The Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid wiped the floor with its similarly engined competition over the weekend, the Porsche was able to run for longer on less fuel thanks to its remarkable economy and the power surge offered by the KERS (kinetic energy recovery system) hybrid drivetrain. KERS is essentially a weighted flywheel that stores energy otherwise lost under braking by spinning at up to 50,000rpm on low resistance bearings. When the driver needs the power boost they hit the KERS button and receive a nitrous oxide style power boost.

“Today, we showed impressively just what potential the hybrid technology has. This result is a great motivation for continuing our work on the project. This was definitely not the last race for the 911 GT3 R Hybrid.” -Hartmut Kristen, Porsche Head of Motorsport-

The 911 GT3 R Hybrid finished first in its class (GT Class) in the 1,000km (621 mile) Zhuhai LeMans race, this level of success wasn’t expected in the maiden season of the 911 Hybrid, Porsche was largely looking at this as a learning experience, now that the economy and power boost capabilities of the car have been shown to have class leading capabilities it won’t be long until we see other manufacturers incorporating the KERS drivetrain into their race cars.

“The car contested the entire race without the slightest technical problem, the excellent pit stops by our factory squad from Weissach and an absolutely perfect performance from the drivers also contributed to this success. The development work on the hybrid system that we conducted since the last race in Road Atlanta has paid off.” -Hartmut Kristen, Porsche Head of Motorsport-

Formula 1 will be adopting KERS in the upcoming 2011 season and the system is widely expected to see an increased adoption in other forms of motorsport in the coming years.

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Via The Checkered Flag