Porsche 919 Hybrid, Porsche Team: Timo Bernhard, Brendon Hartley, Mark Webber

Stuttgart. Despite a powerful display by both 919 Hybrids, the LMP1 Porsche Team was left empty handed after a dramatic final stage of the 24 hours of Le Mans. In the GTE-Pro and GTE-Am classes however, the Porsche 911 RSR took third and second respectively, in the 82nd edition of the long distance classic.

After leading a significant period of the world’s most famous endurance race, the LMP1 crew of car no. 20 (Timo Bernhard/Brendon Hartley/Mark Webber) suffered a powertrain problem while the second innovative and highly complex prototype – in the hands of Romain Dumas, Neel Jani and Marc Lieb – likewise proved to be very competitive, but was hampered by a drivetrain problem. However, their no. 14 car crossed the finish line under its own power.

Following strong showings in qualifying, the Porsche Team’s two 919 Hybrids battled to start second and fourth in the 24 hours of Le Mans. The field for the top class prototypes produced a tough competition for top places with constant fights in traffic on the legendary 13.629 kilometre long track. At the end, car no. 14 (Romain Dumas/Neel Jani/Marc Lieb) qualified second, while car no. 20 (Timo Bernhard/Brendon Hartley/Mark Webber) started from fourth.

After a thrilling start to the race with changing weather conditions, numerous accidents and a relatively calm night, Timo Bernhard took the lead in the Porsche 919 Hybrid. This was after 20 of the 24 hours. At 12:36 on Sunday he handed the leading car over to Mark Webber. Less than 20 minutes later the Australian was forced to slow down and drove solely on electric power back to the pits. The team could not repair the damaged powertrain.

Not even half an hour later, the sister car with Marc Lieb at the wheel had a gearbox failure. Car no. 14 was lying fourth before it was pushed into the garage at 12:54. Shortly before the chequered flag was waived, the Porsche 919 Hybrid returned to track but in the end was not classified.

Meanwhile, the race on the legendary Circuit des 24 Heures in the GTE-Pro class kept more than 200,000 spectators on the edge of their seats with enthralling fights for positions and spectacular overtaking manoeuvres. When two heavy rain showers left parts of the track underwater several hours after the start, the squad initiated the perfect pit stop strategy which put the Porsche 911 RSR in positions one-two. However, the winning car from last year, based on the seventh generation of the iconic 911 and double winner of the Sports Car World Endurance Championship (WEC) season-opener, was unable to defend these positions over the rest of the marathon.

The Porsche Manthey squad’s 470 hp Porsche 911 RSR driven by works drivers Marco Holzer (Germany), Frédéric Makowiecki (France) and Richard Lietz (Austria) took the flag at the 82nd edition of the long distance classic at the Sarthe third in the GTE-Pro class. With three hours to the flag, they had moved up the order to lie in second place before losing a position in the dramatic final phase. The podium result was a well-deserved reward for a strong performance under difficult conditions.

Their factory pilot colleagues in the #91 Porsche 911 RSR (Joerg Bergmeister/ Patrick Pilet/Nick Tandy) experienced a fuel pressure problem which required an extra pit stop and finally threw the trio back to seventh place.

Klaus Bachler celebrated his GTE-Am class result. Sharing the cockpit of the Proton Competition customer team’s 911 RSR with his teammates Christian Ried (Germany) and Khaled Al Qubaisi (Abu Dhabi), the Porsche junior saw the flag at his Le Mans debut in second place.

Comments after the race – LMP1

Matthias Mueller, Chairman of the Executive Board of Porsche AG: “Our return to Le Mans has been a strong team effort. It almost happened that our secret dream came true to top the debut of the Porsche 919 Hybrid with a podium finish. For a remarkable period we were leading the race. I want to thank everyone who contributed with hard work. Now we keep our heads up and will plan an even stronger return for 2015.”

Wolfgang Hatz, Board member for Research and Development Porsche AG: “It was our declared target to finish this race. This didn’t really work out, but at least we have managed to show the huge potential of the 919 Hybrid and its innovative powertrain. We believe in our courageous concept and we will develop it further. We have already started work on the 2015 race car.”

Porsche 919 Hybrid (#20):Timo Bernhard: “I think, after all, it was a great return for Porsche – to come back to Le Mans and to the WEC after such a long time. But for me it is very sad because we were fighting very hard – at the end, in fact, also for the victory. It would have been a podium at least. It is hard to take, the guys did a great job. The car was running well. We had some difficult issues with the balance of the car, and it was not easy to drive. But in the end, I was saving fuel and keeping away from the kerbs. And then we had a broken engine, which happened in first gear. But I think the bottom line is, it’s a great return by Porsche.”

Comments after the race –

GTE-Pro-Hartmut Kristen, Head of Porsche motorsport: “Although it was enough for a podium spot, this year’s Le Mans was a little disappointing. Minor technical problems cropped up in both our 911 RSR, but as a total they were decisive. The crew and the drivers have done an excellent job and brought the cars safely home. I praise them for this. Congratulations as well to the Proton Competition squad for second place in the GTE-Am class. Given the performance rating, there was no better result possible for us.”

Porsche 911 RSR (#92):Marco Holzer: “It was a long and demanding race. We faced all weather conditions you could possibly imagine. At times it was dry, then it poured with rain, half the track was wet and half dry. The car ran like clockwork until we had to pit unexpectedly shortly before the finish. That cost us second place. But the team did a great job and we earned vital points for the WEC.”