Porsche Completes Second Test with New 919 Hybrid

Photo: Porsche

Porsche has completed the second comprehensive test with its new 2015-spec 919 Hybrid this week in Bahrain, as the German manufacturer continues preparations for the start of the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Romain Dumas, Brendon Hartley, Marc Lieb, Mark Webber and Nico Hulkenberg were on-hand for the five-day test, which saw nearly 3,200 miles logged with its LMP1 contender.

According to technical director Alex Hitzinger, the test focused on tire development, aerodynamics, traction control, as well as evaluating different hybrid strategies.

“It is extremely important to complete such a good mileage to discover and solve any teething problems in all areas,” Hitzinger said. “We encountered no problems that would cause us a headache.”

The only notable issue was the weather, with a sandstorm that stuck the region playing havoc for the team during the private test.

“The strong, sand blowing winds were a disturbing factor and made it difficult to draw clear conclusions from the setup work,” Hitzinger added. “Because at night the conditions were a bit more consistent, we changed our operating hours and once we even drove until 2 a.m.

“It was the first time we had been on a race track where we had data from last year’s car for comparisons, so this was helpful.

“The results are encouraging, but not meaningful enough yet. Another positive thing is that the five drivers testing in Bahrain agreed with the four from the Abu Dhabi test that the driveability of the 2015 car is better than last year. This was one of our development targets.”

With all nine drivers having now experienced the second-generation 919, the next step is homologation of the car, which will come at the end of this month.

Porsche has yet to reveal which hybrid sub-class it will compete in this year, having run a 6MJ system in 2014.

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