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Porsche clinches 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship

There's still another round to go in the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship. But regardless of what happens in Bahrain later this month, Porsche has already laid claim to the manufacturers' title for this year. That's how far ahead it is of the competition. The championship was sealed this weekend when the Porsche 919 Hybrid driven by Timo Bernhard, Mark Webber, and Brendon Hartley crossed the finish line at the 6 Hours of Shanghai in first place. That marked not only the fourth straight win for the trio, but the fourth one-two finish for Porsche and the fifth straight victory this season. That's pretty remarkable when you consider that Porsche only arrived in the series last year, and only serves to further sweeten the win it took at Le Mans this past June. This marks the first time since entering WEC that Porsche has taken the championship, which was claimed last year by Toyota and in the previous two years since the revival of the series by Audi. However Porsche, of course, is no stranger to the winner's circle in endurance racing, having taken 12 previous championships between 1964 and 1986. The victory in Shanghai also puts Bernhard, Webber, and Hartley in prime position to secure the drivers' championship. The trio currently sits in the lead ahead of Audi's Andre Lotterer, Marcel Fassler, and Benoit Treluyer. This despite the Porsche trio having failed to make the finish line in the opening round at Silverstone. Related Video: FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), LMP1, Round 7, Shanghai (CN), Race Porsche secures World Championship title by another one-two win Stuttgart. By taking the fifth victory in a row Porsche has made itself a World Champion in Shanghai. One race before the season's finale no one can take away the constructors' title in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) from the young team from Weissach. In China the winning drivers were Timo Bernhard (DE), Brendon Hartley (NZ) and Mark Webber (AU) in a six-hour race of which two thirds were held on a wet track. The sister car of Romain Dumas (FR), Neel Jani (CH) and Marc Lieb (DE) finished second and hence the season's fourth one-two victory for the Porsche team. Porsche has won the title with 308 points ahead of Audi (238) and Toyota (137). For Porsche it is the 13th constructors' World Championship title in endurance racing and the first since 1986. Between 1964 and 1986 Porsche took twelve constructors' titles in the then Sports Car World Championship.

Bugatti and Rimac joint venture profitable 'beyond expectations'

WARWICK, England — The joint venture between Croatian electric carmaker Rimac and Bugatti has been far more profitable than anticipated as the two brands work on developing vehicles together under one roof, Rimac's top executive said on Wednesday. "It's highly profitable and cash flow positive beyond anybody's expectations," Rimac CEO Mate Rimac told Reuters in an interview at the UK offices of the carmaker's Rimac Technology unit in Warwick. "It's such a win-win situation for everybody." Rimac added the joint venture has brought "lots of synergies going both ways." The Rimac Group comprises the Bugatti-Rimac JV, producing the electric sportscar Nevera and the Bugatti Chiron — which is owned 45% by Porsche AG — and a technology unit which supplies battery systems and powertrain components to other carmakers. Earlier this year the group raised 500 million euros ($519 million) in a new funding round. Rimac's CEO said the company has developed a "really close strategic relationship" with Porsche, which was listed by its parent Volkswagen in October. Porsche holds a 20% stake in the Rimac group. "We are really collaborating on many levels, developing and producing lots of key elements of their (Porsche's) future hybridization and electrification," he said. Rimac's CEO said the group must become more like Ferrari with a predictable, stable and profitable business before it can contemplate an initial public offering. "They (Ferrari) make projections and they always achieve," he said. "What I want to have is some kind of stability and certainty before we do an IPO because we don't want to make promises we can't keep." An IPO could happen anytime from three years to a decade from now, and could involve going public as a group or spinning off a unit, he said, but is definitely coming because "we obviously have financial investors that at some point want to exit." Related video: Earnings/Financials Green Bugatti Porsche Electric Luxury Performance Supercars Rimac

Mysterious Porsche 911 Cabriolet spied, could be GTS

While Porsche's designers can jokingly be accused of being some of the laziest in the industry due to the incremental changes to the 911's iconic design, no such charge can be leveled against the engineers and product planning folks. That's because it seems like each week arrives with news of a new variation of the marque's iconic rear-engined sports car. So, for this week, we've brought you images of what we think is the new 911 GTS Cabriolet, undergoing testing in a thawing winter wonderland.
Now, what is it that gives this 911 away, compared to standard convertible? Well, the big thing is the new offset, center-mounted exhausts. Borrowing a page from the last Volkswagen R32, these exhaust tips are unlike anything we've seen from Porsche. Only the GT3 wears center pipes, and unlike these spy photos, the twin pipes on the track-minded 911 are stacked neatly alongside each other. The other change spotted by our spies is the set of active-aerodynamic flaps in the front bumper, which can automatically channel air toward the brakes for increased cooling, or close off to reduce drag, as needed.
Those exhausts are a pretty big design detail, and so far as we can tell is the only differentiator between the other 911s in this car's posse. Our spies speculate that this could be a 911 Speedster, but point out that both the canvas roof and windshield remain unchanged - the rumored Speedster model would almost certainly feature a different roof assembly along with a steeply raked windshield.