Porsche LMP1 driver Nick Tandy says he is pleasantly surprised at the showing of the team's new high-downforce aero configuration, which makes its World Endurance Championship debut at the Nurburgring this weekend.
Tandy, who co-drives the #1 Porsche 919 Hybrid with Andre Lotterer and Neel Jani, reckons the car will be stronger in the low-speed corner combinations than previously expected.
Porsche led Friday practice for the fourth round of the WEC, before Toyota snatched pole position on Saturday afternoon, although the 919s have been closer to their TS050 rivals than they were at the opening two rounds.
The German manufacturer opted to use its Le Mans-style low-downforce aero kit at Silverstone and Spa, to maximise the development time of the high-downforce kit which is traditionally reserved for the six-hour contests.
Having tested the new bodywork for the first time on Friday, Tandy believes the delay was worth the step up in performance.
"I’m surprised how much of a step it is." Tandy told Motorsport Week.com.
"Normally you’d expect to really feel the aerodynamics in the high-speed corners, but what we’re seeing is that it’s actually working really well in the medium and slow speed ones."
"That’s where we’re gaining extra lap times at the moment. It's a real positive, because attaining the top-end speed figures in the faster corners is one thing, but to get ‘usable’ aero in the slow-speed zones is probably more important. So it’s good, it’s working well."
The high-downforce kit was tested for the first time at the Circuit de Catalunya shortly after Le Mans, although none of the #1 car drivers were present.
Nevertheless, Tandy and his team-mates have been closely monitoring the process of development, and have noticed substantial improvements in the wind tunnel readings leading up to the Nurburgring event.
"At the first test of the high-downforce kit the results weren’t quite correlating, so they went back to the tunnel and did a bit more work, and what’s come out this time is actually quite well simulated," said Tandy.
"The information that's been simulated in the wind tunnel is being accurately reflected on the track."
"That’s a positive because when you’re trying to develop things in the tunnel, you want to be able to change things in the same way that you’d hope to change them out on the circuit."
With its high-downforce aero kit locked in for the remainder of the nine-race WEC season, Porsche has the final tool it will use to fight for a third consecutive World Manufacturers' Championship.
However, with the variations in circuit layouts over the remaining six events, the team is wary that its performance will be highly dependent on how the high-downforce kit is set up at each round.
"There will be some variation between circuits," said Tandy.
"The obvious downside is drag. Places like Fuji and Mexico have big, long straights, so how we work our aero package against the competition is going to be one of the keys on each weekend."
"Here it’s a bit more simple because the straights are so short and the corners are so dominant that you just pile on as much downforce as you can get."
Porsche will start second and third at the Nurburgring, following a close-knit qualifying session.
Both 919 Hybrids opted to use two sets of tyres during the shootout, although the team doesn't expect that decision to affect its durability during the race.
As Tandy explains, tyre management will be paramount to putting in a winning performance, even if it means taking on an extra set during the timed runs.
"[Changing tyres in qualifying] conditions the tyres for the longer runs, but I think we see the starting position as more important than saving a lap on the tyres during the race," he explained.
"I think a stint is going to be around 36 laps or so, so if you’re double stinting that’s nearly 70 laps or one hour and 40 minutes on a single set of tyres, which is crucial."
"As we found out at Silverstone and Spa, if you can’t keep your pace up in the double stint, you win or lose races."
