CGX car nut:
Joost:
Wow... if that is true, then that is VERY harsh.
These guys gave it their all and have put down a stunning performance. The cars broke down after putting up such fantastic fight.
BTW, on the track, the radio speakers were implying/reasoning that the 919s broke down due to the hybrid system regenerating too much energy. At certain areas, the hybrid system could not be charged further, so the energy needs to be dissipated in different ways (aka "brake discs")... not sure whether this speculation was correct though. I can hardly imagine that the engineers weren't able to predict how much energy regeneration was going to happen and create a car that can't use it's old-fashioned brakes alone.
One does not see this as being very harsh, especially when one considers the amount of capital, both financial and human, invested in the 919 project as well as the public relations effort undertaken. Several rumors place the 919 project at over $200 million, and the car has had a comparatively long development cycle, with the car debuting in June of last year. This time was to be dedicated to testing, testing, and testing with the desired outcome of reliability plus speed for the entire 24 hour period - Porsche is the crown jewel in the Volkswagen empire and expectations are set high.
Similarly Toyota, while fast, proved unreliable too. Many factors are known about Le Mans and those factors do not deviate from year to year. Audi, through preparation, pushed both Porsche and Toyota to the breaking point and this is very impressive considering that Audi #1 was built up over an evening just days before the race.
Whilst I'm the first to be unimpressed with the 919's performance at Le Mans, it would be unhinged and uninformed to think that Porsche would come away with a victory at Le Mans in their first outing after 16 years. (They almost did, but not so much due to their performance , but rather fruit of their competitor's mistakes and misfortunes).
Having said that, my disappointment lies in the fact that the car showed a lack of race pace (see my post in the Motorsport section). Considering that the car was designed specifically for Le Mans, it clearly did not match up with expectations.
Porsche had two objectives; One was to go for pole, and the other was to get at least one car to the finish. It failed both.
This, however, is motorsport. There are never any guarantees.
All was not bad. There were some positives and Porsche learned a lot from this outing.
They are already working on the new 2015 car. Lets keep our fingers crossed.