Porsche Invades Geneva Motor Show with New Race Cars

Porsche has officially unveiled its 919 Hybrid LMP1 and 911 RSR race cars at the Geneva Motor Show.

As Porsche lifted the covers off both race cars in Geneva, the German automaker explained how the LMP1 prototype serves as a research and development platform for technology to be used in future production models. The 919 Hybrid will combine two different energy recovery systems with a smaller turbocharged engine to power it through a rigorous season of racing.

Newly formed regulations for the LMP1-H prototypes have seen its fuel quantity available per lap reduced by almost 30 percent compared to last year while the amount of energy the hybrid systems can produce has been significantly increased. Porsche hopes that the shifts in innovative technology will translate to the street and to customer vehicles in the future.

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Experience with racing the 911 GT3 R Hybrid and the production of the 918 Spyder has directly translated into the 919 Hybrid, which will be Porsche’s first LMP1 race car in 16 years. Powering it is a 2.0-liter V-engine with direct injection, a single turbo and thermodynamic recovery capabilities.

The two different energy storage systems include the innovative recovery of thermal energy by an electric generator powered by exhaust gases. The second hybrid system is a motor on the front axle utilizing brake recuperation to convert kinetic energy into electric energy. Just like the 918 Spyder, the 919 Hybrid ends up with a temporary all-wheel drive system with the gasoline engine directing power to the rear wheels.

This year, Porsche will field a pair of 919 Hybrid LMP1 race cars with the following drivers behind the wheels: Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas, Marc Lieb, Brendon Hartley, Neel Jani and Mark Webber.

As for the 911 RSR, it is raced in the new TUDOR United Sports Car Championship and already kicked off this year’s race season with a win at the Rolex 24 at Daytona. The successor to the 911 GT3 RSR, the 911 RSR is powered by a 4.0-liter engine with 470 hp and is based on the seventh-generation 911.

The 2014 World Endurance Championship will kick off on April 20 at Silverstone in Great Britain.