Switched on: Le Mans series may go electric
Kiwi drivers Brendon Hartley and Earl Bamber could be racing in the Formula E series in 2019 after Porsche’s decision to quit the World Endurance Championship LMP1 class.
Nothing has been confirmed yet, but the New Zealanders, who won the 2017 24 Hours Le Mans race in France, could be in the running to compete on the world electric powered cars circuit with Porsche keen to keep its successful LMP1 (Le Mans Prototype 1) team together.
Porsche’s New Zealand sales and marketing Jamie Taylor confirmed on Friday that the company would compete in Formula E from 2019 and would end its involvement in the LMP1 class of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) at the end of the 2017 season.
International Autombobile Federation (FIA) president Jean Todt said welcomed Porsche to Formula E, but was sad to hear they were leaving the WEC.
‘‘Porsche is a brand which has a fantastic history in motorsport, and its intention to join the FIA Formula E Championship alongside so many of the world’s biggest car manufacturers is very positive,’’ Todt said in a report published on www.driven.co.nz.
‘‘It’s clear that the hard work done to create a relevant laboratory for developing electric vehicle technologies has been successful, and I look forward to seeing Formula E continue to be a place of great sporting competition as well as innovation.
‘‘I’m very happy that Porsche is coming to Formula E, but I regret their decision to leave the World Endurance Championship.’’
A statement released on Friday by Porsche said it would maintain its focus on international GT sportscar racing and ‘‘concentrate its motorsport strategy on using the 911 RSR’’ in the FIA WEC, including the high-profile 24 Hours Le Mans race, the American IMSA Weather Tech Sports Car Championship and other long distance classic events.
The German marque would ‘‘develop a combination of pure GT vehicles and fully electric sports cars, such as the first fully batterypowered Mission E road car’’.
‘‘Entering Formula E and achieving success in this category are the logical outcomes of our Mission E. The growing freedom for in-house technology developments makes Formula E attractive to us’’, said Michael Steiner, a member of Porsche AG’S executive board for research and development.
‘‘Porsche is working with alternative, innovative drive concepts.
‘‘For us, Formula E is the ultimate competitive environment for driving forward the development of high-performance vehicles in areas such as environmental friendliness, efficiency and sustainability’’.
Steiner said the company had already taken steps this year to develop its first Formula E car.
Porsche won the last three Le Mans races with Wanganui’s Bamber part of the winning team in 2015 before joining with Palmerston North’s Hartley and German driver Timo Bernhard in the 2017 triumph. The trio have been on the podium in all four of their races this year.