WEC – Porsche remains very cautious before Silverstone

Porsche showed promising performances at the Prologue of the WEC played last week on the Paul-Ricard circuit (Var), the two 919 Hybrids having achieved the best times with a reference of 1’37”200 achieved by Neel Jani on #18. The German manufacturer displays its ambitions before the season opener which will take place on April 12 with the 6 Hours of Silverstone (Great Britain).

Si the Porsche LMP1s moved to the 8MJ class, his opponents have also progressed. Audi has notably upgraded its R18s in the 4MJ category. Doubt therefore remains before the first test, not to mention that Toyota had started the last season with a victory with Davidson-Stone-Buemi. “We were able to identify areas for improvement… The Silverstone circuit could prove more favorable to competition », recognized Timo Bernhard, driver of the No. 919 17 who scored a podium last year on the British circuit.

His teammates seem to share this apprehension. « We focused on the long relays where we still have performance to achieve. The bar has been set higher this year in WEC”, said Mark Webber who ended the last season with a spectacular accident in Sao Paulo (Brazil). “We have progressed in all areas, but so have the others,” summarized Brendon Hartley.

Discover the report of the Prologue produced by our special correspondents in issue 2005 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from Wednesday on newsstands.