Forty-five years after its first win at Le Mans, Porsche has just written another page in the record books of the 24 Hours of Le Mans at this year's Test Day on Sunday, May 31st
Porsche's history at the 24 Hours of Le Mans is not short on records of all kinds, one just as prestigious as the next. Victories overall (16), all classes considered (100!) are the most iconic, but there is also a distance record held from 1971 to 2010. On Sunday, May 31st, Porsche marked its territory at Test Day for the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Shortly before the rain showed up at opening day for the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans, Swiss driver Neel Jani (No. 18 Porsche 919 Hybrid) clocked an unprecedented performance in 3:21:945. In the circuit's current layout, as-is since 2007, no one has ever rolled as fast at Test Day. But the best was yet to come...By the beginning of the afternoon, the track had dried off for the start of the second half-day session. And it was New Zealander Brendon Hartley's turn to show off in the No. 17 919 Hybrid: in 3:21:061, he not only beat Jani's brand new record, he was faster than 2014's pole position scored by Kazuki Nakajima and his Toyota TS040 Hybrid (3:21:789)!
After two consecutive pole positions at the first two rounds of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) at Silverstone and at Spa-Francorchamps, Porsche affirmed more than ever its intention to reclaim the highest step on the podium...Who knows what other feats the German manufacturer will pull out of its hat from now until Sunday, June 14th at 3:00 p.m. local time when the checkered flag is waved at the 83rd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans?
Le Mans 24 Hours Test day
1. Webber/Hartley/Bernhard GER Porsche 919 Hybrid m 21.061s LMP1 2. Hulkenberg/Tandy/Bamber GER Porsche 919 Hybrid 3m 22.322s LMP1 3. Lotterer/Fassler/Treluyer GER Audi Sport Team Joest R18 e-tron 3m 22.556s LMP1 4. Duval/di Grassi/Jarvis GER Audi Sport Team Joest R18 e-tron 3m 23.002s LMP1 5. Jani/Lieb/Dumas GER Porsche 919 Hybrid 3m 23.179s LMP1 6. Albuquerque/Bonanomi/Rast GER Audi Sport Team Joest R18 e-tron 3m 23.375s LMP1 7. Davidson/Buemi/Nakajima JPN Toyota Gazoo TS040 Hybrid 3m 25.321s LMP1 8. Wurz/Conway/Sarrazin JPN Toyota Gazoo TS040 Hybrid 3m 30.334s LMP1 9. Heidfeld/Prost/Beche SUI Rebellion R-ONE AER 3m 33.958s LMP1 10. Imperatori/Abt/Kraihamer SUI Rebellion R-ONE AER 3m 42.144s LMP1 11. Chandhok/Berthon/Patterson IRL Murphy Oreca 03R-Nissan 3m 42.405s LMP2 12. Thiriet/Badey/Gommendy FRA Thiriet by TDS Oreca 05-Nissan 3m 43.344s LMP2 13. Turvey/Evans/Dolan GBR Jota Gibson-Nissan 3m 43.359s LMP2 14. Rusinov/Canal/Bird RUS G-Drive Ligier-Nissan 3m 44.452s LMP2 15. Panciatici/Chatin/Cappillaire FRA Signatech Alpine Nissan 3m 44.567s LMP2 16. Watts/Kane/Leventis GBR Strakka DOME-Nissan 3m 45.536s LMP2 17. Tung/Cheng/Roussel GER Pegasus Morgan-Nissan 3m 46.384s LMP2 18. Howson/Lapierre/Bradley HKG KCMG Oreca 05-Nissan 3m 47.015s LMP2 19. Yacaman/Derani/Gonzalez RUS G-Drive Ligier-Nissan 3m 47.058s LMP2 20. Webb/Ragues/Amberg SUI SARD-Morand Morgan-SARD 3m 47.068s LMP2 21. Lancaster/Wirdheim/Hirsch GBR Greaves Gibson-Nissan 3m 47.130s LMP2 22. Ibanez/Perret/Bellarosa SMR Ibanez Oreca 03R-Nissan 3m 47.198s LMP2 23. Krohn/Jonsson/Barbosa USA Krohn Ligier-Judd 3m 47.251s LMP2 24. Mediani/Minassian/Markozov RUS SMP BR01-Nissan 3m 47.827s LMP2 25. Sharp/Dalziel/Heinemeier-Hansson USA ESM Ligier-Honda 3m 47.943s LMP2 26. Brown/van Overbeek/Fogarty USA ESM Ligier-Honda 3m 49.382s LMP2 27. Tincknell/Krumm/Buncombe JPN Nissan GT-R LM Nismo 3m 50.713s LMP1 28. Aleshin/Ladygin/Ladygin RUS SMP BR01-Nissan 3m 55.213s LMP2 29. Mardenborough/Chilton/Pla JPN Nissan GT-R LM Nismo 3m 55.695s LMP1 30. Ordonez/Matsuda/Shulzitskiy JPN Nissan GT-R LM Nismo 3m 57.567s LMP1
31. Turner/Mucke/Bell GBR Aston Martin Racing Vantage GTE 3m 58.069s GTE Pro 32. Gavin/Milner/Taylor USA Corvette Racing C7.R 3m 59.159s GTE Pro 33. Lamy/Lauda/Dalla Lana GBR Aston Martin Racing Vantage GTE 3m 59.338s GTE Am 34. Rigon/Calado/Beretta ITA AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia 3m 59.420s GTE Pro 35. Bruni/Vilander/Fisichella ITA AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia 3m 59.846s GTE Pro 36. Lietz/Christensen/Bergmeister GER Porsche Team Manthay 911 RSR 4m 00.272s GTE Pro 37. Sorensen/Thiim/Nygaard GBR Aston Martin Racing Vantage GTE 4m 00.316s GTE Pro 38. MacDowall/Stanaway/Rees GBR Aston Martin Racing Vantage GTE 4m 00.325s GTE Pro 39. Pilet/Makowiecki/Henzler GER Porsche Team Manthay 911 RSR 4m 01.066s GTE Pro 40. Wainwright/Carroll/Keen GER Gulf Racing Porsche 911 RSR 4m 01.208s GTE Am 41. Cameron/Griffin/Mortimer ITA AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia 4m 01.221s GTE Am 42. al Faisal/Giermaziak/Avenatti GBR JMW Ferrari 458 Italia 4m 02.212s GTE Am 43. Shaitar/Bertolini/Basov RUS SMP Ferrari 458 Italia 4m 02.325s GTE Am 44. Bleekemolen/Keating/Miller USA Riley TI Auto Dodge Viper GTS-R 4m 02.499s GTE Am 45. Perazzini/Cioci ITA AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia 4m 02.732s GTE Am 46. Roda/Ruberti/Poulsen FRA Larbre Chevrolet Corvette C7.R 4m 02.856s GTE Am 47. Aguas/Perrodo/Collard ITA AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia 4m 02.994s GTE Am 48. Sweedler/Bell/Segal USA Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 Italia 4m 03.117s GTE Am 49. Magnussen/Garcia/Briscoe USA Corvette Racing C7.R 4m 03.775s GTE Pro 50. Hall/Goethe/Castellacci GBR Aston Martin Racing Vantage GTE 4m 04.354s GTE Am 51. Chen/Vannelet/Parisy TWN Team AAI Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 4m 04.491s GTE Am 52. Ried/Al Quabisi/Bachler GER Abu Dhabi-Proton Porsche 911 RSR 4m 04.756s GTE Am 53. Dempsey/Long/Seefried GER Dempsey-Proton Porsche 911 RSR 4m 05.813s GTE Am 54. Laursen/Rizzoli/Mac ITA Formula Racing Ferrari 458 Italia 4m 07.257s GTE Am 55. Maassen/Chen/Kapadia TWN Team AAI Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 4m 07.378s GTE Am 56. Yamagishi/Ibanez/Raffin ESP Ibanez Oreca-Nissan 4m 08.462s LMP2 57. Mann/Gianmaria/Cressoni ITA AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia 4m 12.191s GTE Am 58. Fujii/Hoshino/Klien JPN KCMG Oreca-Judd 4m 14.160s LMP2 59. Mellegol/Bachelier/Blank ITA AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia 4m 21.492s GTE Am 60. Nicolet/Merlin/Maris FRA OAK Ligier-Nissan 4m 21.842s LMP2 61. Cumming/Vanthoor/Estre FRA OAK Ligier-Honda 4m 26.356 LMP2 62. Liuzzi/Trummer/Kaffer AUT ByKolles CLM P1/01 AER No Time LMP1
