Porsche aiming to add Formula E silverware to 75 storied years of success

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Porsche aiming to add Formula E silverware to 75 storied years of success

TAG Heuer Porsche is back on top of the Teams' and Drivers' World Championships after Pascal Wehrlein returned to form in Jakarta. The legendary manufacturer is celebrating 75 years of sporting success at the very top of motorsport. Can it add the cherry on the cake with silverware come the end of the 2022/23 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship? Let's take a look back at how the marque got to where they are today through a storied past.

Wehrlein wins Formula E Jakarta race for TAG Heuer Porsche

1948

The late 1940s marked the beginning of the journey for Porsche sportscars when Ferry Porsche realised his dream and produced the Porsche 356 'No. 1' Roadster. While the company was founded 17 years earlier 1931, the 356 would form the foundation for its racing success.

1951

Just three years after the 356 was born, a modified version of the coupe went on to win its class at the 1951 24 Hours of Le Mans on the marque's first ever entry into the grueling race. Since then, Porsche has gone on to claim 19 overall victories.

1953

Thirion

​​​Gilberte Thirion had spent the prior two months in hospital after a rallying accident but in May, 1953, she was back in the Porsche 356 on the front row at the Nürburgring. The 25-year-old pursued her dream of big-time racing and made a name for herself in a male-dominated field.

1954

At the 1954 Carrera Panamericana, Hans Herrmann scored a class victory with the 550 Spyder and came in third overall.

1956

In the Targa Florio, Umberto Maglioli drove his Porsche 550 A Spyder to overall victory on 10 June, giving Porsche its first win over significantly more powerful competition from Ferrari and Maserati.​​​​​​ - the Italian manufacturer which joined Porsche on the Formula E grid for GEN3 and the start of Season 9.

1962

The 804 was the first Porsche single seater specifically designed to take on Formula 1. With legendary American racer Dan Gurney behind the wheel, the manufacturer claimed its first Formula victory at the French Grand Prix in Rouen. This first single-seat effort set the precedent for Porsche to return to top-tier single seater racing with the 99X when it entered Formula E in Season 6.

1966

​​​​​​​Eberhard Mahle was not just a talented inventor, but also a racing driver. In his home garage, he perfected his cars down to the tiniest detail.

Mahle

The Porsche 911 2.0, which he worked on in the run up to the European Hill Climb Championship in 1966 outpaced the competition in his hands to such a degree that he won the title despite having to abandon the final race after a collision.

1968

The Porsche 911 won the iconic Monte Carlo Rally three times on the trot. Vic Elford and David Stone celebrated the first race win in a 911. The Porsche 907/8 also made a glorious racing debut with a one-two-three finish at the 24 Hours of Daytona and a first place at the 12 Hours of Sebring.

1969

In the neck-and-neck finish at Le Mans in 1969, Hans Herrmann crossed the line just four seconds behind the winner.

Hermann

A year later, Porsche’s first overall victory at Le Mans would be a dream come true not only for him, but also his wife Magdalena. Before the race, she had asked him if he would retire if he won this time - with motorsport still in an ultra-dangerous era. "And I gladly said yes,” he revealed later. He kept his word.

1970

The 1970s marked the beginning of Porsche's dominance in endurance racing, starting with the legendary 917 racer. A one-two overall win at Le Mans that year would see the Stuttgart manufacturer clock up 19 wins over the next four decades.

1982

​​​​​​​A year of records: in addition to securing the top five positions overall at Le Mans, Porsche took victory in nearly every class and special classification.

982

The new 956 was a sensation – the first racing car with a monocoque chassis and ground effect.

1983

The ‘TAG Turbo made by Porsche’ engine developed on behalf of British racing team McLaren International produced up to 1,000 PS and made its debut in the McLaren MP4 F1 racing car in the summer of 1983. With 25 Grand Prix wins and three championship titles from 1984 to 1986, it dominated the series.

1984

​​​​​​​Despite the 911 proving to be the definitive road-going sportscar, Porsche took it firmly outside its comfort zone when a modified version made its debut the Paris-Dakar Rally.

911 Carrera 4x4 Dakar Rally

The modified Porsche 911 Carrera 4x4 (953) took the win with Rene Metge and Dominique Lemoyne behind the wheel.

1986

Even before the first cars went out to customers, the Porsche 959 scored a win that captured global attention. René Metge and Dominique Lemoyne built on the marque's off-road success, again winning he Paris-Dakar Rally ahead of Jacky Ickx and Claude Brasseur in a second 959.

1986

When Hans-Joachim Stuck came to Porsche as a works driver in 1985, he had already been through some ups and downs as a racing driver.

b-75jahre9

But his biggest dream only came true in 1986 with overall victory at Le Mans. Standing on the podium, he thought to himself: “Stucki, now you’ve made it.” A year later, he repeated the feat. “That’s when I knew that you can achieve anything if you really want it.”

1998

The sleek, carbonfibre chassis Porsche 911 GT1 '98 dominated another Le Mans with a one-two finish, marking Porsche's 16th overall victory in the legendary race. The winning car was driven by Laurent Aiello, Stephane Ortelli and former Audi Formula E Team Principal Allan McNish.

2015

Making its debut at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show, the Porsche Mission E concept marked the beginning of a radical new electrified era for the marque.

READ MORE: Concept to Reality: Designing the Porsche Taycan

Paving the way for Porsche's first all-electric car, the Taycan, the scene was set for the German giant to enter top-tier all-electric street racing.

Concept to reality: The stories behind the latest EVs from the Formula E stable

2017

​​​​​​​With a win in 2015 and 2016, the 919 Hybrid scored its third overall victory in a row in 2017, with Earl Bamber, Timo Bernhard and former Formula E driver Brendon Hartley behind the wheel. A one-hour repair to the car had left the team 18 laps behind the lead but the 919 refused stubbornly hunted down the win, rising from 56th place to first.

2019

In 2019, Porsche’s electric plans stepped up a notch when the covers came off the 99X Electric Formula E Gen2 car.

Like the racers and sportscars that had gone before it, the name was made up of three digits, with the highest number '9' being awarded twice to underline the significance of the project, while the 'X' represented a focus on the future.

REVEALED: Porsche 99X Electric breaks cover

Since it first hit the track ahead of Season 6, the racer has served as a development platform for all electric series production Porsches.

2022

After three seasons of learning and striving, the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E team were rewarded with an historic one-two finish in Mexico City. Pascal Wehrlein delivered a victory from pole, securing Porsche's first win in the Formula E while seasoned Porsche driver André Lotterer followed close behind in second.

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2023

Currently leading the Teams' and Drivers' standings, the Porsche squad has high hopes for its fourth season in the Championship.

Battling it out against some of the world's greatest manufacturers, Porsche once again finds itself going head-to-head with Maserati and Jaguar, just as it has done over the years in other series.

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Will Porsche round off its 75th year celebrations with its first title in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship? Time will tell.