Porsche Road & Race

Your favourite online journal covering Porsche's rich motorsport heritage

  • Motorsport
    • WEC
    • Supercup
    • Carrera Cup
    • Imsa Weathertech Sportscar Championship
    • Intercontinental GT Challenge
    • Other Motorsport
    • Fact Files
      • Current Race Cars
      • Racing Drivers
        • Current Racing Drivers
        • Past Racing Drivers
      • Team Personnel
  • Yesteryear
    • Motorsport
    • Race Cars
    • Road Cars
    • Profiles
    • Other
  • Road Cars
    • 911
    • 718 Cayman
    • 718 Boxster
  • My Porsche
    • My Story
    • Pic of the Week
  • News
    • Porsche News
    • Porsche Museum News
    • Around the World
    • Auction News
    • Other News
  • Videos
  • Books
    • Book Reviews
    • SPECIAL BOOK OFFERS
  • Calendar
  • About us
    • Contributors
      • Glen Smale – Editor
      • Elke Smale
      • Martin Raffauf
      • Kieron Fennelly
      • Lucian Sonea
      • Kevin Ehrlich
      • Andrew Hosking
      • Richard Wiley
    • What We Do
    • Disclaimer
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
  • Donate
  • Shop
  • Basket
You are here: Home / Featured / The Le Mans winner’s trophy has arrived at the Porsche Museum

The Le Mans winner’s trophy has arrived at the Porsche Museum

18th December 2017 by: Glen Smale | Leave a Comment

1989 Porsche 911 Turbo 3.3 Cabriolet
Le Mans 24 Hours, 17 June 2017: A Guards Red 1989 Porsche 911 Turbo 3.3 Cabriolet delivers the Le Mans 24H trophy to the circuit before the start of the 2017 race

The Le Mans winner’s trophy for the 24 Hours of Le Mans has found a new home at the Porsche Museum. After three overall victories in a row in the toughest long-distance race in the world, Porsche has now earned the right to keep the challenge trophy forever. The Le Mans winners and Porsche 919 Hybrid works drivers Timo Bernhard (2017), Neel Jani (2016) and Nick Tandy (2015), and the Vice President LMP, Fritz Enzinger, officially entrusted the statue, which weighs almost 50kg, to the Porsche Museum on 15 December 2017. It was received by Oliver Blume, Chairman of the Executive Board of Porsche AG, and can now be viewed as part of the permanent exhibition.

Oliver Blume (Chairman of the Executive Board at Porsche)
Porsche Museum, Stuttgart: Oliver Blume (Chairman of the Executive Board at Porsche) arrives at the Museum with the trophy

Over the last four years, the Porsche LMP team has made motorsport history in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). Since its debut in the 6 Hours of Silverstone in April 2014, the Porsche 919 Hybrid has managed to come out on top in 17 of the 34 WEC races in which it has competed. That includes seven one-two finishes for the Class 1 prototype, which also started in pole position 20 times as the fastest car in qualifying, and drove the fastest lap in 13 races.

Advertisements
Porsche G-Model
#2 race-winning Porsche 919 Hybrid
Le Mans 24 Hours, 18 June 2017: Timo Bernhard brings the #2 race-winning Porsche 919 Hybrid across the finish line. He shared the car with New Zealanders Earl Bamber and Brendon Hartley

Even more importantly, the 919 Hybrid saw Porsche claim victory in both the overall World Championships and in the season’s highlight, the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans, in each of 2015, 2016 and 2017. In 2015, Formula 1 driver Nico Hülkenberg gave the vehicle a perfect debut in the classic long-distance race. After a strong performance during the night alongside Earl Bamber and Nick Tandy, Hülkenberg was the first to drive the 919 Hybrid to victory at the Circuit des 24 Heures. One year later, Romain Dumas, Neel Jani and Marc Lieb put so much pressure on their leading rival in a thrilling pursuit that the rival car failed just minutes before the end of the race. And in June this year, after an early setback, Earl Bamber, Timo Bernhard and Brendon Hartley secured Porsche its 19th overall victory in Le Mans with a fantastic comeback.

Advertisements
#2 race-winning Porsche 919 Hybrid
Le Mans 24 Hours, 18 June 2017: The winners, Earl Bamber and Brendon Hartley ride atop the #2 race-winning Porsche 919 Hybrid driven by Timo Bernhard

Although 2016 was the last year for the Audi team at Le Mans, it was really only the Porsche and Toyota teams who were in the hunt for victory that year. While the Toyota seemed to have the edge on the Porsche, a last-minute failure on the penultimate lap allowed the Porsche through to victory, proving that old adage, that to finish first, you first have to finish. This might sound harsh on the Toyota team, but Porsche too has had its fair share of near misses over the years. In 2017, it was a case of who lasted the distance, as somehow high-tech glitches seemed to take their toll right across the LMP1 class. But in the end, it was a Porsche 919 Hybrid that once again took the overall honours.

Fritz Enzinger (Vice President LMP1), Brendon Hartley, Timo Bernhard and Earl Bamber
Le Mans 24 Hours, 18 June 2017: Le Mans victors (from L-R) Fritz Enzinger (Vice President LMP1), Brendon Hartley, Timo Bernhard and Earl Bamber

The active WEC career of the Porsche 919 Hybrid came to an end with the 6 Hours of Bahrain in November. In the coming year, it will complete an extensive farewell tour comprising numerous individual events. In the autumn of 2018, the 919 will make its final journey – to the Porsche Museum.

Advertisements
Porsche - The Carrera Dynasty
Timo Bernhard, Nick Tandy (behind trophy) and Neel Jani
Porsche Museum, Stuttgart: The Le Mans trophy is carried into the Porsche Museum by (from L-R) Timo Bernhard, Nick Tandy (behind trophy) and Neel Jani

The rules allow that where a manufacturer wins the Le Mans 24 Hour trophy in three consecutive years, that manufacturer is entitled to keep the trophy permanently. Other manufacturers who, over the years, have claimed this accolade include Bentley, Alfa Romeo, Jaguar, Ferrari, Ford, Audi and Porsche (on a number of occasions). With nineteen Le Mans victories, Porsche is indeed the ultimate, long-distance king boasting the longest string of seven consecutive victories: 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986 and 1987.

Nick Tandy, Timo Bernhard and Neel Jani
Porsche Museum, Stuttgart: (from L-R) Nick Tandy (Le Mans winner 2015), Timo Bernhard (Le Mans winner 2017) and Neel Jani (Le Mans winner 2016)

This final step in the 919’s career for 2017, will allow the many visitors who journey to the Porsche Museum to view this historic trophy for themselves.

Fritz Enzinger (Vice President LMP1) and Oliver Blume (Chairman of the Executive Board at Porsche)
Porsche Museum, Stuttgart: (from L-R) Fritz Enzinger (Vice President LMP1) and Oliver Blume (Chairman of the Executive Board at Porsche)

Written by: Glen Smale
Images by: Virtual Motorpix/Glen Smale & John Mountney, and Porsche

Save Article as PDF

OTHER ARTICLES YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN

Share this:

Categories: Featured, Motorsport, WEC Tags: Le Mans, Neel Jani, Nick Tandy, Porsche 919 Hybrid, Porsche Museum, Timo Bernhard

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

E-mail Subscription

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE and be the first to receive new articles directly into your inbox:

Archives

Connect with us

  • E-mail
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Book Reviews

Don’t Wash Mine

I have been looking forward to seeing this new book from Dalton Watson, covering the very colourful

Porsche 911 G-Model: The Book 1974-1989

Hot off the press, so to speak, is Berlin Motor Books’ latest offering covering the 911 G-Model, and

50 Years Porsche 914

Whether you love it or hate it, the 914 served as a very important family member in the Porsche

More Book Reviews ››

Our Other Websites

Virtual Motorpix new website icon
Virtual Motorpix blog link with new logo

OTHER ARTICLES YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN

Join us on Facebook

Join us on Facebook

Disclaimer

Porsche Road & Race is entirely independent and is in no way connected with the company Dr. Ing. H.C. F. Porsche AG or any of its affiliates or subsidiaries. Please also read our full Disclaimer.

Follow us on Twitter

Tweets by Porsche Road & Race

Contact us

We welcome your questions, comments and feedback. Please click here to contact us.

OTHER ARTICLES YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN

Advertising

Please contact us if you would like to discuss advertising opportunities on Porsche Road & Race.

OTHER ARTICLES YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN

Connect with us

  • E-mail
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Please share our website

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

Copyright © 2021 Porsche Road & Race