Porsche's desire to return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans slowly grew over the years and came to fruition in 2012 with the official announce of its return to endurance.

The Porsche 919 Hybrids were entered in competition for the first time in 2014. For that first season, two cars were entered in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). Very quickly the cars showed their stuff, and a little more than six months after their official debuts, the car won its first victory at the 6 Hours of São Paulo on November 30th with Romain Dumas, Marc Lieb and Neel Jani sharing the wheel.

At the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the two Porsche 919 Hybrids performed so well that three hours from the finish of the race, the No. 20 Porsche of Mark Webber, Timo Bernhard and Brendon Hartley was in the lead before finally slowing due to mechanical problems. Neither of the Porsche's ranked, but that was just postponed for the time.

In 2015, Porsche entered the same number of cars. In the end, with six wins to its credit, the German manufacturer clinched the Constructors world champion title, a trophy the marque hadn't won since 1986. Also, the trio Mark Webber, Timo Bernhard and Brendon Hartley became Drivers world champions.

At the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a third car was entered. The No. 19 919 Hybrid of Nico Hülkenberg, Earl Bamber and Nick Tandy won the race and became a part of the record book of the 24 Hours of Le Mans once again (for the 17th time) which hadn't happened since 1998 with the Porsche 911 GT1 (driven by Allan McNish, Stéphane Ortelli and Laurent Aïello).

Relive the epic story of the Porsche 919 Hybrid - which is by no means over since two models will once again compete in the FIA WEC and at the 24 Hours of Le Mans this year - in this fantastic film.

David Bristol / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO

Video: YouTube – Porsche