What you should know and need to know about this exciting race.
– The second six-hour race of the 2016 FIA WEC starts on May 7 at 14:30 hrs CEST.
– TV channel Eurosport will broadcast live on race day from 19:00-20:45 CEST.
– The live feed over the entire six hours, including live timing and further information, is available on the FIA WEC App.
– One lap at the challenging Spa-Francorchamps circuit (nicknamed the “Ardennes roller coaster”) is 7.004 kilometres long and has significant long high-speed sections. Long uphill drives require the utmost from the hybrid power- trains. The Eau Rouge corner, sitting in its depression, is awesome in the eyes of every race driver. Because of the track length in Spa, it can be that it is dry in some parts of the lap but wet in others – just like in Le Mans.
– Back in 2015, the WEC had a dry qualifying and race. The winners’ distance was 176 laps.
– In the WEC the average of the respective best laps of two drivers counts for the grid position. In 2015 three Porsche 919 Hybrids qualified 1-2-3. Bernhard/Hartley took pole position with an average lap time of 1:54.767 minutes.
– In the 2015 race, Dumas/Jani/Lieb finished second. Bernhard/Hartley/Webber dropped back due to a penalty and a technical problem, and they came third. The fastest race lap went to Brendon Hartley (1:57.972 minutes).
– After one out of nine rounds, Dumas/Jani/Lieb lead the drivers’ championship standings with 25 points. Bernhard/Hartley/Webber haven’t scored yet. Having 25 points in total, Porsche ranks second in the manufacturers’ championship behind Toyota, the only manufacturer in the LMP1 category to finish the British race with two cars.
– For the 7.004 km long lap in Spa the Porsche 919 Hybrid uses 6.37 megajoule from energy recovery systems and 71.2 megajoule from fuel – this translates into 1.79 kilograms or 2.47 litres of petrol.
– Refuelling and changing tyres may only be made sequentially, not at the same time. Only two mechanics may work simultaneously when changing tyres. That takes a lot longer than in Formula One, for example.
– The drivers are normally only changed when new tyres are needed.
– The Porsche 919 Hybrid has a power system that produces over 900 hp. Almost 500 hp comes from the two-litre V4 turbo petrol engine, while the e-machine, fed by the two recovery systems, delivers more than 400 hp.
