The battle for victory and the World Champion Drivers and Manufacturers title had taken on a new dimension since the arrival of hybrid technology. Present in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) from its inception in 2012, two years later Audi and Toyota were joined by Porsche looking to build on its win record at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and become the one to beat in prototypes once again.

2012 - Already winners in 2011, Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and Benoît Tréluyer (Audi R18 e-tron quattro) won their second consecutive victory and scored the pole again thanks to Tréluyer in 2011 then Lotterer in 2012. They finished ahead of their teammates Dindo Capello-Tom Kristensen-Allan McNish, with whom they traded leader status many times during the race, culminating in the first one-two for a hybrid prototype at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

2013 - After Dindo Capello retired, Kristensen and McNish welcomed a new teammate, French driver Loïc Duval. He clinched pole position, and the trio won a race tragically marred by an early accident that took the life of Danish driver Allan Simonsen (Aston Martin). His fellow countryman Kristensen and McNish won their ninth and third victories at Le Mans respectively, and Duval reached the top step on the podium at the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the first time.

2014 - The 82nd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans was marked by Porsche's return to LM P1 hybrid prototypes for a three-pronged confrontation with Audi and Toyota which did not disappoint. The Toyota driven by Nakajima-Sarrazin-Wurz started from pole position and led the charge for 14 hours until it was forced to retire due to a fire at 5:00 a.m. on Sunday. The #2 Audi driven by Fässler-Lotterer-Tréluyer assumed the lead but fell victim to a turbo problem at 6:30 a.m., sending it back to pit lane. Another Audi then took the lead and suddenly it seemed a 10th win for Tom Kristensen may be in the cards! But at 11:00 a.m., the Danish driver and his teammates Lucas di Grassi and Marc Gené encountered the same troubles as their other teammates...and so it was Porsche, for its return to prototypes, in the lead with the 919 Hybrid driven by Timo Bernhard-Brendon Hartley-Mark Webber, followed by the #2 Audi, clocking times faster than even the pole scored by Nakajima during qualifying! The trio Fässler-Lotterer-Tréluyer held the lead and secured its third victory in four editions shortly before 1:00 p.m. when the Porsche was forced to retire.

So Porsche immediately found the rhythm once again at its favorite race, victory was in sight...check out the next installment in this series for more!

Photo: Winners with Audi in 2011, 2012 and 2014, Benoît Tréluyer, André Lotterer and Marcel Fässler (from left to right) joined a prestigious club of three-time winning driver line-ups which includes Phil Hill-Olivier Gendebien, Jacky Ickx-Derek Bell and Frank Biela-Tom Kristensen-Emanuele Pirro.