Photo : D.R. - PORSCHE AG

 

In addition to testing with the Porsche 919 Hybrid, they indulged their high-speed hobbies.

Two weeks after the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Timo Bernhard took part with his Porsche GT3 Cup at the course car in the Rallye Warndt in the German Saarland. With his team-mate Mark Webber he subsequently attended the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. On 13th July - on son Paul's first birthday - Timo took overall victory in the 41st Homburg ADAC Hill Race in a Porsche 991 Cup in Germany. From 21st to 23rd July, Timo and LMP1 colleagues Brendon Hartley and Marc Lieb were busy testing at Paul Ricard, France, which was followed by a detour for Team 75 Berhnard's participation at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, before it was then off on holiday with wife Katharina and little Paul.

Two weeks after the 24-hour race, Romain Dumas turned out with his own team for the famous hill race on Pikes Peak in Colorado (U.S.). 9:05.801 minutes was the time he needed for the 'Race into the Clouds', making him the overall winner. En route from the start at 2,865 metres to the peak at 4,301, he mastered 156 corners over a distance of 20 kilometres at the wheel of a Norma M20 RD Limited prototype. Three weeks later, on 20th July, Romain Dumas and his co-driver Denis Giraudet took overall victory in the Rallye de la Drôme in France with his 1977 Porsche 911 Group 4. The Dumas family's two-week holiday on the Côte d’Azur the emphasis was decidated to water sports.

Brendon Hartley, at 24 the youngest of the LM P1 works drivers, enjoyed some practical lessons in matters of Porsche racing history over the summer. At the Goodwood Festival of Speed (Great Britain) he drove the RS Spyder and two winning Le Mans cars, the Porsche 962 and GT1 98. He was brought back to planning for the future by three days of testing with the LM P1 at the end of July at Paul Ricard and another five days of work in Weissach, where the 2015 racing car is being developed. And the climax of his summer travels led him down into the deep: during a one-week Caribbean holiday, Brendon took and passed his diving test.

Neel Jani spent most of the time where he finds it "still the loveliest place to live": in Switzerland. Away from work, he visited his former team-mates at the German Formula One Grand Prix. Things were somewhat quieter on Mallorca, where he enjoyed a few days' holiday with his wife Lauren. After that there followed meetings in Weissach and, ahead of testing on the Eurospeedway in the Lausitz region, a quick visit to 'Show Time Interlaken'. "A fantastic Porsche event," was Jani's verdict. "Over 1,500 cars and each lovelier than the other!"

Marc Lieb was behind the wheel of a familiar old friend on his first Porsche appearance after Le Mans: at the Goodwood Festival of Speed he drove the 918 Spyder, in which in September 2013 he achieved a record lap of the Nürburgring Nordschleife in under seven minutes. A few days later, Lieb appeared at the Ennstal Classic. There he sat behind the wheel of what is currently Porsche's most recent winning Le Mans car, the GT1 from 1998, before testing the 919 Hybrid from 21st to 23rd July at Paul Ricard. Together with colleagues Timo Bernhard and Brendon Hartley, Lieb evaluated some initial enhancements for the remaining five rounds of the FIA World Endurance Championship. After that, holiday time began for the Lieb family.

Mark Webber slipped initially into the role of chauffeur after Le Mans, bringing tennis star and brand ambassador Maria Sharapova safely to the Wimbledon party in a Porsche 918 Spyder. Then, at the Austrian Grand Prix, he joined the celebrations of Formula 1's successful return to the Red Bull Ring. From Styria it was off home to England - for Porsche to Goodwood for the Festival of Speed and to Silverstone for the GP2 race, where his protégé, New Zealander Mitch Evans, achieved a podium finish. At the end of July, he took a three-week trip to Colorado, USA: "The landscapes simply take your breath away. But by August I could hardly wait to get back testing again. The world championship still has a long way to go."

More information to follow about Porche’s history at Le Mans on Mission 2014 – Our Return.

(Based upon Porsche Motorsport press information)

Photo: GOODWOOD (WEST SUSSEX, GREAT BRITAIN), FESTIVAL OF SPEED, JUNE 24-26, 2014. Mark Webber (pictured here) and his team mates Brendon Hartley and Marc Lieb were at the wheel of Porsches in one of the greatest classic events in summer.