Porsche’s ‘Endurance’ Offers Fascinating Look Inside World of Pro Racing
Documentary follows Porsche endurance teams and their efforts running both the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Nurburgring back to back.
It’s certainly no secret that endurance racing is one of the most taxing forms of racing there is on drivers and crew members alike. It is also no secret that Porsche has its fair share of wins. Between the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 24 Hours of Nurburgring, Porsche has over 18 overall victories. Last year, the running of Le Mans and The Nurburgring fell on back to back weekends, putting a monumental amount of stress on Porsche racing drivers.
Now, you have a chance to take a look inside these crazy races and the weeks leading up to them. Porsche recently uploaded a feature-length documentary entitled Endurance to its Youtube channel. The documentary features coverage of their pre-race preparation and takes us deep inside the drama that is a racing team as a whole competing in a 24-hour endurance race.
“We’re kind of like three soldiers going to war, you have to have each other’s back,” says Laurens Vanthoor, referencing his Porsche driving teammates Michael Christensen and Kevin Estre.
Endurance Relies on Preparation
To prepare for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Porsche GT Teams practice everything from driving to pit stops and driver switches at Monza Eni Circuit in Italy. The crew, consisting of Estre, Vanthoor, and Christensen took first place at the 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans in the LMGTE class. Their Monza preparation for the 2019 race was the first place they had all reconvened since winning in 2018.
The 2019 race bears special importance for them, as their team is in contention to take the World Endurance GTE Drivers Championship. Thus, proper practice and preparation are essential. Training for a 24-hour race is a physically and mentally taxing task. When compared to the actual race, though, the preparation is the easy part.
Organized Chaos
It is hard to truly describe the chaos that is a racing team at any racing event. Especially, though, at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Though, if a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video must be worth a million. While outlining Estre and his team in car number 92, as well as number 91, also a 911 RSR piloted by Gianmaria Bruni, Richard Lietz, and Frederic Makowiecki, the documentary presents a rare look into the highs and lows of a racing team at Le Mans.
Though Estre and his team had a strong start, their car was struck with an unfortunate and remarkably rare exhaust failure. This requires a complete disassembly of the car’s undercarriage to repair. While this is a heartbreaking moment for the number 92 car, who was in the lead at the time, it offers perhaps one of the most touching parts of the documentary. Though technically the Porsche GT teams are competitors on the track, they are a team in the pits. The crews from both the number 91 and 92 Porsche pits join together to rapidly get the number 92 car back on track. Unfortunately, the setback put them out of the contention for first place. However, they finished high enough to clinch the Drivers Championship.
Car number 91 also had a spectacular climb from starting in position thirteen to climbing their way up to first place. They also had some issues to face, including a brake failure early in the race. However, they made a fantastic recovery.
“Starting from P13, having the problem with the brakes, it was good. These moments are the ones that give you the energy,” says Porsche racing Engineer Luca Masse.
Endurance Means No Downtime
Running the 24 Hours of Nurburgring just one week after the 24 Hours of Le Mans left no time for these remarkable drivers to recover or prepare. While Le Mans is happy to host factory teams, the Nurburgring is all privately owned teams. With over 100 cars on the starting grid on what is regarded as one of the most dangerous tracks in the world, it is an insane race to behold. The Nurburgring sees our Porsche driving heroes switch from the 911 RSR of Le Mans to the 911 GT3 R platform. Coming off a scare of brake and exhaust issues, both teams proceeded smartly, but not quite carefully.
The early pinnacle of the Nurburgring race undoubtedly goes to Estre as he hung half the 911 into the grass to make a pass on a Mercedes AMG to take first place. Having missed his shot at first at Le Mans, Estre was making every effort to finish first in Germany.
“The strategy at the Nurburgring is pretty much the same as at Le Mans. You want to be at the front and always controlling the race. We had a great car. We had the pace to be front and fight for first place,” says Estre.
Unfortunately, all three major Porsche teams at the Nurburging faced detrimental issues. Car number one, which won last year’s race suffered a punctured tired that resulted in damage to the differential and later faced a race-ending crash. Car number 911 with Estre and crew received a five and half minute penalty for Laurens Vanthoor failing to slow down in a caution zone. This setback, despite Estre’s finishing efforts, landed them in second place.
Photos: Porsche