Tech

Porsche completes its first LMDh track test in Spain

Enlarge / The new Porsche LMDh car, about to leave its garage at the Circuit de Catalunya in Spain. (credit: Porsche) Porsche’s next race car is so new that it still doesn’t have an official name. It’s not even due to enter its first race for more than 11 months. But there are few things […]

Tech

Porsche’s new hybrid Le Mans car breaks cover as testing begins

Enlarge / The LMDh regulations cap the cars’ downforce: drag ratio, so designers don’t have to spend as much time worrying about aerodynamics and can use more road car styling cues. Not that you can really make that out on this wrapped prototype. (credit: Porsche) If there were any doubts about Porsche taking its return […]

Tech

Sportscar racing gets a bit less complicated—the end of GTLM

Enlarge / A pack of GT cars at the beginning of the 2021 12 Hours of Sebring. If you needed proof of sportscar racing being too complicated for the casual fan, consider the fact that the white #79 Porsche 911 RSR is actually radically different from the blue #16 Porsche 911 GT3 R right next […]

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What is LMDh and why are we so excited about sports car racing in 2023?

Enlarge / This sketch is all we’ve seen of Porsche’s forthcoming LMDh hybrid racer. But now we know that when it starts racing in 2023, it will be run by Team Penske. (credit: Porsche) In 2021, there is a real buzz building in the world of sports car racing. After many years of running incompatible […]

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Peugeot plans to win Le Mans in 2022 with this 9X8 hybrid prototype

Peugeot is returning to Le Mans for the first time in over a decade with a new hybrid prototype called the 9X8. [credit: Peugeot Sport ] No race is as important to a French company like Peugeot as the 24 Hours of Le Guys. The annual endurance classic is arguably tougher than ever, now requiring […]

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Here’s why Toyota converted this Corolla to hydrogen and went racing

When Akio Toyoda, the president of Toyota Motor Corporation, wanted to demonstrate to Japanese customers that hydrogen power is safe, he decided to convert a Corolla to use H2 in an internal combustion engine and then entered the car in an endurance racing series. He was even one of the drivers. [credit: Toyota ] In […]

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Porsche and Penske: Two of racing’s most famous names join forces again

This sketch is all we’ve seen of Porsche’s forthcoming LMDh hybrid racer. But now we know that when it starts racing in 2023, it will be run by Team Penske. [credit: Porsche ] Porsche and Penske: two of the most storied names in racing. You could fill at least one library just with books about […]

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Toyota is entering a hydrogen-powered Corolla in a 24-hour race

Enlarge / From May 21 to 23, Toyota will enter the Super Taikyu Series with a hydrogen-powered Corolla race car. (credit: Toyota) For some, the allure of hydrogen-powered vehicles is hard to resist. Proponents point first to long recharging times for lithium-ion batteries and then to the speed with which pressurized hydrogen can be pumped […]

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Why did the flywheel hybrid system never catch on for road cars?

Enlarge / Why did the flywheel hybrid never catch on for road cars? (credit: GKN/Jonathan Gitlin) When a Speed network television crew interviewed Margo T. Oge, then-director of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality, during the 10-hour long 2010 Petit Le Mans Series race at Road Atlanta, Porsche’s experimental 911 GT3 […]

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Toyota wants to win Le Mans with its new GR010 hybrid prototype

After winning the last couple of Le Mans races with its TS050, Toyota Gazoo Racing returns in 2021 with an all-new car for an all-new category. It’s called the GR010, and it will compete in the Le Mans Hypercar class. [credit: Toyota ] The future of the 24 Hours of Le Mans is resolving into […]