Now that Porsche and Toyota had unveiled the 2017 incarnations of the LMP1 racers, the time has come to bring you the first battle between the two.
The Japanese automaker's TS050 Hybrid and the German company's 919 Hybrid were revealed on Friday, with the prototype racecars having already duked it out over the weekend. The endurance demons took part in the pre-season test at Monza.
Now, before we get to talk about the stopwatch hostilities, allow us to mention that we're bringing you a soundtrack comparo involving the two.
You can check out the Porscha's turbocharged V4 voice in the first piece of footage below, while the clip at the bottom of the page showcases the turbocharged 2.4-liter V6 voice of the Toyota.
Both vehicles are evolutions of the previous incarnations and the racecars have to deal with the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship regulations, which bring two sets of limitations.
First of all, we're talking about an aerodynamic downgrade aimed at reducing cornering speeds and thus improving safety. Secondly, the FIA wanted to keep the budgets of the teams under control, thus reducing the maximum number of tires the crews are allowed to use.
If we zoom in on what happened during the Monza prologue, we see that Neel Jani put Porsche in the lead, setting a lap time of 1:32.068s. The Swiss driver managed to leave Anthony Davidson's Toyota behind, with the TS050's best effort sitting at 1:32.226.
The following two positions brought a role reversal, with Mike Conway's Toyota grabbing third place, with a time of 1:32.491 and Brendon Hartley manhandling the #2 Porsche to the fourth position, with a time of 1:32.616.
Porsche may have grabbed the Le Mans title last year, but we'll remind you that Toyota's challenger, which was in the lead, lost power on the penultimate lap of the 24-hour battle, due to turbocharger issues. So you can imagine the determination behind the Japanese carmaker's 2017 effort.
Now, before we get to talk about the stopwatch hostilities, allow us to mention that we're bringing you a soundtrack comparo involving the two.
You can check out the Porscha's turbocharged V4 voice in the first piece of footage below, while the clip at the bottom of the page showcases the turbocharged 2.4-liter V6 voice of the Toyota.
Both vehicles are evolutions of the previous incarnations and the racecars have to deal with the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship regulations, which bring two sets of limitations.
First of all, we're talking about an aerodynamic downgrade aimed at reducing cornering speeds and thus improving safety. Secondly, the FIA wanted to keep the budgets of the teams under control, thus reducing the maximum number of tires the crews are allowed to use.
If we zoom in on what happened during the Monza prologue, we see that Neel Jani put Porsche in the lead, setting a lap time of 1:32.068s. The Swiss driver managed to leave Anthony Davidson's Toyota behind, with the TS050's best effort sitting at 1:32.226.
The following two positions brought a role reversal, with Mike Conway's Toyota grabbing third place, with a time of 1:32.491 and Brendon Hartley manhandling the #2 Porsche to the fourth position, with a time of 1:32.616.
Porsche may have grabbed the Le Mans title last year, but we'll remind you that Toyota's challenger, which was in the lead, lost power on the penultimate lap of the 24-hour battle, due to turbocharger issues. So you can imagine the determination behind the Japanese carmaker's 2017 effort.