Photo : - Porsche Motorsport

Since its inception in the mid 70s, Williams has been best known for his success in Formula 1. Keke Rosberg, Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Jacques Villeneuve - among others - have been crowned World Champion at the wheel Williams cars. However, they have also won in Rallying (MG Metro 6R4) in Touring cars (Renault Laguna BTCC) and even at Le Mans (BMW V12 LMR). Today, the Williams consulting firm is part of a new experiment in endurance racing.

Originally designed for F1, the KERS system (Recovery of kinetic energy) developed for the Williams FW31 has now found a place in the Porsche 997 GT3 R Hybrid that was sixth at the 1 000 km of the Zhuhai last weekend. This unique car is equipped with two electric motors responsible for driving the front wheels. Energy is not stored in batteries but through a flywheel positioned next to the driver. Ultimately, giving more than 160 horses in addition to the normal 480 for 8 seconds. This innovation also saves fuel and, in China, the hybrid version of the 997 only stopped four times to refuel against seven for the classic version.

Since their inception, the 24 Hours of Le Mans has always been a test bed for technology. The role of this experimental car entered by the Porsche factory in the International Le Mans Cup is welcomed (outside classification). In the future, Williams plans to market its system for road use. The Jaguar Land Rover group is already interested. For its part, Porsche intends to continue the experiment next year.

Hartmut Kristen, Porsche Motorsport Boss: “Today, we showed impressively just what potential the hybrid technology has. This result is a great motivation for continuing our work on the project. This was definitely not the last race for the 911 GT3 R Hybrid.”

Ian Foley, Williams Hybrid Project Manager Power: “We are delighted that Porsche have concluded a very challenging and aggressive year of development in endurance racing. We would like to offer Porsche our congratulations on a programme that has combined great racing and use of challenging new technology; WHP is proud to be part of that success with its MLC flywheel technology

Illustration: By means of a flywheel positioned next to the driver, the stored energy is returned by the two motors coupled to the front wheels. (Document-Porsche)

Julien Hergault - From press release of Williams Hybrid Power