Marc Lieb and Brendan Hartley have been confirmed by Porsche as being in the mix for the final two places in the factory’s LMP1 drivers squad for 2014 as the team confirmed their intention to field three drivers per car throughout the season.
The veteran Porsche Factory man and the young New Zealander who has translated his Mercedes F1 Simulator testing role into racing success with Murphy Prototypes and Starworks are being assessed as testing and development of the new car continues apace.
Lieb is known to have already taken part in testing and development for the new car whilst Hartley is set to test in the near future.
“Obviously this is a dream come true,” said an otherwise (correctly) tight-lipped Hartley to DSC today. “I’m very proud that my efforts this season, particularly in LMP2, have caught the attention of such a top line organisation. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to test and hope to impress them.”
In other news DSC understands that the final race version of the car is likely to differ very substantially indeed from the test car so far pictured in all official releases.
Porsche have also confirmed their senior technical team behind the effort
Fritz Enzinger, Vice President of LMP1 at Porsche, leads the management and strategic side of the effort.
Technical Director LMP1, Alexander Hitzinger has been responsible for the development of the Porsche LMP1 racing car since the end of 2011. The engineer has acquired a huge amount of experience across a range of high-class motor sport categories – including positions such as Head of F1 Development for Cosworth and, most recently, Head of Advanced Technologies at Red Bull.
Andreas Seidl, Director Race Operations LMP1 for the Weissach based works team, is assembling and organising the newly created racing team. Bavarian Seidl was responsible for test and race operations at the BMW Sauber Formula 1 Team and was Head of Race Operations when BMW returned to DTM. From 2014, Andreas Seidl will take on the role of team principal of the Porsche LMP1 works team.
