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How Porsche Winning the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship Will Make the 911 Hotter

To many people with a driver’s license, motorsport makes no sense. Then again, cornering at triple digit speeds in a 911 may not be all that logical, but we love it. And there’s a strong connection between Porsche having won the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) over the weekend and the next-generation 911.
Porsche wins 6 Hours of Shanghai and 2015 FIA WEC 19 photos
Photo: Porsche
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We’ll start with the racing. Despite Porsche having only returned to endurance motorsport last year, the Germans have clearly dominated the current season. For instance, they have now secured the manufacturer’s title with one race to go. Zuffenhausen has climbed to the top of the podium regardless of what takes place in Bahrain by the end of the month.

The victory that sealed the deal saw the Porsche 919 Hybrid driven by Timo Bernhard, Mark Webber, and Brendon Hartley crossing the finish line first at the 6 Hours of Shanghai race.

Sure, everybody paid attention to Porsche’s Le Mans win back in June. But the carmaker has shown a key asset for the track - consistency. The Shanghai victory brought the fourth consecutive win for the trio, as well as the fourth one-two win and Porsche’s fifth victory in a row.

Porsche’s trophy cabinet holds twelve championship wins, which were earned between 1964 and 1986, so the other carmakers taking part in the FIA WEC have plenty of things to worry about.

We’re referring especially to Toyota, who took the win in 2014, as well as to Audi, who used to reign before the Japanese carmaker.

The show in Bahrain is still guaranteed, as Bernhard, Webber and Hartley are fighting for the driver’s title, albeit from the top position. The trio once again battles VW Group siblings, with Audi’s André Lotterer, Marcel Fässler, and Benoit Tréluyer currently taking the second spot.

What about the 911?

These endurance racing wins allow Porsche to continue doing what it does best. The Germans remain the most motorsport-friendly carmaker in the world, and this shows in the road cars - how do you think the 911 got its plethora of adjustable systems, from the active aero to the stabilizer bars?

And while Porsche might be keeping us busy with the facelifted versions of the current 991 generation of the Neunelfer, it’s the next-generation machine that keeps their engineers awake at night.

All sportscars and supercars have to deal with the switch from the conventional ways to the hybrid or electric future. However, with the 911 being the most traditional machine on the market, Porsche has quite a task on its hands.

The next-gen 911, which should arrive by 2020, will pack a hybrid for the first time in the 5-decade-plus history of the rear-engined machine. The 911 might even be required to pack a four-cylinder engine once again. And as severe as that sounds, with the Porsche 919 Hybrid racecar now winning races using a V4 engine and electric power, the tech transfer to road cars will be impressive.

We can only trust Porsche on giving us a 911 that still has enough aroma, when these people win a championship in such a fashion - for instance, Porsche was the only carmaker this year to run in the top 8MJ energy recuperation class. To put it shortly, this means the 919 was the... most hybrid of them all.

Returning to the Shanghai race, this was far from a hassle-free event, as you'll be able to see in the footage below.

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About the author: Andrei Tutu
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In his quest to bring you the most impressive automotive creations, Andrei relies on learning as a superpower. There's quite a bit of room in the garage that is this aficionado's heart, so factory-condition classics and widebody contraptions with turbos poking through the hood can peacefully coexist.
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