Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo Continues Record-breaking Farewell Tour

Bow down to a new legend! The Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo has officially gone around the Nürburgring in 5:19.55, almost a minute quicker(!) than the Porsche 956 which set a time of 6:11.13 at the hands driving legend Stefan Bellof.

The Porsche 919 Hybrid is on a farewell tour, after the team decided to pull out of Endurance Racing in 2017 to save the company costs following its involvement in diesel-gate. In its ‘Evo’ form, where all the fuel-saving (and thus performance hampering) measures have been removed, the 919 Hybrid is being taken to iconic circuits around the world to show what a proper racecar can do.

And the Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo has now gone faster than any car on the feared and revered Nürburgring Nordschleife breaking the all-time record set by another Porsche, the 956, back in 1983! Check out the onboard video to feel the rush as Porsche factory driver Timo Bernhard puts the 919 Hybrid Evo through its paces:

But what makes the Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo so fast? The ‘non-Evo’ 919 Hybrid was a fast machine, with its 2.0-litre, V4 (yes, V4) turbocharged petrol engine developing 507PS of maximum power, its lithium ion batteries storing 6.37 megajoules of energy and electric motors developing 406PS of maximum power.

For the 919 Hybrid Evo, however, all the WEC (World Endurance Racing) restrictions were removed. The fuel-flow restrictor (a fuel saving device) has been done away with and the V4’s power has been bumped up to 730PS. The batteries now store 8.49 megajoules and the electric motors are capable of churning out 446PS! The Evo is 39kg lighter, and has active aerodynamic elements to help it develop more downforce in the corners and reduce drag on the straights. Michelin even makes bespoke 310mm/18-inch tyres for the car, with each set of four being replaced every lap during an attempt!

The Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo is on a 5-track tour this year as part of its farewell program. The first track it visited was the Spa-Francorchamps where it set the fastest lap at the hands of Neel Jani, breaking the lap set by the Mercedes AMG F1 W08 driven by Lewis Hamilton in August 2017 by 0.783 seconds. The second track was the Nürburgring Nordschleife, where it is now the fastest car ever (no caveats, as was in the case of the 911 GT2 RS or the Honda Civic Type R).

Expect the Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo to set more records on the hill climb at the Goodwood Festival of Speed (12-15 July), the Brands Hatch circuit during the Festival of Porsche (2 September) and finally at the Laguna Seca circuit (27-30 September).