TWO legendary Porsche race cars are set to make an exhibition lap just before the 24 Hours Nurburgring starts on May 12.
Porsche said it will bring out the 919 Hybrid Evo, with Timo Bernhard on the driver’s seat, to meet its 956 C forebear, to be driven by motor sport luminary Hans-Joachim Stuck around the famed German racetrack. The 919 Hybrid Evo has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2015, 2016 and 2017 while the 956 C took all titles in the World Sportscar Championship from 1982 to 1984. The 956 C, by the way, still holds the track record at Nordschleife, or the “North Loop,” of the Nurburgring.
Porsche said the 919 Evo’s lap on the Nordschleife will mark the car’s first public appearance, and that it would follow its record-setting lap time made on April 9 at Belgium’s Spa-Francorchamps course. Driven by Neel Jani, the 919 Evo lapped the circuit in one minute 41.77 seconds, beating by 0.783 seconds the time set by Lewis Hamilton in a Mercedes-Benz Formula One car at the 2017 Belgian grand prix.
Like the race cars, Porsche noted Messrs. Bernhard and Stuck are as connected to the Nurburgring and the Nordschleife. Mr. Bernhard is the reigning FIA World Endurance champion, winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans last year, and boasts of five victories at 24 Hours Nurburgring.
Mr. Stuck, for his part, won the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice (1986 and 1987), and the 24 Hours Nurburgring thrice.
