Extra fuel lap not a given for Porsche
Porsche driver Brendon Hartley remains coy on Porsche's tyre and fuel strategy, which is set to be defining strategic plots in the 83rd running of the Le Mans 24 Hours this weekend.
Photo by: Eric Gilbert
"I think like the majority of the other teams not knowing the data of dry tyre running here after the test day is something we really want to tick off our 'to do' list," said Hartley.
"But if the sessions are wet today we still have a lot that we can learn, especially the crossover points of slicks, intermediates and wets."
The top LMP teams are understood to be unsure as to whether four consecutive stints on the Michelin LMP1 tyres are achievable this year.
"We just don't know is the answer at this stage," said Hartley. "It is a lot of laps to put on the tyres. Doing low 3m20s laptimes puts a lot through them so we will have to wait and see what we can do on them."
Porsche is believed to be working to a 14-lap fuelling strategym which is likely to be a lap more compared to Audi.
"You obviously could save a couple of pitstops over the course of a race but there are disadvantages as well like putting an extra lap on the tyres for instance, so it is not as straightforward as you would first think," said Hartley.
Hartley would not be specifically drawn on potential different race strategies for Porsche but did hint that they would not adopt a 'hare' technique for one of the entries.
"The whole point of having a third car is to maximise the chance of winning," confirmed the Kiwi driver.
"There is no sense on compromising one cars strategy and as you could see all three Porsche 919 Hybrid entries were competitive at the test day so the idea is to ensure we get on to the podium at the end of the race."
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