The 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship may have finished almost a month ago, but Porsche is yet to wrap up its track running for the year after completing a test at Motorland Aragon in Spain on Wednesday.
Porsche won both the drivers’ and manufacturers’ WEC titles in 2016, claiming six race wins including the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June.
As part of its development and preparation for 2017, Porsche completed running with drivers Earl Bamber and Brendon Hartley with the updated 919 Hybrid car.
After losing planned running earlier in the week to fog, Porsche was able to complete 179 laps on Wednesday with the car sporting a special ‘dazzle’ testing livery.
The fog is back again @AragonMotorLand. Time for intense pit stop training with #919Hybrid, @earlbamber and @BrendonHartley. @fiawec pic.twitter.com/6OtDYSIc5i
— TAG Heuer Porsche FE Team (@PorscheFormulaE) December 14, 2016
Another short run for @earlbamber in #Porsche #919Hybrid before he has to stop again due to the fog @AragonMotorLand. @FIAWEC pic.twitter.com/B2N9nKDJ2V
— TAG Heuer Porsche FE Team (@PorscheFormulaE) December 14, 2016
Now @BrendonHartley gave it a try, but came back after 2 installation laps only. @FIAWEC @PorscheNewsroom pic.twitter.com/0h1zeLS3kl
— TAG Heuer Porsche FE Team (@PorscheFormulaE) December 14, 2016
Session @AragonMotorLand finished for today. @earlbamber @BrendonHartley completed 61 laps only. In total, #919Hybrid did 179 laps. @FIAWEC pic.twitter.com/TS6TcMoFJ5
— TAG Heuer Porsche FE Team (@PorscheFormulaE) December 14, 2016
With a lot of fog, we lost a lot of running time today. But at least we had a couple of laps in the dry, says @BrendonHartley @FIAWEC pic.twitter.com/Lny72PZg9F
— TAG Heuer Porsche FE Team (@PorscheFormulaE) December 14, 2016
The test marked Bamber’s return to the wheel of the 919 Hybrid, having last raced it at Le Mans in 2015 when he claimed a famous victory in Porsche’s third car alongside Nick Tandy and Nico Hulkenberg.
Good to be back in #LMP1 car after such a long time, says @earlbamber. #919Hybrid made big steps of improvement since I drove it last time pic.twitter.com/zKzSQAKL9Z
— TAG Heuer Porsche FE Team (@PorscheFormulaE) December 14, 2016
Looking forward to drive #Porsche #919Hybrid some more in the near future to feel the whole thing, adds @earlbamber @FIAWEC @PorscheNewsroom pic.twitter.com/O6zFFRnve1
— TAG Heuer Porsche FE Team (@PorscheFormulaE) December 14, 2016
Bamber and Tandy will both race full-time for Porsche’s LMP1 team in 2017 following Mark Webber’s retirement from racing and the relocation of Marc Lieb and Romain Dumas within its motorsport program.
Bamber joins Hartley and Timo Bernhard in the no. 2 car for the 2017 season, while Tandy is set to race with Neel Jani and new signing Andre Lotterer, the latter arriving from Audi, in the no. 1.