Track conditions were ideal, sunny and dry with ambient temperatures between ten and 15 degrees. The Porsche Team completed a total of exactly 150 laps on the first day of the event, which is 883.65 kilometres. For the first free practice session Neel Jani and Marc Lieb shared driving duties at the wheel of the Porsche 919 Hybrid no. 14. Neel focussed on set-up work, Marc did the tyre comparison and clocked the overall fastest lap of the session (1min 44.042sec) on a fresh set of rubber. In the afternoon session Marc Lieb (car no.14) and Brendon Hartley (car no. 20) did a 25-lap long run each before handing over to teammates Romain Dumas and Mark Webber respectively for further long runs.

 

Andreas Seidl (Team Principal): “This is a very special weekend, which marks Porsche’s return to the highest class of the sports car World Endurance Championship. With both cars we were able to complete our programme as planned, which focused on race preparation and tyre evaluation.”

Romain Dumas (Porsche 919 Hybrid n°14): “We have had a good Friday with both cars running smoothly, which obviously is a good sign. For sure we still have room for improvement, but that’s normal. With the new Porsche 919 Hybrid we are in Silverstone for the first time, and we are almost starting from scratch while our competitors have a great deal of experience. We will continue step by step.”

Neel Jani (Porsche 919 Hybrid n°14): “I saw myself in P1 after only two laps, which was quite an enjoyable way to start. Obviously it doesn’t mean a lot in free practice, but nevertheless it was an enjoyable feeling.”

Marc Lieb (Porsche 919 Hybrid n°14): “We have had a very good and mostly trouble free first session. Everything went smoothly, so I am very happy. Also the long-run in the second session was good, as well as for me personally as it was a good exercise to manage traffic from a new perspective.“

Timo Bernhard (Porsche 919 Hybrid n°20): “The first free practice session in the morning was very useful to get back into a rhythm. We have focussed very much on the car’s set-up and got a first impression of what to expect here in Silverstone. Nevertheless, so far it is difficult to judge from the lap times. There is still some work to do on the set-up as the car tends to understeer.“

Brendon Hartley (Porsche 919 Hybrid n°20): “It felt so good to get into the car for an official session after all the test and development work. We have had only a few minor issues but nothing major. For me Silverstone is a home race as I can sleep in my own bed every night, which is a very nice bonus on top of everything else.”

Mark Webber (Porsche 919 Hybrid n°20): “With every lap we do we're learning a lot. We've got some performance to find, but we know what we need to work on. I always love driving here at Silverstone, it's a beautiful track and it's great to be back here again with a roof over my head for the first time since 1998. I am used to having better visibility in the F1 car, so that was something to get used to as with the closed cockpit the visibility is a bit more restricted. I'm still a bit of a rookie to be honest, but I'm really enjoying it.“

For more stories of Porsche at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, please visit the official microsite Mission 2014 - Our Return.
The first round of the 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship, the 6 Hours of Silverstone will take place on Sunday April 20.

(Based upon Porsche press information)

Photo: TOWCESTER (NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, GREAT BRITAIN), SILVERSTONE CIRCUIT, 6 HOURS OF SILVERSTONE, FRIDAY APRIL 18, 2014, FREE PRACTICE. Porsche celebrated its comeback in LM P1 with the best time in the first practice session of the 6 Hours of Silverstone.

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24 HOURS OF LE MANS - June 14/15 2014

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