MOTORSPORT: Webber gets first taste of Porsche

Webber drove the Stuttgart manufacturer’s new hybrid-drive, four-cylinder petrol-engined LMP1 race car in which he will make his return to Le Mans at the Algarve circuit in Portugal.

Recently retired from Formula One after a 12-year career that included nine grand prix victories, Webber said the Porsche test had been “a major and important step” in his return to sports car racing.

He said he had “no misconceptions” about the enormity of the challenge of toppling dominant brand Audi.

In his previous sports car career with Mercedes-Benz he had two horrendous flips at Le Mans in France that could have claimed his life.

Webber’s first outing in the Porsche was to have been in Bahrain in January.
His presence at the Algarve had been kept under wraps but the manufacturer announced it after the test concluded.

Webber thanked multiple world champion F1 team Red Bull Racing for releasing him early from his contract that was to have expired at the end of this month to let him drive the Porsche.

“My first day in this fascinating project was an intense experience for me,” Webber said.

“This is a major and important step for us all. It allows me to integrate with the team quicker and to contribute to further developing the LMP1 race car.

“We have a long way to go and it involves a lot of hard work. I have no misconceptions about this.”

Porsche will take on Audi and Toyota in next year’s eight-round World Endurance Championship (WEC), the crown jewel of which is the Le Mans 24-Hour.

Porsche won that classic 16 times in its previous campaigns but Audi has dominated the race this century.

The WEC will start on April 20 at Britain’s Silverstone circuit, where Webber twice won one of the world’s most prestigious GPs.

The only other race in the lead-up to the mid-June Le Mans race will be another six-hour event at Belgium’s Spa in May.

Other drivers for Porsche’s return to the fray after 16 years out of it will be German Timo Bernhard, Frecnhman Romain Dumas and Switzerland’s Neel Jani, while New Zealander Brendon Hartley is a possible addition.

Porsche LMP1 project boss Fritz Enzinger said the Algarve test had focused on suspension and tyre evaluation with Michelin.

The team had tested before at the Magny-Cours and Paul Ricard circuits in France, Monza in Italy and the Eurospeedway Lausitz in Germany.

“Between the roll-out of the completely new car in June and now we have made significant progress -- every single kilometre was important,” Enzinger said.

Wolfgang Hatz, a member of Porsche's executive board for research and development, said: “We always knew it wasn't going to be easy to return to top endurance racing.

“Our efforts are immense. We are finding new approaches in the development, implementation and application of leading edge efficiency technologies.

“This also leads to further improvements of the entire hybrid technology in our production cars.

“Ultimately our customers will benefit the most.”

Meanwhile, Audi this week released an image of its 2014 LMP1 car, still called the R18 e-tron quattro but 50mm narrower than this year’s victorious version.

The new R18 is being tested at Sebring in Florida and will be officially launched at Ingolstadt in Germany on December 18.

Audi has long favoured Sebring for testing even though it won’t compete in the famous 12-Hour there in mid-March.

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