#6 Porsche 963 versus #2 Porsche 919.

WECHyperCarLMP

Nov 10

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Monza 2017. Porsche #1 shared by N. JANI / A. LOTTERER / N. TANDY during Monza Official Test Session.

Kevin Estre, André Lotterer and Laurens Vanthoor clinched the FIA World Endurance Driver Championship, seven years after Porsche won its third consecutive FIA World Championship and a third Le Mans victory with the Porsche 919 before withdrawing from the LMP1 hybrid class. During both seasons, there was great competition on track with Toyota.

Porsche 919 versus Porsche 963

Top: 📷 © Luc Warnotte at Bahrain 2024: #6 Porsche 963. Bottom: 📷 © Luc Warnotte at Nurburgring 2017: Porsche 919.

Between 2014 and 2017, Porsche used the 919 Hybrid. Let’s look at the key differences between the two Porsche Hybrid competing in WEC: the 919 and the 963.

Without going to much in technical details, there are two major differences between the 919 and the 963 programs:

At the time of the 919 Hybrid, the LMP1 was a full bespoke in-house development where different parts of the factory worked on different parts of the car in one single project; everything was developed together and intertwined.
The new regulations for Hypercar enables manufacturers to chose between LMH and LMDh regulations. Porsche opted for LMDh in order to be able to compete in FIA WEC Hypercar and IMSA GTP (go to LMH and LMDh in short for more details). As LMDh requires manufacturers and teams to use a high percentage of off-the-shelf components, the Porsche 963 uses the Multimatic monocoque and suspension, the Xtrac gearbox, an integrated motor generator unit supplied by Bosch and batteries from Williams Advanced Engineering. The difficulty is to integrate all those components together.
Between 2014 and 2017, Porsche was running the both cars with its own team. In 2022, Porsche Motorsport and Team Penske agreed to collaborate closely to run factory entries in the FIA WEC World Endurance Championship (WEC) and the North American IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under the name Porsche Penske Motorsport.

2017 and 2024 Porsche’s drivers champions

📷 © Luc Warnotte at 6 Hours of Nürburgring 2017. Earl Bamber, Brendon Hartley and Timo Bernhard won the Nürburgring round with Porsche 919 Hybrid #2.

In 2017, the two Kiwis (New Zealanders), Earl Bamber and Brendon Hartley associated to Timo Bernhard won the FIA World Endurance Drivers’ Championship with Porsche 919 Hybrid #2 after 4 succesive wins at Le Mans, Nürburgring, Mexico and COTA, three P2 (Monza, Shangaî and Bahrain) and two poles scoring 208 points out of 9 rounds. With five victories, Sébastien Buemi, Anthony Davidson and Kazuki Nakajima with #8 Toyota TS050 - Hybrid recorded the highest numbers of wins for any LMP1 team in a single season ending second the FIA World Endurance Drivers’ Championship with 183 points.

Kevin Estre, André Lotterer and Laurens Vanthoor won Qatar 1812 (left: 📷 © Luc Warnotte) and 6 Hours of Fuji (right: 📷 © FIA WEC).

Kevin Estre, André Lotterer and Laurens Vanthoor clinched the FIA World Endurance Drivers’ Championship after winning Qatar 1812 and 6 Hours of Fuji. Their regularity during the whole season with a P2 at Imola, Spa-Francorchamps and Sao Paulo contributed to their title.

24 Hours of Le Mans 2017 and 2024

#2 Porsche wins 2017 edition despite 65 minutes in pit!

📷 © Luc Warnotte at 24 Hours of Le Mans 2017. winning Porsche 919 with Earl Bamber, Timo Bernhard and Brendon Hartley.

The 2017, 85th 24 Hours of Le Mans saw Earl Bamber, Timo Bernhard and Brendon Hartley winning the race with Porsche 919 Hybrid #2 after spending 65 minutes – and 18 laps – in the garage to fix a failed front-axle hybrid motor. The Porsche #2 trio went back racing from P55 overall in the beginning of the 5th hour to progress in the ranking. The trio benefitted from the progressive retirement/problem of each LMP1 opponent:

Toyota #9 abandoned after 9:43 hours,
Toyota #7 who lead 146 laps of the initial 153 laps laps covered abandoned after 10:10 hours,
Porsche #1 who did lead the next 163 laps before abandoning after 20:10 hours,
Toyota #8 lost 29 laps and nearly two hours to change several components.

At the beginning of the 21st hour, the Jackie Chan DC Racing #38 LMP2 driven by Tung-Laurent-Jarvis was leading the race one lap ahead Porsche 919 #2. The #38 LMP2 lead the 24 Hours of Le Mans during 29 laps until the #2 Porsche took the lead for the 15 laps remaining to checkered flag! The #8 Toyota eventually ended the race in P8 overall and second in LMP1!

#6 Porsche ends 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans in P4

📷 © Luc Warnotte at 24 Hours of Le Mans 2024. Kévin Estre, André Lotterer and Laurens Vanthoor with #6 Porsche 963.

Ferrari arbitrated the Porsche - Toyota duel by winning the 24 hours of Le Mans with #50 in front of #7 Toyota with J. Lopez- K. Kobayashi- N. De Vries and sister #51. Kévin Estre, André Lotterer and Laurens Vanthoor with #6 Porsche 963 ended fourth 1.167 seconds off third place.

The Porsche - Toyota duel

Both Porsche 919 FIA World Endurance manufacturer champions. — 📷 © Luc Warnotte at 6 Hours of Nürburgring 2017. Both Porsche 919 FIA World Endurance Manufacturer Champions.

In 2017 Porsche won its third consecutive FIA World Championship with four consecutive victories (including Le Mans) whereas Toyota claimed five race victories. Porsche’s consistency across its two-car LMP team with three doubles at Nürburgring, Mexico and COTA (Porsche #2 1st with Porsche 919 Hybrid #1 2nd) Porsche scored 337 points (both cars where scoring points in the Manufacturers championship) versus 286,5 points for Toyota (two doubles at Spa and Fuji).

Both Toyota GR010 Hybrid at Imola — 📷 © Luc Warnotte at 6 Hours of Imola 2024. Both Toyota GR010 Hybrid FIA World Endurance Manufacturer Champions.

In 2024, Toyota won its sixth consecutive FIA World Endurance Manufacturers Championship with four victory points (Imola and Lone Star Le Mans (P2 overall but 1st manufacturer at COTA) with #7, Sao Paulo and Bahrain with #8) and a P2 at Le Mans scoring 190 points (only one car scores points this year) for 188 points to Porsche with 3 victories (Qatar, Spa (P2 at but 1st manufacturer at Francorchamps) and Fuji with #6).