Porsche reveals its WEC title defender

A day after Audi unveiled the vehicle with which it hopes to wrest the World Endurance Championship from its fellow Volkswagen Group brand, Porsche has lifted the lid on the defender of its world sports car crown.

Like Audi's 2016 R18, the 2016 Porsche 919 Hybrid emerges with improved aerodynamics and greater efficiency to meet new rules for this year's world sports car championship.

Both cars were revealed just days before the the official Prologue for the 2016 WEC at Paul Ricard in France this weekend.

“The over 900hp-strong Le Mans Prototype is ready for the title defence,” said Fritz Enzinger, Vice President LMP1.

Porsche's third-generation 919 also wears new livery. In its debut year, 2014, it was white and sported the claim “Porsche Intelligent Performance”. The first letters of this slogan were also on the 2015 racing cars with their background colours of white, red and black. In 2016, all three colours melt together into a new design.

The 919's racing numbers are also new for 2016, following its one-two result at the 2015 Le Mans 24 Hourm after which Porsche won the manufacturers’ world championship title and Aussie Mark Webber, Timo Bernhard (DE) and Brendon Hartley (NZ) were crowned drivers' world champs.

Hence they'll now race with the number one plate, while the sister car of Romain Dumas (FR), Neel Jani (CH) and Marc Lieb (DE) will carry the number 2.

Under the latest 919's skin, Porsche fully exploits the new WEC regulations by deploying three different aerodynamic packages to suit each circuit.

At the same time, the weight and fuel consumption of its 2.0-litre V4 turbo-petrol engine driving the rear wheels are reduced, while the two energy recovery systems of its hybrid drive systems are also more efficient, including an optimised electric front motor and in-house lithium-ion battery.

Last year Porsche said its combustion engine produced "well above 500hp", but 2016 regulations stipulate a lower amount of energy from fuel per lap and reduce the maximum fuel flow for prototypes, so its power output and fuel consumption have both been reduce by eight per cent to "below 500hp".

"In other words: 10 megajoules less energy per Le Mans lap from the fuel. That costs about four seconds for every 13.629km Le Mans lap."

However, two energy recovery systems – kinetic energy produced at the front axle when braking (KERS) and one installed in the exhaust tract, where exhaust-gas drives a second turbine in parallel with the turbocharger – still deliver an extra 400hp under full boost, temporarily transforming the 919 into an all-wheel drive car with system power of around 900hp.

As in Formula 1, the 919 Hybrid's monocoque continues with carbon-fibre sandwich construction, with the tub, V4 and seven-speed sequential racing gearbox mounted as one unit to ensure optimal rigidity.

Porsche says its new three-pronged approach to aerodynamics fully leverages the new WEC regs.

"Until now, Porsche settled on a compromise for the season-opening round of the world championship and campaigned the 919 with lower downforce than would have been ideal for the Silverstone circuit. This compromise was for the sake of the season highlight at Le Mans.

"The French racetrack with its long straights requires very low drag, which means downforce must be limited to what is absolutely necessary. In 2016 the 919 will start the season running a high downforce package.

"It will be tackling Le Mans with an extremely low downforce configuration and will have another high downforce package for the following six WEC races. The regulations prohibit more than three aerodynamic configurations per year.

"The changes to the aerodynamics were driven by further improvements in efficiency and more stable handling in different driving situations. Influences such as side winds, changes in balance under cornering as well as yaw and roll angles were further reduced."