Is Porsche losing endurance race competitiveness?

[RDMcG]

There was a time when Porsche was a good bet to win the N24 or the LM 24, but it seems as if that edge is being lost these days. Additionally they were generally record holders for Ring lap times, but that also seems to be for very short periods of at all. ( I am a Porsche fan, so not knocking the brand , just looks to me as if there is less fire in Weissach these days.).

[richhead]

like all things racing, dominant teams and manufacturers go in cycles, it has always been like this.

[bennno]

Hey just won gt3 at Le Mans?

[richhead]

bennno said:

Hey just won gt3 at Le Mans?

they have always been the benchmark in gt, less so in prototype.
try running one tho, they charge like a wounded buffalo

[clubracing]

You don't follow endurance racing much then OP.

So far this year Porsches have won the Daytona 24hrs, won the Bathurst 12hrs, have won every NLS race, came 2nd in the N24, and lead both the IMSA and WEC championship standings.

[RDMcG]

clubracing said:

You don't follow endurance racing much then OP.

So far this year Porsches have won the Daytona 24hrs, won the Bathurst 12hrs, have won every NLS race, came 2nd in the N24, and lead both the IMSA and WEC championship standings.

I stand corrected

[moffspeed]

Porsche seldom get it wrong.

When they were introduced the 917, 956 & 962 race cars were radical game-changers. Moving into the 21st Century the tightness of regulations (and, more recently BoP) has inevitably closed the field up.

Despite this some manufacturers - namely Aston Martin, Nissan & Peugeot - have managed to fail massively with some wayward concepts in recent memory.

Even in periods of relative domination Porsche have acknowledged their weaknesses. The famous post Le Mans 1983 Porsche advert :

[ArnageWRC]

clubracing said:

You don't follow endurance racing much then OP.

So far this year Porsche's have won the Daytona 24hrs, won the Bathurst 12hrs, have won every NLS race, came 2nd in the N24, and lead both the IMSA and WEC championship standings.

Correct!! No offence to the OP, but Le Mans always brings out the 'F1/once a year crowd'. Le Mans is one race in a year full of Endurance racing.....Watkins Glen and Spa 24 Hour in the next few weeks.

[Red Firecracker]

'Once A Year' fans are not a bad thing.

[freedman]

clubracing said:

You don't follow endurance racing much then OP.

So far this year Porsches have won the Daytona 24hrs, won the Bathurst 12hrs, have won every NLS race, came 2nd in the N24, and lead both the IMSA and WEC championship standings.

This past weekend

Won the Watkins Glen 6 hours, plus 3rd

Won NLS 3 at the Ring

[ffc]

NLS 3 was a bit odd on the car front. Lots of Porsches up front but no Grello. Some Mercs but no Ferraris, Audi's or BMW's in the GT3 class, not sure why?

Edited by ffc on Thursday 27th June 22:31

[ffc]

ffc said:

NLS 3 was a bit odd on the car front. Lots of Porsches up front but no Grello. Some Mercs but no Ferraris, Audi's or BMW's in the GT3 class, not sure why?

Edited by ffc on Thursday 27th June 22:31

I see some of the teams that normally do the NLS races are at Spa in the 24 hours this weekend which explains their absence from NLS3.

[CLK-GTR]

They're still right up there. They won LMGT3.

Their troubles in Hypercar stem from wanting to build a business around the 963 and thus choosing LMDh which is not/may never be as quick as LMH. BoP has been swung in their favour this season but it stands out at certain circuits.