At the Paul Ricard Circuit in France, Porsche presented the second generation of its Le Mans Prototype 919 Hybrid race car as a technical evolution in a three-colour concept.
The Porsche team will use two of its extensively further developed technology platforms in all eight races of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). The cars will be white and will also carry the "Porsche Intelligent Performance" motto on their bodywork. This also applies to the team’s third 919 Hybrid, which will race at Spa-Francorchamps on May 2. However, for the high point of the season – the 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 13–14, 2015 – the team will send a white, a black and a red Porsche 919 Hybrid onto the circuit.
The starting number and colour of the red prototype are a tribute to the Porsche that captured the first of what are now a total of 16 overall victories for the brand in Le Mans in 1970.
The black LMP1 with starting number 18 is a symbol of the close technical kinship between the Porsche 919 Hybrid racing car and the Porsche 918 Spyder super sports car, which is also equipped with a hybrid drive.
The team’s third car – the white 919 Hybrid with starting number 19 – will be competing in Le Mans in the colour Porsche chose for its return to top-notch racing after a 16-year absence. White, which is a traditional colour for racing cars from Germany, will also be used with the two Porsche 911 RSR factory cars that will race in the GTE Pro Class.
Porsche also confirmed it will switch to the highest of the four energy categories in the LMP1 class. The performance of the energy recovery system was able to be increased by around one-third as compared to 2014. This means the 919 Hybrid is competitive to race in the 8-megajoule category.