Porsche 919 Hybrid Porsche recalls 917 legacy by naming new LMP1 racer the 919 hybrid - Le Mans news - AUTOSPORT.com BHW
I caught it testing last Sunday night at Sebring as I was leaving track after HSR event Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Is that a new fence? I'm hearing ISC is actually spending some money at Sebring including lighting the Ulmann Straight and Safer Barriers. BHW
My opinion too. Too much technology, too costly, etc... They even had to create a sub-class in LMP1 for non-hybrid cars (in other words private teams). The ACO has gone too far.
I disagree. without hybrid technology, motor racing will be as irrelevant as horse racing in 20 years.
Hummm, I think horse racing is in very good shape myself. Hybrid technology increases cost in motor racing. It may be technically challenging, but only factory teams with huge budget can afford it, and it doesn't add anything to the show.
A bit of a double-edged sword...Racing is a test bed for the tech, which is the draw for the factory teams...Otherwise we risk being left solely with privateers and top teams within that having relatively big budgets and factory "support"...Thus, I think it does add to the show by getting the factory directly involved in a high profile way and the benefits that come with that.
For better or worse, the big car manufacturers have decided that hybrid technology is the way of the future. The recent F1 rules and the sportscar rules pull the racing technology closer and closer to that vision which accomplishes the holy grail of "relevance." Relevance is what helps to justify the budgets in the form of engineering development benefits. They are not going to spend $$$ on racing purely for advertising benefits. The current theory is that hybrid technology has been proven as a concept, so now the race is to figure out which type of "hybrid" is more effective, efficient and can be translated into road cars. While I'd love to see normally aspirated versions of the Porsche 918 on the track, I'm skeptical that is going to happen. We keep hearing rumors about a 960 that could amortize the 918 development costs across a normally aspirated platform, but those continue to be rumors (as far as I know).
Does anyone know of their main sponsor yet? They've had some pretty iconic paint schemes over the years. I'm so glad they are back.
personally I think it would be hilarious if they kept the test car paint scheme largely intact. I assume the main sponsor will be Porsche with the various part suppliers and so forth as associate sponsors, the way Audi and Toyota have done. but we shall see.
Unfortunately, the camouflage scheme doesn't show well on TV which is what they usually base their color schemes on now. There had been a rumor when the 919 Hybrid started testing that Martini & Rossi might be the primary sponsor, although it's never been confirmed. We may have to wait until the car's first official appearance before we really know. Hybrid is definitely the way of the future. The hybrid technology which emerges from racing will be the way forward in practical applications on road going cars. It is interesting to see how each of the manufacturers are going about their hybrid designs. I still think Porsche is going to be coming with something very trick as we know, they never get involved in top tier racing unless they've got a decided advantage in the rules. BHW
I hope the livery they come up with is new. I'm sick of this pseudo retro thing. Hope they get a proper designer to make a nice, iconic factory livery, independent of sponsors....
That would be awesome - the 918 already looks great in Martini livery! Image Unavailable, Please Login
Pretty ugly, I would say. But then, those shapes are almost imposed by the ACO rulebook which makes it mandatory for LMP cars to sport that horrible dorsal fin. That makes the cars look as if they were competing in the America's Cup rather than a motor race.
What's so important in a livery, I wonder? It's the car that matters, not the "cosmetics" added to it.
I believe it's a way to combat the car going airborne.. Just a personal choice. Like it or not, lots of fans think that tobacco livery, for example, were one of the best years in F1...
You just know that they've got something up their sleeves that won't be revealed until the first race at Silverstone. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAagbpVg9LU]The LMP1 Regulations and Technology - YouTube[/ame] BHW
