Schaeffler and Porsche will contest the third round of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) at the legendary 24 hours of Le Mans this coming weekend (17/18 June). At the same time, the DTM will hold the third round of the season in Budapest, in which the technology group takes part with the Schaeffler Audi RS 5 DTM.
Schaeffler is involved with three world-renowned racing series in 2017 with FIA Formula E, the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and the DTM. Two of these series are holding races this weekend. In the WEC, the most important sports car race in the world, the 24 hours of Le Mans, is now on the agenda.
In the motorsport scene, WEC is regarded as a particularly hard and at the same time ideal test laboratory for innovative drive technologies. As a pioneer in the development of hybrid systems for production vehicles, the WEC is an optimal platform for Schaeffler to show that the technology transfer between race track and road works. Schaeffler is already in its fourth year as a partner of Porsche. In 2015 and 2016, both companies won the drivers’ and the manufacturers’ world championship titles as well as the great season highlight, the 24 hours of Le Mans.
In this year’s edition, record winner Porsche will be competing with two 919 Hybrid prototypes in the top LMP1 class, driven by the trios Neel Jani/André Lotterer /Nick Tandy and Timo Bernhard/Earl Bamber/ Brendon Hartley. Top speeds of up to 330 km/h can be reached on the 13.629-kilometer-long Circuit des 24 Heures.
New race cars, revised regulations, closer fans and as ever a high-caliber grid – the 2017 DTM season has so far been a complete success. Likewise for Mike Rockenfeller, who has finished in the points every time in the first four races. In the drivers’ rankings, the 2013 champion currently occupies fourth place. The third stop on the DTM’s tour of Europe is Hungary on June 17/18. The most popular international touring car championship has visited the 4.381-kilometer-long Hungaroring near Budapest three times, the first occasion being in 1988.
