Watch out Audi: it’s Porsche’s new Le Mans car

Meet the new Porsche 919 Hybrid. If you’ve seen the downright savage form of the 2016-spec Audi R18, you’d be forgiven for thinking Porsche has simply sent us a few pictures of last year’s Le Mans-conquering, WEC-winning 919.

After much squinting and turning the screen upside down, though, we have managed to conclude this is indeed a new racing car.

The slimmer front nose section is probably the biggest giveaway – like its Audi enemy, the Porsche has undergone minor rhinoplasty to spew more airflow away from the cockpit and down over the flanks. Three new aerodynamic packages – the maximum number of configurations allowed in the 79-page rulebook – have been created to take advantage.

The turbocharged V4 petrol engine has been made lighter, but new fuel restrictions mean it’s slightly less powerful than last year’s car. Apparently the motor now develops just less than 500bhp, though the electric motors of the hybrid system have shouldered the burden by gaining power in response. When it’s in full discharge mode, the hybrid gubbins pump the 919 up to deliver (an albeit temporary) 900bhp.

There’s a new, juicer lithium-ion battery pack, while this new car apparently consumes eight per cent less fuel than its predecessor, while going faster. And just in case you’re disillusioned that there’s very little race-to-road tech transfer, Porsche says the 800-volt architecture that underpins the 919’s systems is essentially a test-bed for a high-voltage drivetrain to be used in the production Mission-E, Porsche’s pretty Tesla Model S rival.

Yup, as you can tell, there’s an awful lot going on under the familiar skin of the new 919. Enough to hold off Audi for a second year? We’ll find out in June.