In 2014, Porsche, who holds the win record at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, made its return to endurance in the head class all while pursuing its GT program, from which came Timo Bernhard, one of the longest running official under-contract drivers with Porsche.

When Porsche returned to prototypes in the LM P2 class with the RS Spyder, Bernhard was chosen, as was Romain Dumas, to take on the challenge. It was a good decision since the duo carried out the project successfully by winning namely the 2008 12 Hours of Sebring (along with Emmanuel Collard) against all odds battling more powerful cars.

In the absence of an LM P1 program, Porsche "lent" Bernhard and Dumas to Audi, which allowed them to win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2010 with Mike Rockenfeller, but the duo, which now drives separately, returned to the fold to develop the Porsche 919 Hybrid. The latter helped the German manufacturer beat its own win record at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Bernhard, second at Le Mans, to be crowned World Endurance Champion with Brendon Hartley and Mark Webber last weekend at Bahrain.

Timo Bernhard's story is described in the book "The story of a champion - Timo Bernhard" which will be officially presented on November 27th at 2:30 p.m. The work, with text in German and in English, is available for 50 euros on the editor Gruppe C's website.

Cécile Bonardel / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO

PHOTO: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, SUNDAY JUNE 14 2015, PODIUM. Timo Bernhard claimed the second step on the podium at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June.