The FIA World Endurance Championship safety cars will be based off of the Porsche 911 Turbo S and be seen on track for the first time at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.
The modified 911s have a zero to 100 km/h in 2.7 seconds and a top speed of 330 km/h, making them able to keep up with the Hypercars and provide enough speed in a safety car period not to be detrimental to the following cars. On board they will also be fitted with state of the art data and transmission technology, lighting signal system, two additional monitors in the cockpit and a specialised suspension system.
Pedro Couceiro and Yannick Dalmas remain on board as the official WEC safety car drivers.
Dressed in the familiar black and red Porsche livery, the new safety cars will be in attendace at every WEC race, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans where three cars will be stationed around the track. Due to the 13.6km race track, Le Mans has special rules that sees three safety cars deployed at the same time and three packs of cars created.
“Supplying the safety cars is one aspect of our trusting collaboration with the FIA WEC organisation and the Le Mans organisers ACO,” says Alexander Stehlig, Director of Factory Motorsport at the WEC. “We’re delighted that from this year we’ll witness the extremely powerful and fast 911 Turbo S in action for incidents out on the track.”
Frédéric Lequien, CEO of the WEC, said: “As a championship, we at WEC are delighted to add to build further on the long history that we share with Porsche. The importance of the role played by the Safety Car in ensuring the smooth running of each race cannot be overstated, and as such we have the utmost confidence that the new Porsche 911 Turbo S will be a tremendous asset to the event officials and competitors.”
The two Porsche 911s will be delivered to France for their first on track outing in April, ready for their debut in the series in May.
