap at the wheel of an LMP1 car on a circuit he had never before driven on. This Portimão test was a turning point: The 919 Hybrid’s initial V4 engine had caused heavy vibrations. By December, the problem was solved.

30
stops for refuelling and ten stops for changing tyres and drivers is anticipated for each Porsche 919 Hybrid during the Le Mans race.

60/40
Around 60 per cent of the 919 Hybrid’s recovered energy comes from the front brakes, around 40 per cent is provided by the exhaust system.

65
people form the Porsche LMP Team’s operational crew at a six-hour race. At the Le Mans 24-Hours this number is 90. Since 2015 the team’s total head count is 260, with 160 of them being engineers.

Part 2 coming tomorrow!