Porsche Completes Endurance Test at Aragon

Photo: Porsche

Porsche has completed an additional long-distance test of its new 919 Hybrid ahead of next month’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The German manufacturer was at Motorland Aragon in Spain this week for a three-day endurance test, which saw its single LMP1-H car complete more than 3,700 miles with all six of factory drivers take turns behind the wheel.

While having scored a podium finish in its FIA World Endurance Championship debut at Silverstone, the 919 Hybrids faced mechanical and electrical issues at Spa, despite having shown a clear top-speed advantage over the rivals Toyota and Audi.

“So shortly before our first 24-hour race, of course, we have focussed on the car’s reliability,” said team principal Andreas Seidl. “With the experience from previous testing and the first two WEC races, we had made modifications which proved to be the right ones.

“At the same time, we were able to discover new weaknesses, which we will also now try to fix. The coming two weeks will be used to prepare the two race cars and their spare parts for the pre-race test on 1st June in Le Mans. Furthermore, we will keep practicing all race specific procedures, especially pit stops.“

The No. 20 Porsche of Mark Webber, Brendon Hartley and Timo Bernhard faced multiple driveshaft issues at Spa, while the Romain Dumas, Marc Lieb and Neel Jani-driven No. 14 entry led early but suffered electrical gremlins mid-race, relegating them to a fourth place result.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John