24h Le Mans
After a well-publicized "Tribute Tour" that saw the Porsche 919 Hybrid travel to several major cities and top circuits in the world, two 919 Hybrids have been added to the collection housed at the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart, Germany. The 919 Hybrid won the 24 Hours of Le Mans three consecutive times, earned six World Endurance Championship (WEC) titles between 2015 and 2017, and set several impressive records this year.
For presentation to the museum, the two 919 Hybrids were entrusted to Marc Lieb and Mark Webber. Lieb drove the World Endurance Championship (WEC) version, and Webber took the wheel of the 919 Hybrid Evo version. The Evo established a lap record at Spa-Francrochamps (*) driven by Neel Jani, then at the Nordschleife (the 22-kilomter northern loop of the Nürburgring) driven by Timo Bernhard.
For the occasion, Mark Webber chose his coveralls from the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans. At that year's edition of the race, the 919 Hybrid he shared with Timo Bernhard and Brendon Hartley sported a red and white livery as a nod to the 917, the first Porsche to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans thanks to Richard Attwood and Hans Herrmann in 1970.
The 919 Hybrid hit the track for the first time in 2012, two years before making its debut in competition. It won three victories (2015, 2016 and 2017) and scored two consecutive pole positions (thanks to Neel Jani in 2015 and 2016) at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Six drivers claimed the top step on the podium for the first time at the 24 Hours with the 919 Hybrid: Nico Hülkenberg, Nick Tandy and Earl Bamber in 2015; Neel Jani and Marc Lieb in 2016; Brendon Hartley in 2017. Co-winners with Audi in 2010, Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhard won their second Le Mans victories with the 919 Hybrid, in 2016 and 2017 respectively. Earl Bamber is the only driver to have reached the top step on the podium twice with the car (2015 and 2017). The legendary 919 Hybrid helped bring Porsche's win record to a current total of 19 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Between 2015 and 2017 in the World Endurance Championship (WEC), the 919 Hybrid also won three consecutive Manufacturers titles and as many Drivers titles: Timo Bernhard-Brendon Hartley-Mark Webber (2015), Romain Dumas-Neel Jani-Marc Lieb (2016) and Timo Bernhard-Brendon Hartley-Earl Bamber in 2017.
With the 919 Hybrid now at the Porsche Museum, in honor of the German marque's 70th anniversary this year, you can enjoy an exposition at the 24 Hours of Le Mans Museum until 13 January 2019.
Click HERE to learn more about Romain Dumas' tour of Paris at the wheel of the Porsche 919 Hybrid.
(*) The lap record established at Spa-Francorchamps by Neel Jani in April was beaten at the end of August by Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) during qualifying at the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix.
