Photo: D.R. Porsche AG

 

The liveries are especially for the Le Mans 24 Hours. For the FIA World Endurance Championship, the cars will sport the same white as last season.

The first car bears the number 17 and its red is to honour the colour of the 917 in which Richard Attwood and Hans Herrmann claimed the first victory for Porsche forty-five years ago. It will be driven by Timo Bernhard, Brendon Hartley and Mark Webber who led the race in 2014 but withdrew two hours before the finish. "The race was two hours too long for us last year", says Wolfgang Hatz, Porsche board member in charge of research and development, "but we showed that we can put up a good fight".

The n°18 919 Hybrid is black in celebration of the record set in Nürburgring on 4 September 2013 by Marc Lieb in a black 918 Hybrid: 6:57 for a 22-kilometre lap. Lieb will be sharing the car with Romain Dumas and Neel Jani. “It would be difficult to catch up with my fellow Swiss Marcel Fässler who has won three times with Audi but I think I can join him and Sébastien Buemi in becoming World Endurance Champion", smiles Jani. "If we win the 24 Hours but lose the championship – or vice-versa – we won’t know whether to laugh or cry. So we’ll do our best to win them both!"

Finally, the number 19 will have the same white livery as in 2014 and will only be racing in the Le Mans 24 Hours, with drivers Earl Bamber, Nick Tandy and Nico Hülkenberg. Tandy adds to the impressive list of British Porsche drivers at Le Mans, the most famous of whom is Derek Bell, who won the race five times. “Le Mans 24 Hours is the greatest race on earth, so this means a lot to me, says Tandy. When I was younger I admired Porsche’s record at Le Mans. With Oliver Jarvis at Audi, Anthony Davidson and Mike Conway with Toyota and me with Porsche, there’s a British driver in each of the LM P1 factory teams battling to win, so the race is sure to get a huge following at home. That said, I don’t feel under any particular pressure. Once Porsche trusts you to rise to the challenge of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the pressure’s off."

Jean-Philippe Doret /ACO                Translation by Emma Paulay