Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo takes track record at Spa-Francorchamps

Porsche works driver Neel Jani lapped the 7.004km Belgian Grand Prix Circuit in the Ardennes mountains in 1:41.770 minutes. The 34-year old Swiss has beaten the previous record by 0.783 seconds that was set by Lewis Hamilton at the wheel of a Mercedes F1 W07 Hybrid.

Hamilton's lap of 1:42.553 minutes dates back to 26^th August in 2017 and secured him pole position for last year's F1 race.

Jani achieved a top speed of 359km/h and an average speed of 245.61km/h on his record lap that he started at 10:23 hours.

Fritz Enzinger, Vice President LMP1, said, "This was an absolute fantastic lap - an outstanding drivers' performance from Neel and the result of great engineering."

"Today's track record impressively proves the ultimate performance of the most innovative race car of its time. Our target was to show what the Porsche 919 Hybrid is able to do when we loosen the restrictions that normally come from the regulations."

Team Principal Andreas Seidl said, "This additional success is the result of the LMP team's hard work and a proud day for the engineers. One can only congratulate Neel and the entire crew for achieving it. All six 2017 LMP1 drivers contributed to the project. It was our target to show the Porsche 919 Hybrid's abilities when we ease the restrictions that came from the World Endurance Championship regulations."

With the 919 Hybrid, Porsche has won the Le Mans 24 Hours from 2015 to 2017 three times in a row as well as the world champion titles for both, manufacturers and drivers, in the FIA World Endurance Championship during the same years.