Porsche 911 GT3R Hybrid to run at Petit Le Mans
 

Filed under: Motorsports, Hybrid, Porsche, Racing

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As expected, Porsche announced today in New York that the 911 GT3R hybrid will be coming to North America later this year to race in the Petit Le Mans (PLM). When the new flywheel hybrid race car was first announced this past spring, Porsche told us that it would make a decision about running in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) after evaluating the new car's performance during its early races in Europe. After coming within two hours of winning the 24 Hours of Nurburgring in May, it was clear that the 25-percent fuel economy boost and extra power was more than enough to make up for the added weight of the hybrid drive.

Since the Automobile Club de l'Ouest has yet to finalize the technical rules for hybrid GT cars, the Porsche will run unclassified at Road Atlanta on October 2. The Georgia race will be the North American round for the inaugural Le Mans Intercontinental Cup. Following the PLM, Porsche will take the car to Zuhai, China for the Asian round on November 7. No announcement has been made yet about running in the European round at Silverstone in the UK in September.

The 911 GT3R hybrid has a 480-horsepower flat-six driving the rear wheels and a pair of 60-kilowatt electric motors for the front wheels. The motors recapture kinetic energy during braking and store it in an electromechanical flywheel mechanism. The flywheel can release energy back to the motors automatically during cruising or the driver can press a boost button on the steering wheel for extra power on demand for passing.


Gallery: 24 Hours of Nurburgring: Porsche 911 GT3 R hybrid

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[Source: Porsche]Continue reading Porsche 911 GT3R Hybrid to run at Petit Le Mans

Porsche 911 GT3R Hybrid to run at Petit Le Mans originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 21 Jul 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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Very cool - thanks for posting!