A successful partnership celebrating the 17th WEC World Champion title in 2015
For Porsche Motorsport and its official timing partner Chopard, a perfect season has come to an end. At the Night of Champions in Weissach, Porsche Motorsport recently celebrated a successful year with a review of the outstanding achievements over 2015 WEC season.
Porsche Motorsport: World Champion 2015
The 24 Hours of Le Mans, as well as the last race in Bahrein, were the climax of this year’s WEC season. For the German manufacturer and its official timing partner Chopard, the victory in Le Mans was really the kick-off of an outstanding season.
For the second year of its return to the world endurance racing championship, Porsche Motorsport had strong objectives for the French race. Persistence paid at Le Mans with an incredible double victory of the team. The first victory is always the most difficult to get. The new rendez-vous on the WEC calendar, the 6 Hours of Nürburgring marked the first win of an impressive series of four consecutive victories. The Porsche 919 Hybrid #17 featured a new modified shape with a new aerodynamic configuration.
Thus, four other victories followed. The winning team in car #17, Timo Bernhard, Brendon Hartley and Mark Webber, drove to victory at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin Texas (USA), on the waterlogged track of Fuji (Japan) and in Shanghai (China) The crowning achievement was the triumph at the 6 hours of Bahrain, starting the race from pole position and keeping up with the extremely challenging conditions.
This supremacy over WEC racing allowed Porsche Motorsport and Chopard to celebrate the first World Champion title of the German manufacturer since 1986.
Chopard ambassadors are Drivers’ World Champion 2015
At the last round of the season in Bahrein, nothing seemed to be able to stop the coronation of the two Chopard ambassadors, Brendon Hartley and Mark Webber. Their fifth place at the six-hour race of Bahrein, together with their team mate Timo Bernhard, was enough to win the Drivers’ World Championship.
Mark Webber, Chopard’s ambassador said: “It’s the first Drivers World Championship for me – this feels beautiful. That’s not an easy thing to achieve, so to have won this title is very special. But to win it wearing a Porsche suit is even more special to me. The last time Porsche won this Championship was 29 years ago with Derek Bell.”
Chopard’s new ambassador, Brendon Hartley added: “I am very, very proud. My earliest memories are watching my father at the racetrack. I was six years old when I started racing go-karts and always dreamt of being a World Champion. I am extremely proud of sharing this moment with Mark, Timo and the entire Porsche Team. Every single person in the Porsche Team contributed to this. I will never forget this day, I am very proud!”
Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, co-president of Chopard concluded: “This year has been amazing for this “Superfast” partnership between Chopard and Porsche Motorsport with incredible results. At Chopard, we were all thrilled by the 2015 season. I had the chance to attend some of the WEC races and we are very proud to be part of this success as Official Timing Partner of Porsche Motorsport. We congratulate Chopard ambassadors Mark Webber and Brendon Hartley for their title and Romain Dumas for a great season. The FIA World Endurance Championship will continue in 2016 for a third year partnership between Chopard and Porsche Motorsport.”
Porsche and Chopard: timing, precision and performance reflected in the Superfast collection
Perfectly in line with the spirit of Chopard’s Superfast watch collection, this prestigious partnership is an extension of the company’s longstanding commitment to automotive sports. In 2014, Chopard became the “Official Timing Partner” of Porsche Motorsport for their grand comeback to endurance competition. That same year, paying tribute to this exclusive partnership, Chopard launched a new Superfast chronograph inspired by the Porsche 919 Hybrid competing in the World Endurance Championship LMP1 category: the Superfast Chrono Porsche 919 Edition.
The Superfast Chrono Porsche 919 Edition is entirely in tune with WEC racing. This bold chronograph with its 45 mm-diameter case and flyback function beats to the pace of a mechanical Chopard 03.05-M calibre, chronometer-certified by the COSC. This engine and its oscillating weight may be admired through a sapphire crystal engraved with the inscription “Official Timing Partner Porsche Motorsport”. Inspired by the new Porsche 919 Hybrid, the stripes on the dial evoke the racing car’s rear diffuser. Likewise, the “919” appearing in a red rectangle inside a 9 o’clock subdial is identical to the number of the Porsche racing cars. Finally, the rubber strap is inspired by slick racing tyres used for dry track conditions.
This sophisticated and powerful Superfast chronograph proclaims a highly exclusive nature that is a perfect match for the legendary Porsche cars, since the Superfast Chrono Porsche 919 Edition from Chopard is produced in a strictly limited edition of 919 pieces.
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