New car and new driver pairings for Porsche’s LMP1 programme.
Following test drives on the circuits of Valencia (ES), Aragon (ES), Vallelunga (IT) and Paul Ricard (FR), Porsche now will present the new 919 Hybrid on this coming Friday, 31st March.
The venue is the high-speed race track in Monza, Italy, set in the famous Royal Park close to Milan. Here the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) teams will gather for the first time to conduct a joint two-day test on April 1 and 2, better known as the official WEC Prologue.
In both 2015 and 2016, with the innovative Le Mans Prototype 919 Hybrid Porsche took overall victory in Le Mans and won the World Championship titles for both, Manufacturers and Drivers. The first public appearance of the title defender car is eagerly awaited.
After three years of consistency, in 2017 the Porsche LMP Team lines up with two newly assembled driver trios. The hybrid racing car with starting number 1 will be driven by Neel Jani (33, Switzerland), André Lotterer (35, Germany) and Nick Tandy (32, Great Britain). Jani is currently joint WEC World Champion and 2016 Le Mans winner. Lotterer claimed the title of World Champion in 2012 behind the wheel of an Audi and brings with him the experience gained from three overall victories at Le Mans, while Tandy formed part of the winning 2015 Porsche team in Le Mans.
The sister car with starting number 2 will be shared between 2015 World Champion Timo Bernhard (36, Germany) and the two New Zealanders Earl Bamber (26) and Brendon Hartley (27). Bamber claimed joint victory with Tandy at Le Mans in 2015, while the same year saw Hartley share the title of World Endurance Champion with Bernhard.