Porsche have proved its Le Mans 24-hour-conquering 919 hybrid racing car is faster than the best F1 car by resetting the lap record at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.
Using an unrestricted “Evo” version of their 919 LMP1-class race car the German marque stopped the clock at 1:41.770, some 0.78secs faster than three-time F1 champion Hamilton’s existing record.
Porsche factory driver Neel Jani bested the time Hamilton set in qualifying last year at the legendary circuit. Using the car which won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2017 Porsche created the 919 Hybrid Evo by pushing the turbo petrol V4 engine up to 720hp (from 500hp), with the electric motor juiced up 40hp to 440hp, while 40kg was cut from the car’s mass to bring it under 1000kg. The big news is extensive aero upgrades to make 53% more downforce, or more than a current F1 car!
Iain Kelly is the motorsport enthusiast behind The Creators Online.
Can this time be beaten? Let us know in the comments.
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Iain Kelly
Contributing Journalist
A love of classic American and European cars drove Iain Kelly to motoring journalism straight out of high school, via the ownership of a tired 1975 HJ Holden Monaro.
For nearly 20 years he has worked on magazines and websites catering to modified late model high-performance Japanese and European tuner cars, as well as traditional hot rods, muscle cars and street machines. Some of these titles include Auto Salon, LSX Tuner, MOTOR, Forged, Freestyle Rides, Roadkill, SPEED, and Street Machine. He counts his trip to the USA to help build Mighty Car Mods’ “Subarute” along with co-authoring their recent book, The Cars of Mighty Car Mods, among his career highlights.
Iain lends his expertise to CarsGuide for a variety of advice projects, along with legitimising his automotive obsession with regular OverSteer contributions.
Although his practical skills working on cars is nearly all self-taught, he still loves nothing more than spending quality time in the shed working on his project car, a 1964 Pontiac. He also admits to also having an addiction to E30 BMWs and Subaru Liberty RS Turbos, both of which he has had multiple examples of. With car choices like that, at least his mum thinks he is cool.
About Author
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