Porsche yesterday concluded its final test laps of 2013 for its new LMP1 race car on the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve near Portimão, Portugal and among the drivers present was Mark Webber, who got his first taste of his new-for-2014 working environment.
Webber (37) was not expecting to be able to drive until the new year, but received the green light from the Red Bull Racing F1 team to conduct these initial tests, despite still being under contract. From 1 January 2014, the Australian officially joins the Porsche factory team as a works driver and reinforces the already-announced driver line-up of Timo Bernhard (32), Romain Dumas (35) and Neel Jani (30).
Mark Webber commented in Portimão: “My first day in this fascinating project was an intense experience for me. I would like to thank Red Bull Racing for giving me the chance to join the project so early. 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.”
On the schedule of the final test for 2013 in Portugal were primarily suspension and tyre tests with partner Michelin. Previously, the Porsche LMP1 squad had pressed ahead with the development of the new race car on the Magny-Cours (France), Monza (Italy) and Paul Ricard (France) circuits, as well as on the Eurospeedway Lausitz (Germany).
Wolfgang Hatz, Member of the Executive Board for Research and Development at Porsche AG, acknowledged that there is much to do before the opening round of the 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship on 20 April at Silverstone. “We always knew it wasn’t going to be easy to return to top endurance racing after 16 years. Hence, our efforts in developing a competitive Porsche LMP1 race car are immense. Up to this point, our engineers in Weissach, the drivers, and the entire team have performed impressively. 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.”
Testing will resume in early 2014.
Fiona Miller (information and quotes thanks to Porsche AG)
Photo: (copyright Porsche AG) Autódromo Internacional do Algarve (Portimão, Portugal), Tuesday 10 December 2013. Mark Webber talks to Porsche engineers after his first drive in the new Porsche LMP1 prototype.
