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[h=2]LM24: 'A different pressure' to win again for Porsche[/h] Monday, 13 June 2016


Marshall Pruett
The only bad thing about winning a major motor race like the 24 Hours of Le Mans is there's no way to improve upon the result the following year. If you're lucky, a repeat win will appease all the managers, sponsors, and executives, but when anything less than a win is considered a failure, stress begins to rise.
That's what the Porsche 919 Hybrid team is facing after capturing the brand's 17th overall win last year (left) in thrilling circumstances. The insanely fast LMP1 prototype unseated sister brand Audi – the perennial Le Mans winners – and twisted Toyota into knots as the Japanese manufacturer struggled to stay within sight of the 919s.
With a taste of victory after coming close, but not close enough in 2014, Porsche returns to La Sarthe with one mission: an 18th overall victory. As Porsche factory driver and 2015 FIA WEC drivers' champion Timo Bernhard says, the thought of failing to defend their Le Mans win has heightened the intensity inside the program.

"To be honest, it is a different pressure than the starting of the program where in 2014 you wanted to learn, but also at the same time you wanted to look good," the German told RACER. "You don't want to be down, you don't want to have a lot of DNFs; it was different pressure in 2014.

"In 2015 everybody was expecting us to win... [and] at least at Le Mans, there was high pressure. In the end, we won everything, which was an unbelievable feeling and a big boost for the team. But it is different for us [now] because from the outside it is expected that we will keep this position. At the moment there's a very strong pull from the guys to keep the position."
Without belaboring the point, if a small manufacturer with no endurance racing pedigree had won the race last year, few would expect the brand to repeat in 2016. For a giant like Porsche with a long legacy at Le Mans, the bar is set impossibly high for the likes of Bernhard and his teammates in charge of piloting the two 919 Hybrids.
"The pressure, the expectations are very high because you are not working for [just] any manufacturer," he continued. "Porsche, it is the brand which won the most races overall at Le Mans. We want to feel good and we want to get the best results for Porsche. And certainly want to do it again. The manufacturers put a lot of work in, change [their chassis] concept and try to be close to us, even try to beat us. We know and we take it very seriously."
Bernhard, who built a strong following while racing for Porsche with Roger Penske in the American Le Mans Series, says he can't wait for the event to get under way and, if all goes according to plan, reward his bosses with that prized repeat victory.
"Everybody is working very hard and you can see already at the test day the special Le Mans vibe, the special Le Mans feeling, also came back," he added. "Also the memories from last year. This boosts and pushes everybody. This is a certain feeling. It is something where I feel very positive.
"It has been more exciting than ever, I would say. All three manufacturers are very close. Being inside the Porsche team, you feel this hunger for victory."