Porsche has just unveiled its new LMP1 endurance racer, which will compete in the top category of the 2014 World Endurance Championship and Le Mans. The prototype coupé was designed in-house by Porsche Motorsport and was unveiled this week at the company’s research and development centre at Weissach, Germany.
The LMP1 racer turned its first laps on the circuit several weeks earlier than originally planned. “We are well on schedule,” says Fritz Enzinger, Head of LMP1. “Our newly formed team has worked with utmost concentration on getting this highly complex vehicle on the track as soon as possible. This allows us a few additional weeks for more testing and further development. From 2014, the regulations are primarily based on efficiency. This makes the competition amongst engineers more interesting and presents us with completely new challenges.”
The LMP1 was given its inaugural run by driver Timo Bernhard, who won the 2010 Le Mans.
It has been 16 years since Porsche has competed at Le Mans, and the iconic auto maker has poured significant resources into their motorsports division over the last couple of years.
Matthias Müller, Chairman of the Executive Board at Porsche AG, particularly emphasizes the benefits customers will enjoy from the development of the high-tech race car. “The engineers were able to start with a blank sheet of paper in the design of the new LMP1 car that was out here today on the Weissach race track for the first time. Hence, they were able to apply many new technologies within the framework of the regulations that will also benefit the customers of our road legal automobiles in the future. After all, there’s a race car in every Porsche.”
